The workplace is full of stereotypes; however, nothing quite defines typical marketing agencies like the quirky copywriter, music-geek art director or the frantic accountant. Walking into an ad agency is a bit like playing Russian roulette — depending on the day, you might either be met with a cranky, coffee-deprived crew or you might be applauded by a group of interns playing a competitive game of ping pong. One thing is for certain — you can never be sure of what happens behind the creative doors of a marketing agency. Depending on the type of day the team has had, you might be walking into Rivendell or you might be strolling into Mordor.
From the Justice League-certified programmer to the moleskin-clad copywriter, here are a few of the stereotypical people you might meet at your local ad agency.
For a movie starring a rather unconventional protagonist, a by-the-book traditional marketing strategy is the last thing you need.
At least that’s the approach the marketing agencies behind 20th Century Fox chose to take with Marvel’s raunchy new superhero comedy, the R-rated “Deadpool.” Since the weeks before Christmas, Marvel superfans and plebeians alike have been inundated with every kind of marketing technique imaginable — from billboards and emojis to cheeky email newsletters and even fake Tinder profiles.
Fox’s viral marketing campaign has been an unprecedented success: “Deadpool” obliterated any and all competition over its four-day opening weekend, earning a record-breaking $150 million domestically at the box office. Smashing records for biggest R-rated opening weekend, biggest R-rated Friday, Saturday and Sunday and biggest 20th Century Fox debut ever, Marvel’s sassy, fourth-wall breaking superhero is clearly nothing to be messed with.
While initial reviews of the film have been generally positive, the real success of “Deadpool” can be attributed to its unconventional viral advertising. The marketing agencies behind the film deftly toed the line between cheeky and downright risqué, with everything from a Burt Reynolds-inspired fireplace pinup spread to a blatant TV rip-off of “The Bachelor.”
Despite the film’s R-rating, Fox’s marketing agencies catered to audiences of all ages, with an emoji-only billboard widely misread as “skullpoopl” (an ad featuring the word “skullpoopl” instead of “Deadpool” would soon follow). Speaking of emojis, a whole line of “Deadpool” emojis was released, featuring everything from blood splatters to unicorns.
In addition to a wealth of borderline-NSFW sexual innuendos, the “Deadpool” marketing campaign unabashedly trolled its audience: one ad capitalized on the film’s Valentine’s Day opening with a satirical billboard evocative of a Nicholas Sparks movie (complete with the tagline “True Love Never Dies”), while another advertised Deadpool’s “great ass” by having the character assume a Bettie Page-esque pinup pose.
In a market saturated with your standard superhero flicks, the film’s offbeat approach panders to the less traditional among us. If the numbers are anything to show for it, an unconventional, genuinely creative marketing campaign is the way to go for agencies looking to make an impression.
Think you can’t take advantage of the biggest marketing event of the year if the name of your company isn’t Coca Cola or AB InBev? Think again! Even in the absence of a five million dollar budget, digital marketing firms and ad agencies can still garner significant amounts of traffic—all from the other side of a computer screen.
One of the easiest ways to learn from the Super Bowl is to study the experts. Watch Super Bowl commercials from years past and look into large-scale marketing campaigns that were effective last time around, and find a way to apply similar techniques to your business.
Plan to update your digital marketing on the day of the game (or the night before). Whether your business caters to college students or senior citizens, consumer goods or business-to-business strategies, showcase as many Super Bowl-related media and offers as makes sense for your business. Above all, keep it relevant.
This year especially, focus on mobile, social and interactive marketing techniques. The Super Bowl is a massive multimedia event that brings together people from all across the country simultaneously—take advantage of that inclusive group mindset with a flurry of entertaining and relevant social media posts. Consumers want to be entertained—so give them something to work with.
Google’s new “Real-Time Ads” make keeping up with the latest social media memes a breeze—that is, if you’re willing to pay the price. For the rest of us lowly peasants, funny, shareable social content requires actual creativity. That, and a team of social media gurus on call throughout the game.
