In marketing, we talk a lot about what problem we solve for our clients. Sometimes, it's obvious. If you're hungry, here's a place to eat sort of thing. But a lot of times, if we dig a little deeper, we can find problems that we can help solve that isn't so obvious on the surface; and here are 3 examples.
- What's the connection between pizza and potholes?
- What does a travel agency and population decline have to do with one another?
- What does pregnancy have to do with furniture (I suppose this one's a touch more obvious)
Pizza and Potholes
A few years ago, Domino's Pizza started a Paving For Pizza campaign. The entire point, "Bad roads shouldn't happen to good pizza. No matter where you carry out". Not only does this give them something to talk about, it was a huge win for their brand's image. Moreover, this goodwill became a talking point for local news outlets. And cherry on top? They branded each of the potholes that they repaired.
Travel Agency and Population Decline
Spies is a travel agency in Denmark. In the 2010s, Denmark was seeing a downward trend in their fertility rates and marked population decline. They decided to do something about it, launching their "Do It For Denmark" campaign. They pointed out that Danes have 46% more sex during holidays compared to their everyday life. So they started a lottery. If you can prove that you conceived a child during a trip purchased through Spies, you got a chance to not only win 3 years supply of baby products, but also a child friendly holiday.
And if that wasn't enough, they followed it up with a "Do It For Mom" campaign.
Pregnancy and Furniture
With a babysitting service in many of their stores, and very affordable and nutritious meals for kids, Ikea has long been an ambassador for families. A few years ago, they took this to the next level with a novel campaign. Dropping urine on a marked area of the page did 2 things. It acted as a pregnancy test. And if you turned out to be pregnant, it would reveal a secret discounted price on the ad.
All three of these campaigns were bigger than just an advertisement. They are genius examples of how companies can embrace issues larger than themselves. In the case of Domino's, it was providing a remedy for a headache that affected everyone. For Spies, it was challenging potential clients for the sustainability of their country. And for Ikea, it was marrying new technology with old to celebrate with their audience.
In all three cases, they garnered not only goodwill, but lots of talk, buzz, and interest.
What do you think of these campaigns? As a small business, is there a problem that your audience might resonate with that you haven't thought of? Is there an opportunity for you to address it?
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