It’s summertime in the states and that means it’s time to look at your retail marketing strategies with your shades on. In the season of family vacations, outdoor BBQs, and long weekends, marketers are grinding their gears for new ideas on how to target consumers in season-predictable ways they can leverage. So, who’s doing it best?
1. Bud Light
Bud Light kicked off the season with a campaign they’re calling, “Whatever USA” to reflect their slogan from the Super Bowl – the “Perfect Beer for Whatever Happens.” The brand is planning to take over a town for a weekend and they’re inviting you to attend! To be selected, you simply have to send an audition video into UpForWhatever.com. This is the perfect example of how brands are encouraging users to engage with their brands.
2. Southwest Airlines
I’m sure you’ve noticed the abundance of Southwest Airlines advertisements, especially if you live in Dallas. In fact, we have some just feet away from our office building. The popular airline is flying into a field of dreams with their “All You Need Is Love” spots and billboards proclaiming the end of the Wright Amendment, which restricted long-distance flights from Love Field. Unique headlines, happy commercials, flight discounts, thriving social media and a simple tagline – nonstop love – are what make this brand one of our top picks for brands taking over summer.
3. Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is inviting everyone to celebrate a summer of sharing with numerous campaigns filled with personalization, happiness and help. To narrow it down, here’s our two favorites. The first campaign, called “Hello Happiness,” launched in May in Dubai, targeting thousands of South Asian workers with the need to call home but the lack of resources available for them to do so. Coca-Cola invented phone booths where the caps were used as currency for them to call home. How cool is that? The second campaign, launched in June, is simple yet powerful. This “Share a Coke” campaign encourages people to share by swapping out their original labels for 250 of the world’s most popular names and nicknames, like “dad” or “Holly.”
The summer sun changes people and that is reflected in the behavior of your audience and therefore should be reflected in your marketing strategy. Be sure to adjust your cadence for summer and remember to keep the mind of the consumer at the forefront of your company, like the brands above. For more in the world of digital marketing, be sure to check back on our blog!
