Marketing Inspiration #33.3: Advertisers Watching Ads
Your weekly dose of data-driven marketing insights
Marketing Inspiration on Advertisers Watching Ads - our show where brands watch other brands’ ads and discuss what they liked - and often, what they didn’t! - in partnership with Contagious.
This month, we’re looking back at musical themed AWA episodes and how brands have been using songs to connect with their audiences, with more or less success.
“In today’s digital playing field, it’s all about [...] doing the most outrageous [thing], definitely wanting to go viral, creating your own moments rather than latching on to a moment.” - Melissa Nyarko, Media and Career Consultant
Duolingo is the very definition of “doing the outrageous thing” when it comes to advertising and not taking itself seriously. The brand’s “Duolingo on Ice” ad was actually an April Fool’s Day prank, but the songs were also made available on Spotify and they had a SeatGeek integration, too. Talk about going “all out” with your brand activation. It’s a hilarious ad, but how do we measure its effectiveness?
“It’s really good because it’s not an ad, it’s a music video. It also has the heartbeat structure of social media ads where you’ve got the brand and then you do more interesting stuff, then you’ve got the brand again.” - Tom Webster, EMEA Paid Social Media Manager at Cisco
Another fun-loving brand, Yorkshire Tea are no strangers to music in their ads. But the “Pack Yer Bags” ad featuring Skipton Alfie didn’t seem to be an ad at all. Rather, it lived on social media alone and was pretty much its own music video, full of tongue-in-cheek lyrics and simply funny bits that will resonate easily with the British audience. Watch it, get hooked on the rhythm, and tell us if you liked it:
“Using customers’ own words to create a rap and putting it on TikTok is just really clever. It’s really fresh. And it’s very relevant.” - Virginia Barnes, Interim Brand, Sponsorship and Retail Marketing at Standard Life UK
BNP Paribas used actual social media comments from customers trying to find somewhere to live in Paris and collaborated with rapper D.ACE to criticise the so-called “obstacle course” students are facing. It’s a rare opportunity for a bank to show its “human side” while they try to connect with Gen Z. Does this hurt their core brand identity? See what our guests had to say:
Many thanks to all of our guests:
Melissa Nyarko (Media and Career Consultant), Lucie Say (Head of Social Media and Reputation at BNP Paribas), Jason Huertas (Former Lead Product Manager - Advertising and Marketing Technology (North America) at The Kraft Heinz Company), Virginia Barnes (Interim Brand, Sponsorship and Retail Marketing at Standard Life UK), Nick Merry (Senior Creative at SHARE Creative), Maryum Sheikh (PR and SEO Lead at The Digital Voice), and Tom Webster (EMEA Paid Social Media Manager at Cisco).
Do you want to share your thoughts about these ads or suggest a new one for us to debate? Email us on hello@automatedcreative.net.
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And here is another ad you should have seen - via our friends at Contagious: