Jingle Maker
Legendary (and fictional) record producer Tommy Silk helps you rock out your R.O.I and synthesize your 
sales by making a free commercial song with jingle lyrics written for your own type of business. Jingle lyrics are customized based on the business name and information you provide. Commercials are based on Your Love, originally performed by The Outfield. Jingle Maker is provided by Intuit, the makers of tax software QuickBooks. I like how they’ve created a very creative and innovative campaign for a product that isn’t traditionally sexy. In addition to the Jingle Maker microsite, they also have footprints on YouTube and Facebook
Mikes Hard Lemonade Victim Video
Need a day off, but you have to have an alibi? Let Mike’s Hard Lemonade put together a personalized news clip that you can use to cover your tracks. Upload a picture, give them some basic information and you’ve got yourself a custom video detailing your hard luck. You can get sucked up in a street sweeper, stuck on a carnival ride or have your cat perform CPR on you. To top it all off, they put the video in a customized web page that resembles a news website. The videos are hard from believable, but worth many laughs.
Little Gordon Ramsay
Caterer.com has created 2 amazingly funny ads featuring a young Gordon Ramsay to promote their hospitality site. For my money (and attention), there’s nothing better than a kid with an English accent dropping f-bombs. You have to see the videos to believe it. Video 1, Video 2.
Office Max – Power to the Penny
To promote their 1¢ back-to-school specials, Office Max put a hidden camera on an actor who went around to various establishments such as a deli, a used car lot and a jewelry store trying to pay with pennies. As you can imagine, he wasn’t greeted with welcome arms after presenting a bag full (or truck load) of pennies on the counter. Office Max ends the spots with ‘We’ll take your pennies’.
The only down fall I found with this promotion is that the videos aren’t able to be viewed without going directly to the Office Max microsite, which is a major bummer to the viral aspect of this campaign.
Häagen-Dazs Help the Honey Bees
Maker of all things delicious, Häagen-Dazs, has created a public service announcement around the disappearance of the honey bee. The ice cream gods go on to ask customers to plant a seed and support bee-keepers so the bees can continue to pollinate the delicious fruits that go into their ice cream. Häagen-Dazs has also used more traditional forms of media to bring their cause to the forefront, including promoting their Bee-Boy dance crew that has been lighting up YouTube and the blogosphere.
I love the social aspect that Häagen-Dazs has employed with this campaign; its nice to see a company spend some of their own money to support and bring attention to causes they believe in. I feel this only builds a stronger brand and increases the stickiness of their customer. Check out the Bee-Boy dance crew video on this page in the feature video section.
Your Thoughts?
So, what have you learned from these? What insight or tips have you taken away from these brilliant campaigns? I’ve detailed my thoughts and tips below for making a creative and viral online marketing campaign below, but I want to hear what you think. Leave your feedback in the comments or drop me a link to a campaign you find creative and witty.
Tips for making a creative and viral online marketing campaign.
- Make sure there is something in it for the user
- Make it easy and rewarding
- Think instant gratification
- Be sure the campaign doesn’t overshadow the product
- Insure users will connect the campaign to the product
- Make it desirable to pass on
