Most industries experience major changes from time to time according to the changing needs and demands of their consumers, but ones that rely on the presence of media, in this case, advertisement, are affected more easily than others. Marketing is tricky — it has to contain sufficient, relevant industry knowledge and follow all the fickle and subtle changes in the field to keep up with the best practices. Here are some marketing strategies and examples to leave an impression and stand out from the other paraphernalia of ads.
1. Keep up with the trend
Source: Shutterstock’s Fyre Festival parody
Shutterstock, an American platform of stock photography, stock footage, stock music, and editing tools, has been long-known for having innovative ads that capture the current craze. Being one of the most frequently used stock content marketplace doesn’t stop Shutterstock from constantly exploring and understanding their customer’s interests.
Shutterstock made an extremely apt re-enactment of the Fyre Festival using their very own stock footage, containing clever references to the notorious Fyre Festival: “swimming pigs” and “sad cheese sandwich”. (If you know, you know.) In their “Strange Things” video — a parody of the Netflix series Stranger Things, Shutterstock recreates the whole vibes and aesthetics of the beloved series entirely with their stock collection.
Source: Shutterstock’s Stranger Things parody
Source: Shutterstock’s Game of Thrones parody
The message is clear: variety and innovation. By associating their footage library with a subject that their audience is familiar with, they create a notion that stock content can be as vibrant and creative if well-executed, while emphasizing on the diverse and manifold qualities of their catalog. This goes the same for “Surplus of Seats”, their Game of Thrones parody. Shutterstock’s understanding of their product and their implementation of the creative, viral issues have changed the community’s perception of stock from drab individual pieces of clips to creative ingredients to fit into their projects.
2. Use vibrant, eye-catching imagery
Adobe already has a worldwide reputation when it comes to its creative software, from Photoshop to Premiere Pro, and not just to graphic designers and video editors. The brand name itself has already filtered so deeply in our daily lives that we as consumers don’t need much explanation as to what its products are. We know it, they know it. This is the reason Adobe took a more simple, clear-cut approach when advertising its new Photoshop + Lightroom Creative Cloud plan.
Their tagline is simple: Take it / Make it. Yet it delivers the message ever so directly — because of their use of visuals. Adobe’s ad juxtaposes a single image which is split across two color-grading stages in a before-and-after style. The stark contrast in the visuals highlights and amplifies the dramatic effect of their product, and along with the call-to-action slogan, Adobe creates a sense of immediacy to urge their consumers to use their Creative Cloud.
3. Differentiate your product
Absolut Vodka is one of the most recognizable beverages in the world. The bottle we remember is the plain, transparent glass bottle with blue letters written across in bold. The design itself is ordinary, but how did it become a global icon for alcoholic drinks?
The hype that lasted over three decades started in 1980, when the advertising agency TBWA created an Absolut ad featuring an Absolut bottle with a halo above it, with the words “Absolut Perfection” written below. The ad has an immaculate class to it, and somehow getting hammered on vodka doesn’t seem so sloppy anymore. The ad was a hit and the subsequent campaign that launched 1500 different creative displays of the bottle landed Absolute a US sales of 4.5 million from an initial 10,000.
The above ads are examples of the brands “Cities” series. By the late 1980s, Absolut designed their products by framing famous landmarks or unique geographical features into the shape of a bottle. With the series, Absolut builds a global connection to their product and implants the idea of a readily available, friendly drink.
So how did Absolut become an icon? The answer is their ability to differentiate and diversify.
Source: The Drum, yellowHEAD, Business Insider
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