No company exists in isolation, you have to be aware of the latest trends and developments in your sector and you have to give yourself the opportunity to be inspired by others. At Ambergreen, we’ve always got our eyes and ears open to quality content marketing and – where it’s merited – we’re big enough to offer a hat tip to those involved.
So, what’s been earning the kudos of our content team this month?
What caught Ross’ eye?
IHOP – “Shoot your shot” tweet
https://twitter.com/IHOP/status/651401573394944000
What’s the background to the campaign?
In its American branches, McDonalds has begun serving its breakfast menu all day (it’s only taken 22 years for the angst of Michael Douglas’s delayed wannabe breakfast buyer in Falling Down to be taken onboard). This obviously conveys a degree of challenge to any restaurant chains that had already serving breakfast menus all day, such as IHOP.
What do I like about this?
It’s short, it’s snappy, it’s just a few characters of text but it’s topical, relevant to the brand, relevant to its customers and it encapsulates a real attitude. Brands can often be wary of openly taking on a competitor but if you can back it up with the quality of your product – why not go for it?
Though I like the simplicity of this tweet, I do also retain a soft-spot for the incredible effort, production values and general overkill that went into Taco Bell’s comparison of Ronald McDonald with a communist dictator.
Incidentally, if you think taking on a competitor is a modern phenomenon driven by social media, then you’d be wrong. One of the most iconic advertising campaigns of the 1960s was Avis’s direct attack on the no.1 car rental brand, Hertz.
Like I say though… “if you can back it up”.
Book My Garage – The Evolution of the Batmobile infographic
Before I saw this infographic, I’d never heard of Book My Garage and wasn’t aware that their service even existed. Am I going to rush out and book a car repair through them? Hopefully not, because hopefully the car’s not going to pack in anytime soon. If it does though, then now I’m aware of the site and have a feeling of positivity towards it because it provided me with an infographic charting the development of the Batmobile through its various comic, graphic novel, TV and movie incarnations.
It’s fun, it’s timely (with the Batman vs. Superman movie on the way), it’s visibility earning and it has a relevance to the core product. It’s a reminder that there’s always a way to reach (or generate) an audience if you’re prepared to think more laterally about your product and the stories it can touch upon.
And there’s probably a stronger relevance between a site you can arrange MOTs through and the Batmobile than there will be between the Batman any of us know and the Zack Snyder-directed version that will end up hitting our screens in the new movie.
What caught Chris’ eye?
Tony the Tiger gets brandjacked
Kellogg’s Frosties beloved mascot, Tony the Tiger, got brand-jacked last week. In the surprisingly high production value video, Tony is seen helping a prostitute named ‘Candy’ regain her mojo with a hearty bowl of the sugared flakes.
While Kellogg’s have assured us that they had nothing to do with the video, it has been widely shared and was even picked up by AdWeek.
Why I like it
The video is well done, pretty funny, and is heaped with irony. But more than that, we like the idea of using recognisable brand assets to do something different and unexpected. Okay, so pairing such a smutty message with ostensibly a kids’ brand would be brand suicide, that doesn’t mean you can’t use brand assets in a creative way to either boost your own brand image or target a competitor’s (see the above example from Taco Bell).
What can you learn from it?
Brand assets are more than just logos and names. At no point in the Taco Bell video do you see the McDonald’s logo, Ronald McDonald doesn’t even look right, but the brand assets are still visible. The wind up burger toy, the breakfast burgers, the ball pits – it’s all there giving the impression of McDonald’s, even without mentioning them by name.
Greenpeace have done something similar to target big brands in their campaigns. For example, following the release of the Lego Movie, Greenpeace made a video of oil flooding a Lego-made Artic using a slow, depressing version of the “Everything is awesome” theme song:
They also recently targeted Volkswagen by turning their Star Wars themed advert on it’s head, making VW out to be the bad guys.
Both these campaigns were extremely effective, getting both brands to reverse their positions on key environmental issues.
Vita Coco build authority through content
Content is king on the web. But many brands use content simply to promote their product. Maybe this approach worked for a few weeks in the early days of content marketing, but with today’s web-savvy consumer, it just doesn’t work at all.
Vita Coco are demonstrating how to do content marketing well by creating a content hub on their website. This hub publishes both editorial and guest content on the uses of coconut. Does every post upsell Vita Coco, or even coconut water? Nope. But each does talk about coconuts and their many, many uses.
Why I like it
It’s an example of content marketing done well. It builds trust by not being advertorial; develops authority on coconuts and their uses, so people will listen to Vita Coco in the future; it is useful to anyone wanting to find out more about coconuts; and it facilitates interaction with interested bloggers and experts via guest posts.
What can you learn from it?
In an era where trust in content is wavering, there is an opportunity to position your brand as a trusted advisor. The trick to getting it right is threefold, and can be lifted straight from the Vita Coco campaign:
- Write with authority on topics surrounding your product, but never about the product directly. This develops your brand tone of voice, ensures high-quality content, and means you have regular content coming out.
- Elicit guest posts from both experts and consumers. These will be much more trusted that internally written content and mean you can make the most of their individual social networks. They write for the exposure and then use their social networks to share your content hub.
- Share your own content on third-party sites. With some PR work you can get non-promotional content published on industry magazines and websites, enhancing your image as a trusted expert on the topic.
How can Ambergreen help you to realise new content marketing opportunities for your brand?
At Ambergreen we’re always looking out for the latest content trends and we love having the opportunity to guide your company or organisation on how to make the most of them. Quality content can boost your site’s SEO, engagement on your social media accounts and your overall brand visibility.
Why not arrange a chat with us about finding the right content project to serve your needs?
