PPB July 2018

MARKET SHARE Catching On And Cashing In Lessons you can take from 10 viral campaigns to make your own marketing gold. Effective marketing, we all know, is about putting the right message in front of the right audience, and Entrepreneur magazine recently lauded 10 companies for their clever marketing moves, which went viral for myriad reasons. Beyond the obvious lesson that creativity is at the core of great marketing, here are a few more to add to your campaign playbook. 1 Let feedback lead you. The creators of the Gravity Blanket began marketing their weighted wonder with language that implied science-backed benefits, but they soon found that what people wanted from the product couldn’t be described in scientific terms. Feedback from potential consumers drove the creators to steer their campaign toward a lifestyle approach, collaborating with influencers and popular retailers. Sales have since hit $15 million, allowing the founders to explore a product line expansion. 2 Appeal to your audience’s unique strengths. A state-centric promotional organization might be forgiven for not getting much attention outside the borders of its beloved home, but Kentucky For Kentucky was bold enough to reach out to a select audience with a particular idiosyncrasy. An ad placed in Oxford American magazine—a literary pub that features Southern writers— contained a deliberately misspelled word, and a tongue-in-cheek footnote of acknowledgement. 3 Get weird. IKEA is no stranger to oddity. In addition to utterly unpronounceable product lines (for English-speaking customers, at least), the Swedish superstore sells soft hats sewn to look like brains, and a wicker rocking chair no one can quite figure out how to sit in. But when IKEA launched its latest print campaign asking consumers to pee on the ads, it upped the weird factor exponentially. The paper was treated with the same chemicals used in home pregnancy tests, and consumers who did the deed and got a ‘positive’ result saw a discount price for an IKEA crib revealed on the ad. To learn about the rest of the ads and find more inspiration for your next marketing campaign—or your client’s—visit https://www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/313584 . BRANDABLE BeyondThe Blue Sea Delta’s uniform upgrades put the airline in a plum spot among the competition. Delta Airlines has had more than a few moments in the spotlight lately—few of them good. But the airline hopes its latest effort to stand out among other U.S.-based airlines will paint a prettier picture of the company. After a survey revealed passengers can’t tell the difference between airline uniforms—which are primarily shades of blue among most airlines—Delta officials worked with designer Zac Posen to develop a line in a dark shade of purple dubbed Passport Plum. Posen shadowed Delta employees in order to design uniforms that accommodated the types of work they do. Employees tested prototypes and provided feedback to influence the final designs, which still include Delta’s traditional ladies’ scarf and men’s tie. While it was originally intended as a highlight color in Delta’s uniform collection, Passport Plum is now the primary shade for 64,000 employees. After a soft launch in January, the uniform was officially rolled out at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, which is Delta’s home hub, at the end of May. Jen Alexander is associate editor of PPB. 64 | JULY 2018 | THINK