Examples of Effective Integrated Marketing Campaigns  

The best and most effective integrated marketing campaigns involve more than simply leveraging multiple marketing channels together in a vacuum. It’s about the strategy behind it and executing the campaign cohesively and consistently.

These campaigns, when done well, allow the right consumers for your brand to get excited about your products or services holistically and make it easier and more efficient for them to obtain the critical information they need most to convert.

Let’s look at some examples of recent integrated marketing campaigns that have exceeded expectations, striking a chord with consumers and bringing tangible results to the brands that executed them.

Integrated Marketing Campaigns Basics

Before we dig into integrated marketing campaigns, we should first understand what makes these campaigns unique — and what defines their success.

The definition of an integrated marketing campaign is an endeavor in which a brand uses multiple means of communication to send a message to its target audience. By this definition, since so many companies use multiple ways to communicate with customers, most marketing would seem to be integrated. However, truly integrated marketing campaigns are a bit more complicated.

For a campaign to be fully integrated, all of those messaging mediums must be carefully aligned to send the same message to the consumer. Furthermore, the moving parts of the campaign should be calibrated to communicate with the consumer in sequence, moving them toward their logical destination in an ordered manner. In a perfect world, this methodology would allow for personalized omnichannel marketing that allows shoppers to maintain their progress across channels, but it’s not a requirement. In the end, a successful integrated marketing campaign boosts the customer experience while increasing awareness and engagement levels surrounding a brand.

All of this is to say that integrated marketing campaigns are hard. For all of the examples we’ll see of how to do things right, there are many more examples of companies that completely miss the mark. Let’s begin by taking a look at one of those integrated marketing attempts gone wrong.

Intel

Intel is well-known for its computer chips, which run large parts of our lives. However, Intel’s marketing messages aren’t nearly as pervasive. As we’ll see, there could be a reason for that.

Intel’s website is perfectly fine. It presents to the viewer what the company does and provides examples of how its technology is used around the world. What you won’t find, though, is any mention of Intel’s official slogan of “Experience What’s Inside” — a major faux pas, since so many people know Intel as part of its Intel Inside branding.

The example goes even further off the rails when we look at Intel’s social media. Intel’s Facebook page uses a different version of the company logo, as well as an entirely different slogan — “Do Something Wonderful”. The same company runs both the website and the Facebook page but based on how different they are, nobody would ever know it.

You’d think a technology-based company like Intel would have an easy time with integrated marketing. But you’d be mistaken. This example illustrates that technological infrastructure must be accompanied by common sense and a steadfast dedication toward optimizing the customer experience. Without that dedication, integrated marketing falls very, very flat.

Coke — Share a Coke

One of modern marketing’s biggest success stories has come from one of its oldest and most prominent brands. And, as is so often the case, the simplest ideas often have the biggest impact.

Coke began its “Share a Coke” campaign in Australia in 2011, moving worldwide in 2014. Consumers were able to pick a Coke bottle with the message they wanted, whether it be a first name or an adjective. Those who bought these Coke bottles often gave them to others as gifts, increasing Coke’s sales as well as its reach.

The integrated marketing piece comes into play not only through advertising, but through Coke’s inevitable move into personalization. Through the company’s website, as well as kiosks in malls and on college campuses, individuals could get their very own bottle of Coke with their name on it, no matter how unique their name might be. The personalization option, as well as variations based on music lyrics and character traits, led people to buy bottles of Coke, even if they had no intentions of actually drinking the soda.

The combination of viral marketing and the ubiquity of Coke products made this campaign one that nobody could resist. If you were buying a soda, you’d rifle through the shelves to find your name or a friend’s name. The increased fervor and publicity resulted in a 7 percent increase in Coke consumption — huge numbers when you consider the already massive popularity of Coke products worldwide.

Hulu — HAHA Awards

Have you ever wondered why there was never an awards show dedicated exclusively to animated TV shows? Hulu has pondered that very subject. Unable to find conclusive answers as to why one didn’t exist, Hulu did the best thing it could possibly do — it created its own.

The Hilarious Awesome Hulu Awards (HAHA) is everything you could want in an integrated marketing campaign. The award show itself was a great way to promote Hulu’s streaming service, but that’s not all. The show was promoted heavily through YouTube, and allowed Twitter users to vote on their choices — regardless of whether those individual Twitter users had Hulu subscriptions. Votes were also tallied on Hulu’s website, where subscribers and non-subscribers alike could make their voices heard — and those that did not subscribe to the service might be enticed into checking out a free trial. Lastly, all the shows under consideration for the HAHA awards did their own marketing to their respective audiences, encouraging them to vote through email and social media campaigns.

The end result was a tsunami of marketing brilliance, all converging on Hulu’s award show. An event created literally out of nothing brought millions together through various marketing methods, while simultaneously honoring worthy animated TV shows that were never formally recognized. In the end, the HAHA Awards served as one of the best examples of integrated marketing in recent memory.

Peloton

It wasn’t so long ago that Peloton was a punchline in pop culture, thanks to a controversial commercial which, right or wrong, caused people to look at the company in a negative light. Those days are long gone. Today, Peloton is the symbol of premium pandemic-era fitness, and it’s only growing more popular.

Much of Peloton’s success has to do with its integrated marketing strategy. The company website provides plenty of information about Peloton bikes and the financing options available to consumers, but nobody initially finds out about Peloton through its website. Instead, that happens through other means — YouTube ads, commercials, mall kiosks and Web content. But those marketing channels pale in comparison to the ultimate marketing currency — rave reviews from satisfied customers.

People get curious about Peloton in a variety of ways. Seeing a Peloton-based post in a social media feed. Going to a friend’s house and seeing a Peloton bike in the study. Hearing conversation about Peloton among friends. Each of these is an endorsement of the company and its product, and those glowing reviews go much further than conventional advertising.

Peloton rode the surge of positive publicity and pandemic-based home fitness buzz to a 172 percent increase in sales. A large portion of these sales come as a direct result of overwhelmingly positive feedback, compelling advertising and the enthusiastic online community Peloton has cultivated over the years.

Integrated marketing campaigns come in all shapes and sizes. As long as they have the customer’s best interest at heart, there are many ways in which they can succeed. If you’d like to learn more about how you can use integrated marketing to reach your target market, contact us at Commit Agency today.