How Brands Use Creativity in Their Campaigns To Connect With Consumers

Some things about Marketing never change; some things never stay the same.

What doesn’t change is the need for connection: this has always been a major goal in all campaigns, ever - creating a connection between the brand and potential clients. Being at the very core of all marketing, this will likely remain a constant no matter how turbulent the motions get.

What forever changes in Marketing are expectations; modern consumers are better informed than ever, with abundant information flowing right from their fingertips… so they do not want to get more information from adverts. Right now, they want something that shatters their expectations and brightens their life; something that subverts their understanding of what is publicity.

How are Marketers adapting to the ever-changing expectations of consumers, in their on-going efforts to forge connections? Glad you ask! This article highlights several pristine success stories.

Tinder Marketing

Tinder is a popular app for dating among millenials, mostly. At first sight, it’s not the kind of platform that lends well to marketing. But striking from the right angle, clever miracles can be achieved. Enter Social Tees Animal Rescue, a non-profit that recently managed to secure a home for hundreds of abandoned puppies by tapping into this unlikely platform. Simply put, they created Tinder profile for each puppy. When an actual Tinder user happened to be matched with one of the dogs, the shock value actually spiked attention, which prompted interest… and so forth. People were shown instructions on the dog’s favored activities and were encouraged to simply take them for a walk if they didn’t feel quite ready for a big commitment. Surprisingly, the whole thing did work like a charm and many happy pet-owner relationships were established.

Plot Twist

One of the latest ads for the First Utility brand does a clever turn-around of expectations that actually promote a bond with the potential client. The ad goes on elaborating about the advent of HD electricity, as brought about by the discovery that unicorn horns happen to be super-conductive. It goes on about how this technology will make life better for everyone, until the very last seconds when they plug their service in a clever plot twist that goes along the lines of “Wasn’t that a bunch of nonsense? All electricity works the same, so why pay more? Try us instead.” It’s edgy, funny and does a great job of selling hard by not trying hard to sell.

Clever timing

We all know the popular “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” campaign from Snickers. Recently, they added new channels to the mix by setting up what could be the most ingenious PPC campaign ever. Rather than going for obvious keywords, they set up ads for a huge list of 25,000 misspelled search terms. The result? When a user accidentally misspelled a phrase while using their favoured search engine, the headline “You’re not You When You’re Hungry” immediately showed up, leading to the Snickers website. That’s really good timing, that shatters expectations and immediately creates a connection!

These were just a few examples to highlight this major point: the future of marketing is not trying to sell. In the saturated modern markets, the more you try to sell, the less people react. Modern marketing is entirely about creating emotional connections with an audience. Once this is achieved, selling becomes as simple as showing. Think about it: how often to you buy something simply because a trusted friend made a recommendation? That is the power of connections, and marketers keep finding new ways to capitalize on it.