Marketing campaigns are everywhere. Every advertisement, product placement, or other marketing technique had a team behind it that organized a strategy and implemented said strategy. 2018 brought many interesting marketing ideas; it also saw some campaigns that fell flat. Below are a few of the year’s greatest marketing ideas.
IHOP
IHOP had everyone jumping over hurdles when they announced they would change to a burger joint and call themselves IHOB – the International House of Burgers. Some people were on board for the change; some people were hesitant to accept it. Of course, it was just an elaborate hoax by IHOP. They simply wanted to sell more burgers. It worked. Burger sales went up by 300 percent during the commotion.
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola didn’t rely only on their “Share a Coke” campaign in 2018. They also teamed up with BTS, the world famous Korean pop group. BTS helped Coca-Cola during the FIFA World Cup in advertising their products. Coca-Cola has been involved in every World Cup since 1978. They made another incredible impression by teaming up with BTS.
Nike
Nike launched a controversial marketing campaign in 2018. It saw people burning their own shoes; it also saw people purchasing Nike shoes to support a meaningful cause. The campaign was truly polarizing. The campaign featured Colin Kaepernick, who made headlines when he refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance in protest to police brutality. Controversy sells, and Nike knows this. The campaign was a great success.
Uber
Uber hasn’t had the best of pasts. That’s where their “Moving Forward” campaign came in. The company was under new leadership, had a different company moral, and had been working on their community involvement. Uber was able to move past sexual harassment allegations, and other forms of misconduct with their “Moving Forward” campaign.
Verma Media
Verma made waves in the cannabis industry in 2018 by teaming up with Orthogonal. Verma Media is known for supporting controversial industries, and this was no different. Verma Media began advertising Orthogonal’s incubation sets.
Into 2019
Let these ideas inspire you for 2019. We are sure to see many more unique, controversial, memorable marketing campaigns. We are sure to see mega-giants like Coca-Cola come with something hard hitting, but what other companies will step up to the plate?