4 Simplistic Campaigns That Prove Simple Still Sells… And What They Can Teach Us About Overthinking It

Last week we took a look at some of the best rebel social media marketing campaigns to ever hit the scene. That’s why this week we wanted to flip the script and talk about some incredibly successful campaigns that proved there is more than one way to stay on top of the competition. (Spoiler alert: You don’t have to go rogue to become iconic.) These four simple-but-effective recent social media stories prove that the nice guy doesn’t always have to finish last…

Always’ #LikeAGirl Makes an “Insult” an Empowering Mantra.

We all remember that stereotypical phrase from middle school and that one jerk who always picked on the other guys for “throwing like girl”. Always changed the game when it redefined what it really meant to do something “like a girl”. Airing their campaign on YouTube, this ad not only featured some of the world’s best female athletes, but it was also skipped far less than the majority of other ads on YouTube. How did Always make this simple statement so powerful? It struck a chord with a phrase that everybody knew, lots of guys said and every girl hated. The company also did this all while staying within their brand story, linking their products to strength that comes in all shapes and sizes. Even though this ad is almost 3 years old, it still empowers girls today.

What we can learn:

• Genuine still works.
• Simplistic sentiments still work too.

The Interview’s Live Watch Tweet-a-Thon Turns a Flop Into an Infamous Hit.

Rotten Tomatoes HATED The Interview, giving it a meager 52% on its watchablity scale. Add this to the endless critic ribbing of James Franco and Seth Rogan’s acting and you have a recipe for a flop. Despite what the critics had to say, the live watch and tweet that went down somehow managed to make this flick Sony’s most-watched online film ever. Let this be a lesson to us all that even a flop can be a hit if you know how to spin it.

What we can learn:

• The critics don’t know everything.

Sesame Street Somehow Manages to Reach Back into Your Childhood… and Your Current Life – Like a Boss.

This marketing move is brought to you be letter I… I for innovation that is. You know you secretly still sing Fuzzy and Blue when you are doing the dishes and can occasionally be caught doing a spot-on impression of the Count… “One, one mortgage payment… ha, ha, ha, ha.” Sesame Street proved it was still a part of all of us when it appeared on the wildly popular podcast Serial to joke around with parents, who ironically happened to be some of the show’s original fans. Stay you, Sesame Street… stay you.

What we can learn:

• Knowing your audience is key.

• Breaking the rules doesn’t have to be hard.

• Remember who buys the products you sell… Sesame Street knows the purse strings are in the hands of parents.

Ritz-Carlton’s Memories Campaign Makes You Want to Go to Every Ritz-Carlton on the Planet.

Give people a legitimate reason to share and they will. The Ritz-Carlton knew this full well when it launched its cross-channel social campaign where it asked people to share their favorite photographs and memories of the Ritz. Not only is it trendy to focus on your audience instead of your brand, it actually works…and it still helped the Ritz accomplish what it was hoping for – free advertising that got you thinking about waking up somewhere different in the morning.

What we can learn:

• People love to talk about themselves. Period. It’s human nature.
• Your audience is a built-in marketing device. Use it.

What works for one company might not work for another. The key to staying on top of your industry is knowing how to keep it simple while still managing to stay on trend. In a nutshell, you don’t always need to overthink it to win big and knowing what works for you is half the battle. Don’t believe that simple can work? Our namesake is a goat… a freaking goat. Trust us. We know simple– and it sells.