Having never attended a Digital Doughnut event, but having read glowing reviews, I was very excited to attend their Popcorn event at the end of March. Especially with such a great event title, west-end cinema venue and promise of an afternoon showcasing some of the finest examples of digital marketing campaigns in the world.
The event was presented by digital marketing consultants Michael Nutley and Mike Berry, co-author of ‘The Best of Global Digital Marketing: The Story Book’.
We were taken through 12 award winning digital campaigns covering a broad range of sectors from automotive and food to non-profit and retail. With a lot of interaction from the audience, the presenters discussed the strategy, tactics and execution behind the campaigns.
Here are a few of my favourites:
Coca-Cola: Small World Machines: Coke teamed up with advertising agency Leo Burnett to create Small World Machines. Two vending machines placed in shopping malls in Delhi, India and Lahore, Pakistan used active-shutter 3D technology that projects a feed onto glass while filming through that glass at the same time, the brand endeavoured to unite the two countries.
People were able to make eye contact, ‘touch’ hands, wave and smile to each other. Touch-screen interfaces were used to trace peace signs and smiley faces, with a can of Coke as the reward for completing tasks together.
The story was the brand’s highest-shared ever, reaching 18 million Facebook and Twitter users. The campaign really hit home for me; if brands can raise awareness and help improve lives then they should get involved in any way they can – even with longstanding political tensions.
Watch the campaign video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ts_4vOUDImE
Nivea Sun Kids: Based in Rio de Janeiro, this tied in with the Nivea strapline ‘Nivea Sun Kids is about protection’, and was a showcase for protecting children, but not just from the sun. The campaign involved a clever mix of offline and online marketing, with a magazine advert and mobile app. The ad included a detachable bracelet containing a Bluetooth chip that could track the child’s distance away via the mobile app.
The results of the campaign speak for themselves, with Nivea Sun Kids having the top sales in its segment and a sales increase of 62% in Rio.
Troy Public Library: Troy Public Library in Michigan, Detroit, was facing closure due to city service cuts from a struggling state economy. The citizens of the city were offered a vote to either save the library and agree to a tax increase, or to close it.
Leo Burnett, offered their services free of charge and delivered one of the greatest pieces of reverse psychology I’ve ever seen. They created a fake political group who were claiming they would hold a book burning party three days after the library had closed. Using a mixture of social media and guerrilla marketing, they urged people to vote to close the library so they could burn all the books.
The response on social media was overwhelmingly negative and by the time the agency announced ‘A vote against the library is like a vote to burn books’, the campaign had convinced enough people to vote ‘no’ to the closure and it won the referendum by a landslide.
They did reveal the hoax before the election. It was a risky strategy that could have back-fired. But the library was saved and the campaign won a prestigious Effie Award.
It was also voted everyone’s favourite at the Popcorn event.
