A good plan with all the fundamentals is important, but that extra creativity is always what pushes things to the next level. Including promotional, email, and guerilla, here are a few of our favourite marketing strategy examples that will inspire you to go a little bigger.
Points for Pies
On the surface, Domino’s “Points for Pies” system seems like a standard rewards system with a little twist… but it’s so much better than that.
The system works by giving customers points for scanning any kind of pizza, even ones from competitors. The customer then gets to use those points for discounts on Domino’s pies.
Here’s the genius of it: Allowing customers to scan any pizza gives Domino’s priceless market research.
Instead of asking customers to fill out a survey or some other form of communication (which most usually ignore), people willingly gave Domino’s information about all their pizza-eating habits, like how often they eat, what toppings they get, what competitors they’re visiting most, and plenty more.
American Apparel Welcome Email
Creative doesn’t have to mean complicated.
Most businesses have a welcome email that is sent to new customers. Whether they just made their first purchase, signed up for a rewards account, or completed a survey on your website, a thank you email welcoming them to the community is a must.
However, American Apparel wanted to do away with any fluff or distractions, opting instead for a more direct approach. Their welcome email simply had giant text reading “15% off for you” with small links to men, women, and other clothing sections.
When you know what the people want, just give it to them.
Go Guerilla and You Might Go Viral
It’s not just the big guys coming up with creative ideas either.
Another example of how something simple can turn into something big, Seven Springs Resort recently had a video go viral.
❄️ 1 inch of natural snow overnight
— Seven Springs (@7SpringsPA) January 20, 2022
🌨 16 inches of snow this week
🎿 21 slopes and trails
🏂 3 terrain parks
🚡 9 am - 9 pm
Snow Report: https://t.co/rw4pGi01Tx pic.twitter.com/gNAT7Q99Ct
At first, the video plays out like a normal weather and slope condition report. The host explains which runs are open and how much snow came down over the week. However, in the background is someone really struggling to get down a set of snowy stairs with their ski boots on.
It’s not the craziest video idea, but it was funny and creative enough to go viral with the video now sitting at over 11 million views.
Charity Billboard
Humans are visual creatures. When it comes to persuading people to donate money, showing them exactly where or how their money is helping is a fantastic way to go.
Misereor, a German relief organization, created an interactive billboard with a card scanner built in. The billboard would display something like a loaf of bread and when someone slid their card down the centre to donate, it would slice off a piece of bread.
Simple, but effective.
This strategy also has a second lesson: Good lead nurturing. The company also partnered with banks, showing a special thank you message in their statement, also encouraging them to turn that one-time donation into a monthly one.
Get Wild
As you can see, the success of your strategy is often up to how inventive you can get. These marketing strategy examples show that, big or small, you need to get creative.
However, enacting a one-time creative idea is just a small piece of the whole marketing pie.
Luckily, Siva knows marketing like no one else.
We love bringing our clients craziest ideas to life and supporting it with a full, data-driven strategy. Your idea is awesome, but do you have the website and social media to back it up? Find out using our free audit.