As spring is finally on the horizon, at DGT we’re looking forward to longer nights and sunnier days. However, until the clocks go back on the 27th the thing that is mostly keeping us going (except our wonderful clients of course!), is some excellent pieces of marketing we’ve been seeing.
Each month at The Demand Generation Team we get together to discuss all of the best bits of marketing we’ve seen during the month, whether it’s a full marketing campaign, reactive social post or Aldi getting themselves into trouble with Marks and Spencer’s yet again, we celebrate the most creative and imaginative brands in our monthly DGT Loves blog, so without further ado – let’s get into the March edition.
We’re very much aware that the news isn’t great at the moment, so in moments of hopelessness and despair, it’s nice to see brands bringing a little bit of humour to our inboxes, queue Innocent Drinks.
Well renowned for their Age UK knitted hats campaign, if you’ve been following Innocent for a while, you know that their marketing is fun, colourful, witty and charming all at once. Just one glance at their Twitter feed and you’ll quickly get a feel for the brand’s personality, take this tweet on Pancake Day for example:
OTHER USES FOR THE FIRST PANCAKE THAT DIDN’T TURN OUT THAT WELL:
Face mask
Floppy frisbee
Really big coaster
Egg-based CD
Little hat
Pat Butcher-style earrings
Plate for all the other pancakes that didn’t turn out that well
Pancake for someone you don’t like
Clock— innocent drinks (@innocent) March 1, 2022
So, when they made a very innocent mistake on one of their recent e-shots, it was refreshing to see an unusually honest apology follow shortly after:
Why do we love this? It takes a step back from the usual corporate apologies you would normally get following a similar mistake and not only is it a great use of humour, but it adds a human element to the brand – something we are seeing less of. And, in fairness, D is very close to the C on a keyboard, a very easy mistake to make.
One thing we do have to disagree on, however, is voting for Darius in the pop idol final was not a mistake, and whilst he may not have won, ‘Colourblind’ was and will always be an anthem.
Whilst we do recommend proof-reading all communications, we also understand that we are all human and whilst mistakes will be made at some point, handling them in a way that is true to your brand and your brand voice will go down very well with your customers.
Who is Duo you might be asking; well Duo is the bright green owl mascot for Duolingo that appears to have taken TikTok by storm.
When the pandemic first hit, many of us took to TikTok to join in the latest dance trends, pranks, keep up with news and even watch live musical performances streamed from the front rooms of our favourite celebs.
Fast forward 2 years, TikTok now has over 1 billion active monthly users, and the once dance app is changing the way that brands are thinking about marketing, so it’s no surprise that we are starting to see more brands appear on the social streaming platform. But what is a surprise is that we are seeing a side to brands like never before. Take Duolingo for example, if you’ve used the app it’s a very pleasant experience and a great way to learn a new language. Duo the owl guides you through the lessons and even cheers you on – but did you know that Duo is cheeky, likes to twerk, cries to Taylor Swift and is very mischievous around HQ? probably not. Well thanks to TikTok, now you do. And it doesn’t just stop with the videos, on any viral TikTok you will most likely see Duo in the comments offering up some form of sassy comment.
Here are some of our favourite videos from Duolingo:
@duolingo listen to your heart #slay #Duolingo #DulaPeep #smackmyahlikeadrum #DuaLipa #DuaLingo #howto ♬ Head vs. Heart – kyo
@duolingo When @peterspasta comes to the office, Celine Duon comes out to play. #comedy #trend #Duolingo #itsallcomingbacktomenow #40yearsofcelinedion #DuaLipa ♬ original sound – Morgane Watkins
And for all the Swifties out there:
@duolingo every time you open Google Translate, I lose a feather. #duolingo #swiftok #enchanted #languagelearning #trend #brandtok #comedy ♬ Enchanted Taylor Swift – Kaylen
Why do we love this? It humanises the brand, more so than we’ve seen before, TikTok is a platform that gives us an unedited and unfiltered look behind brands. Much like Ryanair and Amazon, the content is not there to sell to the user but entertain. In turn, this creates a love for the brand which increases your following and in theory would drive up subscriptions, sales, flights – you name it.
Duolingo has amassed a following of 3.2m on TikTok (ourselves included!) and racked up a total 59.4m likes to date – in comparison they have 559k followers on Instagram and 459.k on Twitter. TikTok is by far their most successful platform! Just remember that if you are looking to launch on to TikTok – have a very strong brand identity and be human. TikTok users want to be entertained and informed, doing so correctly is what will drive engagement and a following – not selling.
Hands up who remembers when Netflix was a DVD subscription service? We might be showing our age here, but when Netflix first launched in 1997, it was a mail-based rental service. Fast forward 25 years and Netflix is the biggest online streaming service with over 222 million monthly users – and not a DVD in sight.
Initially, much like blockbuster – you could just stream already made TV and Film productions, but in 2016 Netflix released 126 original series and films before investing in its in-house production division that same year and venturing out into international productions in 2017.
Now, some of our favourite tv shows and films such as Stranger Things, The Witcher, The Kissing Booth et al. are Netflix originals. So, we were excited to see what was in store for us in 2022.
If there’s any video that’s going to demonstrate Netflix’s growth, it is the trailer for 2022 which you can watch below:
Why do we love it? It gets us excited for what’s to come, it’s dramatic and creates suspense. The streaming giant captioned the video with:
“This year the Netflix Film universe is expanding with brand new comedies, action-thrillers, mysteries, dramas, sequels and more…dropping every single week.
From laughs to tears to heart-pounding, adrenaline-pumping, edge-of-your-seat suspense, there’s a movie for every mood. So, turn the lights off and turn Netflix on because in here, every night is movie night”
Netflix is really going from strength to strength, and it shows by bringing some of the biggest movies straight to our homes. It’s an exciting time for Netflix and we’re already setting reminders for some of these films! As a brand, don’t be scared to show off your achievements and if you’ve got something huge coming – shout about it, get people excited and create a demand for your product or services.
If you want to create a demand for what your business can offer, get in touch. With over 30 years of Marketing experience, the team here at DGT can help you with all your marketing needs whether it’s social, content, PPC, web, lead gen, CRM, automation, and more, we will work with you and your business in order to create some amazing marketing campaigns.
Posted by Xena Graham on Friday 4th March 2022
