Oreo Super Bowl Tweet
The first in our trio is Oreo’s expertly timed Super Bowl tweet, ‘you can still dunk in the dark’. Oreo’s tweet generated a wave of online activity and provides an excellent example of how effective real-time ‘newsjacking’ can be.
It was during the power-outage which affected the Super Bowl game in February last year between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens. When the power went out in the Superdome, hundreds of thousands of viewers naturally took to the twittersphere including the well-experienced Oreo social media team. Oreo cleverly turned the 34 minute blackout into a priceless marketing opportunity with the below tweet receiving over 21,000 interactions via Twitter alone.
This tweet created a viral storm and was retweeted 10,000 times within just the first hour. A response such as this, however, is not simply the result of a sheer luck; in fact, many of Oreo’s marketing campaigns in 2013 were successful due to the simplicity and control over what, where and how they were implemented – as well as why they did it!
A previous example of Oreo’s well crafted marketing from 2012 includes their support of gay pride, ‘Proudly Support Love!’ which centred around an image of a colourful rainbow Oreo cookie. Again released via social media, their tweet generated more than 182,000 retweets and favourites combined.
Oreo’s real-time approach, alongside their knack for well-thought, simplistic and honest campaigns, is what has earnt them a well-deserved place in our favourite marketing campaigns of 2013.
Volvo Trucks
Volvo haven’t been the only brand to utilize the allure of Jean-Claude Van Damme in their marketing over recent years. However, ‘The Epic Split’ stunt in 2013 must surely top the list in terms of ‘weird and wacky’ for the 53 year old actor.
The YouTube video, which finds Van Damme doing the splits, wedged between two reversing Volvo trucks, aimed to “demonstrate the stability and precision of Volve Dynamic Steering”. The disturbingly, awe-inspiring feat went viral across the internet and generated well over 66 million views on YouTube. The resulting boost to product and brand awareness solidified the campaign as a side-splitting (or leg-splitting) success for the company.
See the spectacle for yourself below:
And still the campaign lives on! Van Damme’s display of extreme flexibility has inspired a deluge of spoof imitation videos. Other, well-known celebrities have jumped on the band wagon including Channing Tatum who performed ‘Jenko’s Epic Split’ on the film set of 21 Jump Street and received over 14 million views. Also, legendary actor Chuck Norris attempts to upstage Van Damme with the help of CGI performing a similar stunt wedged between two planes while balancing a team of pilots on his shoulders – this imitation has since totted up over 21 million views.
In respect of its uniquely bizarre concept and the outstanding viral response, ‘The Epic Split’ sits proudly as one of our favourite marketing campaigns of 2013.
Red Bull Stratos Space Jump
Our list wouldn’t be complete without including one of the biggest and best-known marketing campaigns of 2013 – Red Bull’s Stratos Space Jump.
Red Bull is becoming synonymous with high-octane, high-profile and high-budget marketing campaigns that do wonders for their brand recognition and customer perception. Year on year, Red Bull have consistently developed some of the most memorable marketing campaigns in history and 2013 was no exception. “Red Bull Stratos” was Red Bull’s mission to the edge of space where pilot Felix Baumgartner then made a 128,000 foot freefall jump back to earth.
Red Bull Stratos was a test of human limitations and coincides beautifully with Red Bull’s core brand values.
52 million people worldwide streamed the event live online. Countless more individuals have seen news clips, reports and re-watched the video as well as the supporting documentary from the dedicated event website. Red Bull’s Stratos Space Jump remains the most-watched live web stream ever in the history of the world wide web.
The echoes of this unbelievable stunt will carry well into the future. The jump challenged and broke 5 Guinness World Records, as well as Baumgartner achieving the title of the first human to break the sound barrier without engine power. True to their brand values, Red Bull’s event is not only an amazing marketing campaign but a historical feat for humanity.
For us, the Red Bull Stratos mission has it all and represents one of the greatest marketing campaigns of the modern era. Therefore, it rightfully sits at the top of our favourite marketing campaigns of 2013.
Throughout 2013 there have been some great marketing campaigns. Some campaigns have been creative and moving, others being very odd and bizarre; either way we’ve all been talking about them. Our favourite three marketing campaigns continue to live on, making them worthy of favourite marketing campaigns of 2013.