While every year we light to highlight marketing and design trends and successes, sometimes we learn more from fails. We all have them-the ideas we think are awesome and then when we look back on them they were more of a “what were we thinking?” idea. We have chosen a few successes and fails for your entertainment and learning experience. FAILS
  1. Political: First on this list is Pepsi’s Kendall Jenner ad on political protest. We shouldn’t even have to state why this was a bad idea to begin with, however, large brands that have such an impact on media probably should stay away from something as controversial as political protests. Read more about it here: 10 Epic Marketing Campaign Fails Pulled After Public Backlash
  2. Racism: Number three on the same list as above is Sony’s “white is coming” campaign.  Outside of anything political, race is something else that is highly recommended to avoid-in this way, anyhow. To promote the new color of the Playstation, for some reason Sony thought it was a good idea to have a white female grasping a an african american female’s face.
  3. Gender: Last on this same list was is the sixth one down and regards gender. Bic’s campaign promoted the tagline “act like a lady, think like a man” and caused outcry over the clear sexism it portrayed.
So, note to business owners, take the corporations mega fails and learn from them. Now on to to some successful marketing campaigns! SUCCESSES
  1. When talking about New Years, it only seems appropriate to talk about health resolutions. First on our list of successes is Planet Fitness’ 2017 campaign. This campaign held the tagline “The World Judges. We don’t.” This business was successful in portraying the exact tone they encourage all year long in their gyms-a “non intimidating, judgement free atmosphere.” Read more here: 5 Awesome New Years Campaigns
  2. From the same source, Air BnB had a great campaign in 2017 and their popularity soared. Using the hashtag #onelessstranger, they “tapped in to the spirit of generosity this year by encouraging its customers to do an act of kindness.” While the pay-it-forward movement isn’t new, they put a new spin on it by offering 100,000 customers $10 to do just that. These participants were asked to share their experience on social media. This accomplished a few things: spreading kindness, spreading brand awareness and assisting them create amazing user generated content.
  3. We live in a time where journalists and news sources are constantly under fire and are watched extremely close. The New Your Times launched a campaign “The truth is hard to find” to not only boost their brand but to also shed a positive light on journalism in general. Read more here: Top 10 Marketing Campaigns of 2017
While these are all larger corporations, businesses of all sizes have their successes and fails when it comes to marketing campaigns. We would love to hear about yours in the comments!