Marketing; it’s the key aspect that has the power to make or break a company. Do it right, and get your company out there and customers buying from you, and you can be a huge success.
Fail, and put effort, money, and time into creating an epic marketing plan only for it to fail and you can be the front page of the magazine titled, “What To Make Sure You’re Marketing Plan Doesn’t Look Like ”.
When it comes to marketing, the pressure’s on. Nowadays everyone’s taking some sort of plan to get their company up there front and center. There are thousands of different tactics that businesses choose to lead in the race. Some choose to go with a fun and playful campaign (hoping to win consumers over with a campaign that will have them in tears from laughter) and some choose a professional approach.
Sometimes companies will pull a marketing stunt to gain more attention to this campaign.
Now, the question is, when you decide to use a marketing stunt, how do you pull it off? No worries, we’ve got you covered. Keep reading to learn exactly that.
Examples of Some Of The Greatest Marketing Stunts Through The Ages
Some of the most well known and greatest brands have used marketing stunts to boost their campaigns over the years. It’s always said to learn from the experts, so let’s see what these professionals did to pull off some of the greatest marketing stunts in history, shall we?
IHOP
On June 4th, 2018, IHOP started the marketing stunt that would be one of the greatest of the year. The company tweeted, saying,
“For 60 pancakin’ years, we’ve been IHOP. Now, we’re flippin’ our name to IHOb. Find out what it could b on 6.11.18. #IHOb ”.
A few days later, after many days of leaving customers hanging with suspense and speculation, the company announced that the ‘b’ stood for burgers. This stunt not only showed that the company was more than just pancakes, but it also hyped it up for something new and a fresh vibe.
They saw massive growth, with their social media skyrocketing and their word of mouth rising from 19 to 30 percent. This marketing stunt was huge for the business.
KFC
When it comes to successful marketing stunts, KFC takes the cake. The company has pulled off many great marketing stunts successfully and people love them, no matter how extreme.
One campaign featured Facebook live stream that lasted four hours. What did this live stream feature? Four hours worth of viewing that showed adoptable kittens that climbed on “fabric husk of a towering model of the brand’s mascot and founder Colonel Sanders.”
More than one million viewers watched this live stream and it was conclusive that their marketing stunt was a success.
How Can I Pull Off A Killer Marketing Stunt Like That?
How, you ask yourself, can you pull off a killer marketing stunt just like the two above? Well, both KFC and IHOP had many things in common than they used to successfully pull their stunts off. We’ve compiled a shortlist below so that you can learn from their success.
Brand It All
Regardless of what happens within your company, brand it all. If something happens and your customers know about it, take advantage of the moment, however big or little. Nothing should be viewed as too little to have branded.
Keep Them In Suspense
With IHOP’s success, we saw customers kept waiting and in suspense for days. They were waiting to see what the ‘b’ in IHOB stood for and kept on the edges of their seats until the big day. Your marketing stunt should hold your customers in suspense and have them waiting for more news from you.
Thoroughly Do Your Research
Marketing stunts can’t just randomly be tossed out to the public and expected to succeed. You have to do your research. Know your audience, know what they’ll be interested in seeing, and recognize where the environment is at right now. Make sure that you have thoroughly done your research before beginning action on your marketing stunt.
