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Case Study Cringe Worthy Marketing Campaigns – Digital Vidya

Marketing campaigns

For the marketers, it’s just the way it works. They spend their days planning marketing campaigns around the specific and realistic goals they want to achieve.

Then the campaign is executed and measured. If they run for long enough, then they might run some remarkable marketing campaigns that nail their goals.

But sometimes their marketing campaigns just don’t work. Maybe their goals were not much attainable and not solved for their target audience. There are many reasons why marketing campaigns can get flop.

Below given are 2 examples of marketing failure case studies that did not quite make a mark.

1. Levi’s “Hotness comes in all shapes and sizes”

Levis jeans

The average American woman’s weight is about 166 pounds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But actually, this is not the real image of women that the media portrays in most advertisements today.

So one should congratulate Levis for creating an ad campaign called “hotness comes in all shapes and sizes” for its new Curve ID jeans.

The campaign mainly targeted the average American woman who is looking for an affordable pair of well-fitted jeans.

This could have been an excellent campaign if Levis would have followed through on its tagline. The company chose skinny models who don’t represent the average American woman.

The ad actually did not feature Levi’s target audience. I caused quite a stir on popular sites turning into a failed marketing campaign. On the other side, Levis did address the negative criticism, but it did not fix the problem.

So the lesson learned from this was if a target audience has been chosen then it should be made sure that all the marketing materials reflect the people who are targeted.

2. McDonald’s McD-Stories

Mac donald failed campaign

As baseball is America’s favorite pastime, similarly McDonald’s is America’s favorite fast food joint. But when one sees a combination of a cautionary tale of 2006’s fast food nation with the mainstream movement of eating local, organic food, a story of failed marketing campaigns can always be observed.

When McDonald’s tried to get some feedback through social media from consumers on their McDonald’s experience, it created The #McDstories hashtag. It started from McDonald’s official Twitter site.

But McDonald’s should have known better. People don’t eat McD’s for fresh, wholesome ingredients they put in its food. They eat at McDonald’s because it’s easily available, cheap, and tastes good.

But soon hashtags took off due to some not-so-good tweets coming flying in. even cynics and critics negatively jumped on hashtags.

The lesson learned from this was trending should be well understood whether the company is playing into them or not. It will surely make up for taking calculated risks with its marketing. To ensure

There should ways to ensure that planning is done thoroughly and the impact that the campaign has on the target audience should be well understood.

The company could also have created a more specific campaign that is less broad and appeals to different types of customers. Also, it ensures that the impact that these campaigns have on the target audience can be well understood.

Let’s look at some of the best social media marketing examples to fuel your 2023 social media strategy.

1. Detox your Feed | The Parents Guide: Dove Self-Esteem Project:

What they did right: Focused on a Cause That Resonates With Their Audience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAFvaz0pJSE

2. Gillette Venus Drops an Encore to Its Viral Pube Song, Partnering with Princess Nokia to #SayPubic

What they did right: The idea for the campaign follows the results of research and the marketing team’s experience concerning the mention of the word “saypubic.”

3. Virgin Group – Dyslexic Thinking campaign #DyslexicThinking #DisabilityInclusion

What They Did Right – Redefined a learning disability into a marketable skill.

4 Duolingo – “Adoption Center” campaign.

What They Did Right – Emphasized accessibility amid tighter subscription management trends. #DuolingoAdoptionCenter #learninglanguages

5. Starbucks “Energy That’s Good” Campaign “Energy That’s Good.”

What They Did Right – Piggybacked on the popularity of a post-pandemic trend.

We hope that these tips will help make any of your social media marketing campaigns and efforts better!

FAQ’s

1. What makes a good marketing campaign?

A great Marketing Campaign has a defined audience and a powerful offer that represents the brand by appealing to a large customer base. It ensures that these customers are engaged and eager about the campaign..

2. What are examples of good marketing campaigns?

Some of the best marketing campaigns are given below:

  • Nike: “Just Do It” Campaign.
  • Pepsi: The “Is Pepsi OK?” Campaign.
  • California Milk Processor Board: “Got Milk?” Campaign.
  • Dove: “Real Beauty” Campaign. …
  • Old Spice: “The Man Your Man Can Smell Like” Campaign.
  • Coca-Cola: “Share a Coke” Campaign.
  • Snickers: “You’re not you when you’re hungry.”
  • GoPro: “Awards” Campaign.

3. What are the 3 keys to a successful marketing campaign?

The following are the 3 main keys to a successful marketing campaign:

  • Know your ideal customers, or the sort of individual you anticipate that your customers should be.
  • Discuss the advantages. This is how most advertisers make mistakes.
  • Have a call to action in all of your marketing campaigns.

4. What are the five elements of a campaign?

The Top 5 Marketing Campaign Elements

  • Marketing Campaign Goals.
  • Understanding Your Ideal Customer Profile.
  • Quality Content About the Need.
  • Promotion of Content.
  • Call To Action.

5. What is the best platform for campaigns?

Some of the most popular platforms for brand awareness, growth, and marketing purposes include Facebook. Twitter. Instagram.

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Digital Vidya Editorial Team
Digital Vidya is one of the biggest and leading digital marketing institution in Asia. Since 2009, 120,000+ professionals, entrepreneurs, 16000+ brands (Google, ITC, CNBC,etc.) have joined Digital Vidya training batches from 55+ countries. Digital Vidya researches and analyzes online marketing techniques for producing effective internet marketing training materials. With 14+ years of experience, 120k+ students, 7,200+ online batches, Digital Vidya is building a community with successful startups and working professionals using effective digital marketing educational ecosystem.

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