Here are 7 marketing gimmicks which stunned the world recently

While marketing is a constant exercise that brands perform in order to try to get a millisecond of a consumer’s attention, however there are some brands that create marketing campaigns that get more attention than others.

Whether some people call them marketing gimmicks but these are campaigns that you remember even a couple of years later as managed to not only get the world’s attention but even get people to talk about it. Not to mention the free media mileage, this would boost the message to many around the world.

Here are seven marketing gimmicks recently which stunned the world.

1. Pan Bahar Masala’s ‘Class Never Goes Out of Style’: The pan masala brand which was virtually unknown to many overnight made a name which everyone was suddenly talking about. Its controversial campaign starring former James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan stirred social media on October 10 with a massive launch across mediums such as print, TV, hoardings, digital, etc.

Not only was it trending on social media sites for a whole day but also got significant coverage from the media. While many had a good laugh from the campaign, there were several others who were offended at Brosnan for endorsing the pan masala brand. The actor had to eventually apologize for participating in the ad and claimed he was unaware about the health effects of the product.  

However, the brand which was eclipsed by competitor brands such as Rajnigandha and Pan Parag got instant fame and recognition.

2. TE-A-ME’s ‘Tea for Trump’: With the whole world watching the US Presidential Elections Indian tea company TE-A-ME took the opportunity to make its mark by delivering 6,000 tea bags to Republican Nominee Donald Trump with a message of helping him to cleanse himself of all the negativity and hatred.

They not only had sari-clad women delivering the huge box of tea bags to the doorstep of Trump Towers but also had a video message playing on the streets of New York requesting him to drink the tea. They even had graffiti and posters and several concerned citizens of the country asking Trump to drink the tea.

The marketing gimmick became an instant hit and caught the attention of several people. It was also covered by several newspapers and media houses the world over.

3. Motorola ‘Skip the Sevens’ campaign: Right on the heels of the launch of iPhone 7, Motorola picked up on the Apple phones lack of innovativeness which people had felt and used it to their advantage. Motorola's ‘Skip the Sevens’ campaign in the US had taken on the cult that will presumably buy anything with the iconic fruit-with-a-bite logo irrespective of the price band.

The ad shows a group of Apple loyalists talking about the new iPhone 7 which was "not really much of a difference" and with "just a little better camera", before they are introduced to an allegedly new prototype. What the moderator of the group keeps from them is that the prototype wasn't of the Apple iPhone but, in fact, of the new Moto Z with its innovative mods.

The ad not only won the appreciation of those Apple loyalists in the focus group but several others on social media.

4. Netflix socks: Online movie and series streaming site and content creator Netflix identified a problem which their users were facing and created a solution which fit people’s legs. As many users were used to sleeping off watching their favorite shows the problem faced was that they did not remember the scene they had watched last and had to watch it all over again.

Netflix came up with a pair of sock with sensors that could identify and pause the show when a person was off to sleep. The innovation tool and its marketing became an instant hit and got everyone talking about it.

5. Adidas ‘Odds’: This was another brand which relied on consumer insights to create product which end up becoming a famous marketing campaign around the world. Adidas had created Odds, which were pairs of odd or even shoes created for amputee athletes.

The sports brand came up with a global marketing campaign which featured Paralympic athletes from around the world and highlighted their achievements which were against all odds. The Indian campaign featured Paralympic marathon runner Major D P Singh, who is India’s first blade runner.

The marketing campaign received wide appreciation and acclaim.

6. Coca-Cola ‘Remove the label’: The cola brand created a marketing campaign recently in the Middle East during Ramadan with the message breaking stereotypes. The company came up with no-label cans which was blank on one side with just the brand’s iconic design and on the other it read ‘Labels are for cans, not for people’.

It further ran an ad which depicted several strangers being invited for a dinner party in the dark. The men, who are unable to see each other, talk about various topics and issues. When the lights come on it reveals the diverse group of men, ie one with facial tattoos, two Arab men, a man in a wheelchair, a business man, etc. Each of them had labeled the other much different from their appearance and were shocked after seeing each other.

The campaign was widely covered and got many to discuss issues of stereotypes that they have experienced.

7. Nestle ‘Educate the Girl Child’: While it has become fairly common for brands to take up a cause and promote it by an ad campaign which typically says ‘a part of the proceeds from buying the product will go for a good cause’, Nestle did this a little differently. Like Coca-Cola they used their iconic brands to give the message to education for the girl child.

Various brands in the Nestle stable had customized their packaging to spread this message. Maggi noodles for instance had their iconic line ‘2-minute noodles’ changed to ‘2-minute education’, KitKat’s iconic ‘Have a Break’ tagline was changed to ‘No break from education’ and Nescafe’s tagline of ‘It all starts with a Nescafe’ was changed to ‘It all starts with education’.

The good message was caught the attention of people and helped in spreading awareness. The result not only created a lot more eyeballs for the brand but also for the cause.