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A great advertising campaign transcends the company that creates it. The Budweiser Clydesdales are nearly as iconic as the beer itself. People still say,“Dude, you’re getting a Dell,”in 2019, despite the fact that PCs aren’t even a major part of Dell’s business model anymore. When it comes to creating an ad campaign that Don Draper would be proud of, it’s best to look at massively successful examples from recent history. Here are a few of our favorites, as well as commentary on why they work and how you can use similar tactics. BRAND DIFFERENTIATION: APPLE This mega-popular ad campaign consisting of 66 spots personified the difference between PCs and Apple computers. Playing the role of “PC”was a buttoned-up, nebbish character you’d expect to find in the most morose workplace on earth. The“Mac”character, by contrast, was laid-back, youthful, and effortlessly cool. After launching the campaign in 2006, Macs became Long before Obama, Chester A. Arthur was the victim of spurious claims that he wasn’t born in America. Grover Cleveland remains the only president to serve nonconsecutive terms. Electricity was very new during Benjamin Harrison’s presidency. Harrison was skeptical of the new technology and refused to touch light switches as a result. Speaking of new technologies, William McKinley was the first president to take a ride in an automobile. Teddy Roosevelt used to hold impromptu boxingmatches with his aides, encouraging them to punch him as hard as possible. Due to his habit of dozing off during meetings, William Howard Taft was dubbed “Sleeping Beauty” by his wife, Nellie. WoodrowWilson loved golf so much that he’d paint golf balls black so he could play during winter. He may be a footnote in presidential history, but Warren G. Harding wore size 19 shoes. • • • • • • • •
the default laptop for nearly every incoming college student. Clearly, the lighthearted jabbing at the competition worked. OFF-THE-WALL IRREVERENCE: OLD SPICE Most deodorant and shampoo commercials are bare-bones basic. They describe the“odor protection,”“moisturizing effects,”and the like. Old Spice takes the opposite approach. Their ads often feature absurd imagery, insane special effects, andTerry Crews literally yelling at you that you smell bad. Would this tone work for a life insurance company? Probably not, but it’s a great way tomake simple consumer goods feel fun and exciting. SOCIAL AWARENESS: DOVE Dove’s“Campaign for Real Beauty,”which launched in 2004, was a long overdue change of pace for the beauty industry. Since time immemorial, fashion and beauty campaigns featured only impossibly beautiful women who Calvin Coolidge wins the award for weirdest presidential pets. He kept two raccoons named Reuben and Rebecca at the White House. Herbert Hoover and his wife often spoke in Mandarin to keep their conversations secret. FDR is America’s most famous philatelist. He collected stamps from the age of 8 onward. Harry Truman wanted to provide universal health insurance and double the minimum wage, two issues that are still discussed to this day. All of the boys in Dwight D. Eisenhower’s house were called“Ike,”a nickname which stuck with Eisenhower for the rest of his life. JFK won a Purple Heart and a Pulitzer Prize, and no other president has been awarded both honors before or since. In lieu of a meeting room, Lyndon B. Johnson would often give instructions to his staff from the toilet. Richard Nixon never learned to read music, but he could skillfully play five instruments. • • • • • • • •
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No president was a better athlete than Gerald Ford. He received offers to play for two different NFL teams. Jimmy Carter gave up a career in the military to run his family’s peanut farm. Joan Quigley, Ronald Reagan’s in-house astrologer, helped set the president’s schedule. George H.W. Bush celebrated many of his birthdays by skydiving. After hearing MLK’s “I have a dream” speech, a young Bill Clinton was moved to memorize it. George W. Bush holds the records for both the highest and lowest approval ratings in history.
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Despite his good looks, Barack Obama was denied a place in a Harvard calendar of campus hunks. In one of his less successful business ventures, Donald Trump attempted to brand bottled water with his name.
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THE BEST CONTEMPORARY AD CAMPAIGNS And What You Can Learn From Them
had body types that the average person could never attain. Dove threw this aspirational, and potentially toxic, messaging in the garbage and decided to celebrate women of all shapes and sizes. If you can create a campaign that includes those who aren’t used to widespread representation, you’ll increase your reach in a hurry. CURATED COOL: DOS EQUIS Here’s a dirty little secret the beverage industry won’t tell you: Most industrially produced beers are made by one of two companies, and the vast majority of them taste remarkably similar. The difference, for the most part, comes down to the way they are marketed. Dos Equis, with their “Most Interesting Man in theWorld”campaign, carved out a name for themselves as the beer for urbane, thrill-seeking drinkers, despite the fact that their product is about as exotic as a Coors Light. Sometimes, perception really is reality.
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