Companies are stepping outside of the box in 2015 and trying never before heard of campaigns to rattle consumers’ minds. Take McDonalds for example: in early 2015 it announced a new promotion accepting hugs as payment. But when it comes to innovative and unique marketing campaigns this year, two companies stand out from the pack:
T-Mobile
T-Mobile has had a massive overhaul in how they operate, and it’s completely different from other major cellphone service providers. The company has dubbed itself the “Un-carrier,” and its advertisements can be seen all over. From commercials to banner advertisements, T-Mobile has made it clear that it has features that other carriers don’t offer. For example, it doesn’t require customers to sign a 2-year contract whenever they want to get the latest phone like the Samsung Galaxy S 6. And it has data rollover and will pay off your phone and your early-termination fees if you switch to T-Mobile from another carrier.
This type of aggressive change called for an aggressive marketing campaign that only the Un-carrier campaign was able to deliver. These changes were announced in tiers. Version 1.0 started it off with no contracts. And now, the most recent Un-carrier move at 9.0 was aimed at business lines and mentioned changes including updated pooled-data pricing and a free dot com domain with email address. T-Mobile is keeping this excitement and momentum going by rolling out other changes slowly, with 10.0 being unveiled soon.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is a social media management platform that allows you to connect all your social media profiles in an easy-to-manage dashboard. It is one of the top marketing brands because of its fun content and cultural relevance.
· Fun Content: There’s nothing worse than a company that thinks a great idea for social media content is boring white papers with a bunch of technical jargon. Instead, Hootsuite blogs about important topics in social media and makes it fun. For example, the company creates custom graphics (such as pictures of their own staff) and comes up with clever and light-hearted headlines. For example, its article “Why ‘Millennial’ is Meaningless for Social Media Targeting” brings up an important point that one can’t lump millennials into one single category. They took a serious topic and compartmentalized it into actionable advice for those seeking out a younger demographic.
· Culturally Relevant Tie-ins: Many companies try to bring humor and cultural relevance into their marketing campaigns and fail miserably when they don’t get the right audience. However,Hootsuite created one of the coolest homages to the intro sequence to HBO’s “Game of Thrones.” You may even forget that you’re watching an advertisement for Hootsuite. Instead, it features some great CGI, fun music and an emotional connection for fans of “Game of Thrones.”
Brands have a big challenge going forward. Not only do they have to separate their businesses from their competitors in what they offer and for how much, but they also have to separate their branding and marketing campaigns from the deluge of content out there. The future belongs to those brands willing to break the boundaries and re-brand themselves in new ways.
This article was syndicated from Business 2 Community: Two Brands’ Brilliant Marketing Strategies
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