CREATIVE THAT CRACKS THE CODE

Harvard Business Review

A decade into the internet-driven advertising revolution, has

creativity taken a backseat?

An avalanche of junk ads choke up modern-day websites

Today, advertising has flipped to all science

and no art

But then along comes some fresh creative to show us what really sells

Ad campaigns that had the X - factor

6

1

VARIATIONS ON A MEMEWonderful Pistachios

The campaign started out conventionally, using celebrities, and later included memes, such as the Honey Badger

ResultA 233% increase in sales

Mauka Mauka AdsThe Star Sports Network “Mauka Mauka” Ads went viral during the ICC World Cup 2015, spurring a series of memes on the internet

INDIAN CONTEXT

2

AD AS A GAMECoca-Cola China’s CHOK!

Viewers were invited to download an app and waggle their smartphones to catch bottle caps flying across the TV screen

ResultThe ad exceeded 9 million views and pushed sales

3

CROWDSOURCINGOREO Daily Twist

ResultOreo’s FB page shares rose by 4.40%

The campaign launched a 100 day series of cookie designs and invited people to vote for the designs

INDIAN CONTEXT

The ‘Write Your i10 Story’ Contest invited users to write a script for the next Hyundai i10 television commercial.

4

JUST ENOUGH HUMOURKIA Motors America

When its Soul Model car debuted in 2008, Kia introduced dancing hamsters jiving to hip tunes

ResultKia registered double digit growth in sales in the US

Vodafone ZooZoo ads

INDIAN CONTEXT

5

A NEW SOCIAL MOVEMENTMarks and Spencer “SHWOP”

Customers were asked to drop their old clothes in a “Shwop Box”each time they bought something new

INDIAN CONTEXT

Lifebuoy launched a global movement to teach good hand-washing habits that can save millions of young lives at risk

6

ADS THAT GO NATIVENeiman Marcus and Target

Target and Neiman Marcus teamed up to advertise their merchandise on ABC’s drama series Revenge. Every ad in the hour-long segment was theirs and they hired the show’s cast to perform in character in five long-form commercials

In India, native advertising is still finding its feet and is largely absent. Marketers must embrace native advertising andrealize that the era of banner ads is over.

Native advertising is a relatively new approach to online advertising. These ads are called 'native' because they seem to be belong to platform they are advertised on

INDIAN CONTEXT

These slides were created by Anju Ann Joseph, MEC Kochi as part of an internship under the guidance of Prof. Sameer Mathur, IIM Lucknow

(www.IIMInternship.com)