Event-based marketing can drive a ton of traffic and positive attention to your brand when it’s done correctly. The most important aspect is pretty simple: you need to find the right event that works with your brand. If you’re a dental clinic creating a marketing campaign around National Pet Day, you’re probably not going to win any awards. But if you can identify a trending event or one of the many dates of significance, or better yet an event that’s going to be trending, and work it into your advertising well, the results can be incredible.
That’s exactly what these 5 brands did. They used event-based marketing to pounce on things that were already going to be trending and used the holidays, happenings, and dates to propel themselves to new heights.
Here are 5 examples of event-based marketing that worked really well.
1. Oreo – The Global Vault
Event: The Close Passing of Asteroid 2018VP1
There was a very, very small chance that asteroid 2018VP1 could strike earth, and Oreo hopped right on an event that they knew people would be talking about, and got them talking about cookies instead. They built a bunker, far above the arctic circle, and stored a ton of Oreo’s in the GLOBAL OREO VAULT.
Hilarious, yes. Conversation stealer, absolutely. This trending event was perfectly hijacked by Oreo, and it won some awards in doing so. This was a top 10 ad of 2020 for good reason.
2. Country Time – The Littlest Bailout
Event: The Sending of Stimulus Checks
When Donald Trump and Congress announced that they’d be sending out stimulus checks to Americans amidst the pandemic in 2020, Country Time Lemonade pounced. They knew the event would be talked about for months to come, and when the checks were sent, they released their wonderful ad: The Littlest Bailout.
3. Budweiser – Father’s Who Stepped Up
Event: Father’s Day
Budweiser highlighted some of the best dads among us, showing off the relationship between step-father and children in this ad released for Father’s Day. Jumping on events like this, when done correctly and attaching it to your brand, can be superb – as it was in this marketing campaign that’s sure to make you tear up.
4. Aviation Gin – Arlene’s Big Leap
Event: Leap Day
Arlene was born on a leap year, so even though she’s 84, she’s only turning 21 this year. She’s never had a legal drink in her life. So Aviation Gin planned this amazing marketing campaign that released on February 28, 2020 right before leap day on February 29. The campaign went completely viral by all metrics.
5. Liquid Death – Demon Infused Water
Event: Halloween
Ahead of Halloween 2020, Liquid Death had a real witch doctor perform some sort of ritual where she cursed their water. The advertising was talked about in the weeks leading up to Halloween, making it a successful event-based marketing campaign. Would you drink this water?
If you think you’d like to know what events are coming up, including national holidays, dates of significance, movie premieres, award shows, tv premieres and finales, political dates, space events, and everything in between, you should check out Forekast+. It’s the calendar of the internet, ready to help marketing professionals plan out some wicked campaigns. Here’s an example of what just one day looks like over on Forekast, imagine having every day of the year at your fingertips:
Check out Forekast, and see the dates of significance for yourself. Start planning social media and marketing campaigns today.
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