Digital marketing firms both big and small have a number of ways to get involved in the nation’s largest multimedia event of the year. With a little research, creativity and planning beforehand, even the lowest-budget marketing firms are sure to find a way to profit from the festivities.
When most people think of American pop culture, they think of the Kardashians, reality TV, hip-hop and Miley Cyrus. There is, however, a slice of pop culture that is routinely overlooked: advertising.
The creative juices of marketing agencies have helped shape American pop culture for decades. Jingles, logos and brands are as influential as Kanye tells everyone he is. From the Oscar Mayer wiener to Kit Kat’s “Give Me a Break” to the Nike swoosh, advertisements have etched a place into our hearts and minds.
Asking people for money is not just uncomfortable—it doesn’t always go well either. People usually don’t donate just for the sake of giving away money; they need a purpose. Although many crowdfunding campaigns have a good purpose, it is not always clear to the public.
Using advertising can help spread the purpose behind crowdfunding campaigns out to the general public. This way they won’t just see a company asking for money, they will see an opportunity to contribute to a great cause.
There are specific advertising techniques that showcase crowdfunding at its best. It’s finding those techniques that can often be a struggle for an agency. Below are some tips for specific types of advertising to use in your next crowdfunding campaign.
Start With Social Media Advertising
This is a free and easy way to kick start your campaign. However, make sure to not use every social media channel out there. Hone in on a select few based on the audience at hand and dominate those outlets.
Social media also provides a chance for an agency to not only advertise, but interact with the public. People are much more likely to support a cause when they feel part of it. Asking questions, requesting opinions and seeking out stories can turn originally uninterested people into loyal donators.
Make sure to customize the promotion so that it reflects a common purpose across each social media outlet. This is a personalized way to bring the purpose of a campaign to an audience’s attention.
Target a Specific Public
While it may seem more logical to advertise a campaign to the entire world since that would provide more donating hands, it is not the best way to get donations. Choosing one or a few specific key publics to reach out to is a much more successful technique for any agency.
When choosing the publics, make sure that they are either already a supporter of your brand or have a reason to be interested in the campaign’s purpose. Who would be most likely to donate? Who would care about the cause at hand?
Think about these things and choose a few publics to target. You may be surprised that this type of advertising receives more response than general advertising.
Create a Personal Connection
Once you have found the best audience for your advertising, try and build a personal connection with them. This means using those social media channels for frequent communication. It also means giving the company a face. Introduce team members who truly believe in the crowdfunding cause.
Integrate both personality and humor into a campaign for increased success. Using the team as part of a campaign or funny advertising stunt will pull in more interested donators. People feel connected to people. That is a large motivator for donations.
Wait a While to Ask For Money
With that connection in mind, don’t ask for money right away. This will make people second guess your intentions and feel pressured. Simply create a connection with important publics and let them know about the crowdfunding cause.
From there, donations will naturally occur as people begin to feel a sense of duty to an agency and want to be a part of their efforts. Make sure the public can see how the money from the campaign will be used upfront. This way they know that although they may not get their money back, it is beingused for something they support.
Use Video In Advertising
Another technique that will ensure those donations keep coming is to use video. This goes back to the connection principle because people are more stimulated by video rather than text. Use this to your advantage by creating a connection with a video that plainly portrays the purpose behind the campaign.
This not only builds trust between the public and an agency, but it is an advertising technique that is known for catching the eye of the public and keeping it there.
Start Big
Any agency that receives money during the first three days of a campaign is more likely to reach their target goal than those that don’t. This means that a big start is a big part of any crowdfunding campaign. Don’t shyly put the word out there and hope that maybe someone cares. Plan out advertising techniques ahead of time and launch them loudly with the start of a new campaign.
Using all of these advertising techniques can be the thing that makes crowdfunding go from an impossible attempt to an easy way to raise money for an agency. Remember to keep a connection with a select audience and build trust from there. Donations will follow.
