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Today let’s discuss...
- Brand Transformation and the Right Audience
- Major Players in this Year’s Big Game Advertising
- Video Strategy Tips for 2024
Every marketer knows that speaking to the right audience is critical to a company’s survival. Sometimes, companies need to change course to find their stride. Here are a few examples:
Stanley
- Stanley is a 111 year old brand that has historically marketed to workmen, retired soldiers, and generally outdoorsy folks.
- Although the “Stanley Cup” (their 30/40 oz. Quencher cup) went viral this past year, it was not a priority when it first came out and seemed like it would be discontinued at times.
- The three founders of The Buy Guide—a blog with a 97.7% women audience—loved the cup, promoted it, and helped bring it into the mainstream.
- An employee messaged The Buy Guide founders and got them a meeting with Stanley execs, where they sealed a wholesale partnership. The 10,000 cups they received sold out in days.
- The Buy Guide founders helped Stanley expand their reach, specifically to 25- to 50-year-old women, and their strategy to focus on more social-first tactics.
- Stanley now releases the cups in multiple colors, patterns, and limited editions, leaning into it becoming a collectible product. They have a huge social media following and jump in on trends.
- And it worked for them—Quencher sales have increased by 275% YOY.
Slack
- Slack started out as a computer game called Glitch. After the game flopped, the company realized that the chat functionality in the game which allowed users to collaborate could still be useful.
- They rebranded as Slack in 2013, bringing only the chat feature into their new product and fine tuning the software to work for businesses.
- It was a huge success—they went public in 2019 and had around 20 million active users at the end of 2023.
- Learn more about the campaign we helped them launch pre-IPO.
Old Spice
- Old Spice was losing market share and stuck being seen as a traditional, old-fashioned brand. They needed to reach new, younger audiences to stay relevant.
- One insight from research led their new direction: 60% of body wash purchases are made by women.
- They launched a humorous campaign that was directed mainly toward women, which brought them into a new era of success and helped redefine their brand.
It’s that time of year again—and after last year’s game broke viewership records, more brands are jumping at the chance to advertise. Here are some of the biggest companies competing for consumers’ attention this season.
- Pepsi Co. is returning with an ad celebrating Mtn Dew’s famous Baja Blast flavor—which will now be sold in stores nationwide year-round.
- Squarespace is following up last year’s popular ad featuring Adam Driver with a new spot made in collaboration with Martin Scorsese for their 10th game-day ad.
- Dove is returning with an ad centered on women’s confidence and tying into their partnership with Nike. This is their first Big Game spot in 18 years.
- Pringles is also back, with ad that will “showcase a ‘playful, new direction’” for the brand and will be “uncanny.”
- Hellmann’s is focusing on their “Make Taste, Not Waste” initiative for their 4th game-day appearance in a row.
Some brands are making their Super Bowl debuts:
- Nyx is celebrating their 25th anniversary with a 30-second spot.
- Starry, Pepsi Co.’s Sierra Mist replacement, will step into the limelight with a commercial featuring Starry mascots Lem and Lime with rap artist Ice Spice.
- Drumstick is also making a debut with a continuation of their campaign “Another Day, Another Drumstick” featuring actor and comedian Eric André and their brand spokesperson, Dr. Umstick.
- Nerds will air a 30-second spot at this year’s game highlighting their Nerds Gummy Clusters and the brand’s characters. This is a first for both the brand and their parent company, Ferrara.
- BetMGM is placing their bets on airing an in-game ad, leaning into the fact that the game will be in Vegas this year.
Video isn’t going anywhere. In 2023, people watched an average of 17 hours of online videos per week. In the US, 57% of adults watch videos on YouTube and 33% use TikTok. Here are some insights from the two platforms to improve brands’ video strategy.
YouTube recently shared their tops ads and videos from 2023, with some tips to help brands boost engagement:
- Partner with well-known creators. The creator does not always have to have the largest following for this to be a good option—it’s more important to find a creator that ’s known within a brand’s niche.
- Use YouTube Shorts. YouTube estimates that brands get 10 to 20% more conversions when they add a vertical video in their campaigns as opposed to only using landscape assets. Shorts are growing and YouTube is investing more in this part of their platform.
- But still incorporate long-form storytelling. With the right content or trend, there is still a lot of potential engagement from longer videos.
- Leverage AI tools to improve ad targeting and performance. With AI, YouTube said the “average return on ad spend [is] 3.7X higher than manually optimized campaigns.”
TikTok just released their What’s Next Report for 2024 to give marketers insight into what their users might be looking for in the year ahead.
- “Curiosity peaked.” Consumers want to watch content that will peak their interest and lead to new topics, perspectives, and hobbies—rather than just content that answers a specific question. Clinique did this well by leaning into creativity, teaming up with creators, and being an early adopter of TikTok’s dynamic search platform.
- “Storytelling unhinged.” People are embracing non-traditional storytelling, personas, and fictional narratives. They want something interesting and a bit off-the-wall to capture their attention.
- “Bridging the trust gap.” Establishing trust between a brand and customer is difficult, and consumers are looking to brands to lead positive change in society. According to survey data, viewers trust as a brand 41% more after seeing a TikTok ad from them.
Sources:
Brand Transformation and the Right Audience
- The rise of the Stanley tumbler: How a 110-year-old brand achieved viral success
- 10 Of The Most Transformative Rebranding Examples.
- 13 Hugely Successful Companies That Reinvented Their Business
Major Players in this Year's Big Game Advertising
- Super Bowl LVIII: Tracking every ad
- Martin Scorsese Makes His Super Bowl Directing Debut for Squarespace
- Starry’s First Super Bowl Ad Will Star Ice Spice
Social Video Strategy Tips for 2024
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