Over the past few years, the tactics and channels used within marketing campaigns have changed. But one thing that hasn’t changed is the focus on creating unique, well-branded and influential campaigns that grab consumer's attention and create a lasting impression.
There are many different forms of marketing campaigns, from television, radio, social media, user-generated content (OGC), out-of-home (OOH), activations, print etc.
The marketing campaigns that appeared over January have set the marketing campaign quality, uniqueness, and trends for the rest of 2024.
Starling Bank
Starling Bank released 3 new long-form TV advertisements in January, with a goal to educate audiences about a few of Starling's main features. The campaign not only ran on TV it was posted across social media in long form and new creative was shot for short form and static content.
The campaign was targeted towards a wide range of people from those who aren’t currently a part of Starling and to those who are members of the bank but are unaware of their helpful features. Each piece of content targets a different feature of Starling Bank that will appeal to different segments.
“The Dessert” targets those who need help budgeting but who hate spreadsheets, with the Spaces feature, which are digital piggy banks where you can separate your money, and create and track goals with no risk of accidentally spending it unless you choose to.
“Rinsed” promotes Starling’s feature for kids called Kite, this is targeted towards parents who have children between the ages of 6 to 15 years old who want to start teaching them money skills.
“Night Owls” is about joint accounts, targeting those who share costs like splitting a meal out, groceries or any other costs and those with a shared money goal.
This campaign was effective as they targeted a wide range of people, with their content and the channels they used.
Surreal
January brought this unique and very relatable campaign from the cereal brand Surreal. The campaign compromises multiple print and digital billboards across the UK and has been shared across various social media platforms. I would say the creative brief for this campaign was “forget everything you have ever learnt about graphic design and get in touch with your inner child playing on Word Art.”
The creative is humorous, playful, and eye-catching and is in the spirit of the feeling most of us have being back at work in January far too quickly after having a holiday break. The campaign is targeted towards Millennials and Gen Z who can relate to the creative treatment, to those who are also feeling the January blues and those who are health conscious, especially those who are starting their New Year health journeys.
Surreal’s January campaign is informative, telling consumers that their cereal is full of protein and low in sugar. They also convey that their brand has a strong personality which helps build an emotional connection, bringing the brand to the forefront of your mind by creating trust and differentiating from competitors.
KitKat
As the temperatures dropped and snow began to fall in the UK, Kit Kat launched an OOH campaign reminding Brits to “Have a brrr” - a play on their slogan “Have a break,
have a KitKat” with an ice-covered image leaving the text clear, like a car windscreen with ice scraped off.
This campaign is playful and timely and is targeted towards those in the UK who are feeling the cold and reminds them to have a brr…eak, have a KitKat.
Kellogs
In January Kellogg’s opened a pop-up Corn-er Shop in Manchester, the pop-up activation took over a local café for 3 days in January and was set to drive awareness of Kellogg’s newest release, the Chocolate Corn Flake. Kellogg’s gave the store a makeover, recreating a traditional store front and interior where visitors could feel transported back in time. People would be able to venture through the Corn-er Shop, learning about the history of Kellogg’s and then they were able to craft their perfect bowl, choosing from various topping options and milk choices all mixed in with the brand-new chocolate flavour of Corn Flakes.
This campaign’s goal was to create mass awareness of the new launch, create a fear of missing out (FOMO) within those who weren’t in attendance and curiosity around the activation and the new release.