For as long as businesses have been around, they’ve been promoting themselves to consumers in an effort to bring in more money. Generally speaking, the most successful companies have managed to produce advertising greatness to make such an occurrence a reality. In the following video, we present some of our favorite advertorial campaigns and the actual costs associated with them:
Utah, it’s time to come to grips with reality: traditional journalism is a thing of the past. It’s kind of like scented markers or Sprite Remix. Remember that jazz? Whatever. With that in mind, there most definitely are certain skills that can be drawn from the dwindling pool of professional journalists and immediately thrust—not in the creepy sexual way—into the glory that is modern-day content marketing.
For starters, credibility is key to content marketing success and journalists—the kind successful enough to not have to eat Ramen Noodles and sleep in their parents’ basements—know a thing or two about producing content that gains credibility. While gaining rapport with Google is of the utmost important for well-seasoned content marketers, the very content which gets people clicking, “liking” and waisting countless hours at work, is strikingly similar to the stuff that real writers churn out.
Secondly, journalists know how to tell a story. Believe it or not, not every story needs to begin with the classic “once upon a time” line. From Utah to New York, brands differ from industry to industry and each one has its own unique story to tell. Furthermore, each individual audience has a specific set of needs and journalists, more than any other group of professionals, have a knack for developing content according to said needs.
Needless to say, if you and your team of content marketers are more “muggles” than wizards, consider harnessing the creative powers of the gargantuan amount of journalists who are currently looking for gainful employment. Also, read Harry Potter to better understand what’s being discussed here.
Do you by chance remember that song “Fresh Azimiz” by Bow Wow? During the song’s chorus, and unbeknownst to Mr. Wow at the time, there’s a message which rings true for archaic businesses who find themselves struggling to remain “hip” in today’s society. Raps the prepubescent artist, “Ye ain’t ridin’, ye ain’t bumpin’ like I’m bumpin’, ye ain’t sayin’ nothing homie, ye ain’t fresh azimiz.”
Without a formal degree in marketing and a sound understanding of how one “bumps” or reaches “homie” status, it can be difficult to interpret Wow’s message. For the CEOs of painfully out of touch companies, pay attention: rebranding may be required to keep your brand as cool as Bow Wow was in 2005. What happened to Bow Wow after 2005, you ask? Well, he failed to rebrand himself beyond the deletion of “Lil’” from his stage name. Case in outdated hip-hop point.
In reality, most brands form their respective identities during their early years. As time goes on, however, most business owners recognize the need to employ the powers of any one of America’s many marketing companies. Without constant monitoring, perceived reputation no longer reflects actual company culture. With the addition of a new name, logo or web design, the sad fate of the artist formally known as Lil’ can be entirely avoided. Never. Stop. Bumping.
Let’s face it: women love Pinterest. Whether she’s a 12-year-old, boy band-loving drama queen or one of the nation’s largest, most reputable mommy bloggers, if you’ve got two X chromosomes, then you’ve not only got a Pinterest account, you’re flooding that shiz with enough pins to open an acupuncture facility.
Though for the longest time women successfully claimed Pinterest as their own private little nook of the World Wide Web, marketing companies have since taken notice and now see the advertorial power of the awesome platform. Amongst all the engagement rings, flower arrangements, beach pictures and fattening chocolate cake recipes, lies awesome marketing potential.
It’s impossible to turn on the ‘ol television set and not see Shaq dropping really creepy one-liners while talking about the perks of having to use Gold Bond or Icy Hot on a daily basis. While at its core such an assertion couldn’t be farther from fact—rashes and muscle cramps are actually a great inconvenience and most unpleasant—marketing agencies have decades of data to uphold the assertion that nothing is better than the grill of a has-been celebrity on camera when making commercials. Here at Fusion 360, we’ve taken a few minutes to look back at the history of advertorial cameos in an effort to locate the strangest of commercial pairings. Take a look at what we found:
