These travel campaigns gained impressive ROI through creativity not big budgets

As a marketer, it often feels like you’re being asked to secure impressive results with very few resources. A small budget can make the desired engagement with a brand seem impossible to achieve, but a little bit of creativity can go a long way. Travel marketing is all about capturing the imagination of the audience and while this can be easily done with stunning images of a service or a product and big personalities, there is another way. Break from the norm and tap into an element of travel that has often been overlooked to get the greatest return on investment (ROI). [si_guide_block id="81120" title="Download our Premium Member Resource – Travel e-commerce marketing trends" description="Read our guide to the latest travel e-commerce marketing trends to learn how big data and visual technologies such as AR and VR are transforming the industry."/] If that seems…

"Self-indulgent, poorly written shite" that screams "me! me! me!" before the needs of the customer.

Over the last few years, Oasis has released campaign adverts that play on the advertising industry. Calling out the behind-the-scenes thinking of adverts in order to appeal to what seems to be an edgier and cooler new generation who it thinks are tired and bored of adverts. But has it gone too far with the release of its latest line of adverts, by promising to stop all advertising if the brand hits its sales targets? It seems like a cheap gimmick to me that neither inspires nor impresses me to buy Oasis' drinks. Also, let's not forget that it's also probably a lie just to get people engaging/talking about its ads - will the brand really stop advertising? Let's take a look at its full #refreshingstuff campaign and why it's not really that impressive, or creative.

Adverts that calls out…

Coca-Cola prove that sounds - or a lack thereof - can produce powerful results in advertising

“Try not to hear this” is the tempting message behind this campaign, and you’d be hard pressed to find many consumers capable of doing so. Coca-Cola’s latest campaign reminds us all of the position this brand occupies not just in the market, but in our own subconscious. All that’s required to hear the satisfying sound that precedes the experience of drinking Coca-Cola is catching sight of one of the three print ads that make up this series: The popping of a bottle cap from a glass bottle of Coca-Cola The fizzle of a freshly poured glass of the drink …

Recent successful marketing campaigns to inspire your marketing efforts

Launching a contemporary digital marketing campaign can be tricky and involves several layers of integration. What makes a campaign contemporary is its use of new and innovative digital channels and how you use these alongside more traditional methods of marketing. In order for your campaign to be successful, it needs to have an emotional connection with your audience and consistent messaging across each channel. You may want to consider Pickton and Broderick’s 4 Cs 'Coherence, Consistency, Continuity and Complementary. You can read more about these here. We have put together some great examples of successful contemporary digital marketing campaigns, to help inspire your own campaigns.

O2 - #FollowtheRabbit

The #FollowTheRabbit campaign recently launched by O2 aims to represent curiosity. The campaign will include TV, mobile, live events and Social media. It will also feature O2’s first Snapchat lens and geo-targeted filters. This campaign introduces…

Pepsi's terrible ad shows the dangers of in-house agencies and leaving creativity to non-experts.

Last week the ad world was all of a flutter over an ad by Pepsi starring Kendall Jenner. It is probably the worst ad you will see this year. (A competitive field, to be sure). Or indeed you may never see it, as Pepsi have quite rightly pulled the ad and apologized to everyone involved including Kendall Jenner for “putting her in this position.” How did a global brand like Pepsi put themselves into this position? The ad it screened is so culturally tone-deaf that Saturday Night Live have done a skit about it and everyone is laughing at them. Pepsi made one simple, but very significant mistake. They thought anyone could make creative work. They were so very, very wrong. Have you seen the ad? It’s hilariously bad. In case you were on vacation last week, here’s how it goes: for…

 Ideas on getting more creative in our marketing

What makes the difference between a good company, and a great one? Creativity. Fostering a culture of creativity in your business and your life will allow greater innovation, more effective problem solving, and a genuine competitive edge. When technology has made certain skills a commodity, it’s the creative, individual human elements that distinguish a successful business.

How to drive your creative marketing?

If you’re looking to inject some creativity into your life and your business environment, then take note. 1. Make your time work for you William Blake, visionary poet and inspiration for many a creative type, put it simply: 'Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night.' Figure out how your brain and body’s natural rhythms work, and as best you can, listen to them and work with them rather than fight against them. Plan your day around your own…

Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly

Yes, even now Christmas is being hijacked by people like me - hence the headline. And it’s this marketing exercise of Christmas that especially fascinates me. The marketing started in 300AD when in the Rome of the Emperor Constantine (recently converted to Christianity) the celebration of Christ’s birth was made to coincide with Saturnalia. The feel- good of a great blow-out got the Christian bandwagon rolling along nicely.   This coincidence of celebrating Christ’s birth and roll-out-the barrel party time continued happily until typically the mean old sod, Mr Austerity Cromwell banned Christmas. Back to normal and a lot more when Charles 11 returned to England. Enter the four great apostles of Christmas early in the 19th century, first Washington Irving…

 Halloween marketing party tricks - you are never too old

The holidays are coming. However, holiday shopping no longer waits until Black Friday or even the month of November to get underway. Instead, to get ahead of this holiday season, smart businesses must consider their marketing kick-offs much earlier. This makes Halloween an excellent starting point for the 2014 holiday season. Halloween isn’t just for kids anymore whichever country you're planning your Halloween campaigns for. In fact, according to the US National Retail Federation, 71.5% of adults plan to celebrate or otherwise participate in Halloween-related activities this year. This means that there’s no specific demographic for Halloween, and chances are you can profit from this knowledge.

Ideas for marketing Halloween

Is your business ready? Looking for ways to incorporate Halloween into your company’s marketing strategy? Look no farther. Check out…

Bringing ideas to life - developing the perfect process for content ideation

"Creative thinking inspires ideas. Ideas inspire change." Barbara Januszkiewicz Ideas are the lifeblood of campaigns and the content strategy to support them. Creating brilliant ideas and developing them into unique and appealing content is what marketing campaigns have used to generate audiences for years, and that won’t be changing anytime soon. The value of the creative process is something we recognize and respect at Zazzle Media, which is why we spend hours – many, many hours – honing that process. In this post, we'll describe 12 process steps to consider as part of content ideation. But contrary to popular belief, there’s a lot more to producing fantastic ideas than huddling together crossed-legged in a Zen-like state, shouting random ideas at each other during a wacky brainstorm session.  Adopting the structured approach this article suggests will help produce consistent results across the board, whatever…

Examples of creative content ideas show it is possible

Compelling content is the key to successful marketing. You know that. Your boss knows that. So why are so many marketers still half-hearing it? Folks who work in 'boring' industries have an added challenge. Let’s say you are a marketing specialist in insurance or for a mortgage bank. Even if your company and services are important, these topics have snoozefest written all over them. The good news is that there are some simple tactics you can use to make your marketing campaigns more exciting.

Create a Voice with an Attitude

Creating a brand voice is nothing new or at least it shouldn’t be if you write content for your company! Some of the most influential brands have created strong voices that their audiences connect with. Just think of some of today’s largest companies - Coca-Cola, Salesforce, Apple. You…