4 Bizarre Marketing Stunts That Worked and What You Can Learn From Them
Weird advertising. Sometimes they make us laugh, sometimes they make us curious, and sometimes they baffle the logic out of our heads. But you have to admit that from a customer’s view, they are truly memorable.
And from a solopreneur’s view, it’s a good way to make customers talk about your brand. Let’s take a look at some of the outlandish marketing moves big companies made and gain insights on how you can use them in your business.
1. Dove’s “Real Beauty”
A few years ago in the early 2000s, advertising with attractive ultra-polished models was the fad of big companies. So it was bizarre to use models other than that during the time. But when Dove sales plateaued, they knew they needed to step up their game.
That’s where they came up with “Real Beauty” where they employed women that came from various races, sizes, ages, and hair colors as models and presented them with no perceptible makeup. Their billboards performed well because they appealed to all women.
The lesson: To grow a brand and customer base, you must advertise your goods that connect to people from all walks of life.
2. IHOP’s “IHOb”
The pancake house restaurant chain is well-known for selling pancakes and other breakfast foods. That’s why most of their customers perceive the “P” from “IHOP”. However, they said they would be changing their name into “IHOb” with a Twitter post saying, “Find out what it could b on 6.11.18.”
It turned out the “b” stood for burgers. The company wasn’t just selling pancakes anymore but burgers as well. This created a lot of noise on Twitter because people started speculating. While their “IHOb” stunt may seem predictable, IHOP achieved the goal of the stunt: People were talking about them.
The lesson: To create a marketing stunt for your business that makes it stay in the minds of your customers, you must do research first. IHOP found that there was a drop of pancakes in social media conversions and burgers were gaining popularity.
So they gave customers what was trending in the form of burgers. They also built suspense and made sure that they became relevant by making people talk about them on social media.
3. SodaStream’s “SodaSoak”
There is nothing better than a lighthearted advertisement that features pop culture icons. In the case of SodaStream, they invited Shahs of Sunset star Reza Farahan and Game of Thrones star Thor “The Mountain” Bjornsson.
The mission? To do a parody infomercial on April Fool’s Day of its parody innovation: the SodaSoak - a sparkling water maker for a bathtub. It even said the product came with fruity bath oils similar to the fruity flavors of SodaStream.
The lesson: Delight and surprise your audience through lighthearted and out-of-this-world promotions. Use key dates as well such as seasons, holidays, or celebrations to expose your brand. Don’t forget to highlight your product even when you’re promoting it through a parody.
4. KFC’s “Colonel Sanders Cat Tower”
KFC is one of the brands that’s known for its very weird marketing stunts. One of them is the “Col. Sanders Cat Tower”. Now you might imagine what that looks like and think there’s nothing special about it given KFC’s weird approach to marketing.
It’s how they presented it that really drove the internet nuts. You see, KFC hosted a 4-hour Facebook live of adoptable cats roaming around a room and climbing the tower. On top of that, the surrounding setup of the live was adorned with hanging chicken legs that resembled what seemed to be cat toys. There was also a man wearing a cat head playing with the felines.
The response was more than good. One Million plus viewers watched the Facebook live and you could bet that they were ordering delivery of KFC during that 4-hour run.
The lesson: The internet loves cats so use them as part of your marketing tool. Embrace the weirdness as well. Too much formal advertising can end up dull in the eyes of your customers. Some may even think it’s another cash grab.
There is nothing wrong with using bizarre marketing stunts to promote your business. What’s important is that it never hurts anyone or anything. So brainstorm for the most outlandish marketing idea you can possibly think of. Find a common ground for it to your business so you can use it successfully.
Do you enjoy LIFESTYLE SOLOPRENEUR’s articles? Read more here: