17 November 2009
Event Driven Marketing
Posted by robgraham under: Uncategorized .
My ClickZ.com column for this week takes a close look at how events in the world, Weather changes, natural disasters and special events and holidays) can be useful guides for positioning ads and campaign so that they truly do reach the right people “at the right time”.
To help support the column, I wanted to share with you some good examples of ads that have been created specifically to take advantage of some of these events. A special tip of the chapeau to my friend Anna Reischl for doing all the hard work and pulling together this excellent group of examples:
This example from Dunkin’ Donuts is specifically positioned to help consumers ‘beat the heat’. By letting a summer heatwave set the mood, the ad is ready for a high motivated audience.
Likewise, this duo from Starbucks has you covered at both ends of the temperature spectrum…
Positioning of messages for selling seasons (i.e, bathing suits in the summer, boots in the winter) is a long standing strategy. However, this ad for Columbia was actually positioned as the result of a large snowstorm due during the next day.
This ad, while poorly defined, was positioned specifically as the result of an incoming hurricane. You can see the original page here:
This recent ad was driven by the keywords “swine flu”.
Special and annual events can also be used to drive interest and timely traffic. Here, Apple gets ready for their ‘Black Friday’ sales event.
The significance of a day depends on who you are. Here, Canon positions an ad for dads (or those buying for dads) as a way to celebrate Father’s Day.
Is there any day more personally relevant than your birthday? Here Adidas takes advantage of previous data collecting activities to offer the consumer a special offer for their special day.
Positioning ads against events is often based on common sense or sheer luck but marketers who are willing to pay attention to what motivates their target audiences can really benefit for some early planning and then waiting for an opportunity to take advantage of perfect timing.