For marketers like us, there is nothing more buzzworthy and inspiring than outstanding marketing that truly makes us feel, think, and pay attention. That’s why we can’t help ourselves but call attention to our favorite examples of marketing excellence in 2017. While these examples come from marketers with budgets 10 times that of the ones fresh produce marketers work with, it doesn’t mean we can’t emulate the strategy, principles, and artistry into our own fresh marketing. In fact, we believe these campaigns are the epitome of #Goals for marketers from any industry. Take a look and get inspired to create your own 2018 plans.
This 1:40 holiday ad plays on one emotion: love. Apple uses a simple but timeless tactic—to associate emotion and depth to its products and leave behind the jabber about its products features and benefits. As we learned at BrandStorm 2017, emotional connectedness is powerful and taps into a vulnerable but strong part of our decision making. With this in mind, Apple creates a sensitive and stirring ad that uses the magical elements of music, dance, and the classic story of boy meets girl to transport us to a world of snowcapped romance. The end result? We’re left feeling moved and touched and associate Apple’s products with this deep feeling.
Netflix’s Stranger Things and Lyft Partnership
We were floored by this unique and original experiential marketing campaign put together by the hit TV show Stranger Things and rideshare service Lyft. To promote the premiere of the second season of the series, Lyft transformed certain cars in the LA and Philadelphia area into “Strange Mode” while passengers rode inside. Malfunctions, noises, rattling, and an eerie red light suddenly erupt inside the cars and transport the passengers into the alternate dimension featured in the storyline of the show. Passengers are immersed and completely engaged and having fun. We applaud the effort behind creating a real experience beyond just digital and physically engaging with audiences in an unexpected way.
There are multiple reasons we love this effort made by Gatorade. It’s highly successful Snapchat lens was featured on Snapchat during one of the biggest nights of its target audience (football fanatics), the Superbowl, and engaged users through the use of augmented reality. Users could pretend to be dunked in orange Gatorade by having the signature orange cooler with a subtle “G” be dumped upside over their heads. Taking advantage of the augmented reality opportunities that Snapchat offers allowed Gatorade to invite users to have fun with them and be a part of the hype and experience of Superbowl watching. This success is in the numbers—the dunk lens resulted in 160 million impressions.
Amidst tone-deaf failures like Pepsi’s Kendall Jenner ad, Heineken cleverly positioned its product in a thoughtful way in its ad “Worlds Apart.” As we’ve mentioned before, brands are no longer skirting around making political stances, but beyond just making a stance, Heineken promotes starting a conversation over divisive topics. The ad shows people of opposing views discussing controversial topics over a Heineken beer and encourages the productive discussion surrounding hot-button issues. Rather than clumsily positioning it’s product as the cliché and completely unrealistic solution for world peace, its success was in being real and authentic about how its brand can fit into improving our social political climate and finding common ground without completely exaggerating its role.
These are just a few of the examples of quality marketing that we saw throughout the year, but we equally in awe with examples within the fresh produce industry itself! Stay tuned for highlights of our favorite fresh marketing campaigns from 2017.
