Our Top 3 Creative Campaign Ideas For a Virtual World
Are you struggling to think of your next campaign? Looking for some fresh ideas? Check out our top 3 ideas.
The pandemic has put a lot of things into perspective for all of us. Our family and friends, along with our freedoms, have been stripped away from us during a time of death and disaster. With the power of the internet, however, we have been able to somewhat cope with the ‘new normal’ in new and exciting ways. Although it has been a horrendous time overshadowed by bad news after bad news, being able to use virtual tools to our advantage has been a joy to discover, play with and use to put smiles on other people’s faces.
The same can be said for creative campaigns which utilise all forms of virtual media to amaze and please us in different ways. Be it animation, a virtual event or social media-based campaigns, there have been countless times over the years where a specific message or call to action has been spread via these forms of media. As they can be powerful, campaigns are excellent avenues for those wanting to get the word out about their product or service and how they help create and engage communities, highlighting particular topics which may be underrepresented.
Animation to share a message
Animation can be a powerful tool if utilised in the correct manner. There are plenty of examples out there - some you may be familiar with and some may not. A series in particular that has spawned multiple campaigns is Compare the Market’s ‘Compare the Meerkat’ adverts, designed to appeal to families. Familiar to the UK population, ‘Compare the Meerkat’ features Aleksandr Orlov, a CGI anthropomorphic Russian meerkat, along with his family and friends. Since 2009, the campaign has been popular across the country and has spawned merchandise such as books, digital downloads like wallpapers or ringtones, and stuffed toys.
One advertising campaign, in particular, the No place to call home TV advert, brings forth the message of “Bring your family together,” using an emotional story arc of the family being split up and brought back together again. The advert is ultimately to showcase their app and how it can be used to ‘bring family together’ with cinema tickets and meal vouchers, but it is handled in a genuinely entertaining way. The animation is excellent, which sells the ad’s premise in just around a minute, further appealing to families because of its ‘PG’ presentation and relevance.
Animation can help tell stories that could not be done so beforehand. When coming up with your creative campaign ideas, it could be a path to explore if you are struggling with a concept or idea which needs to stand out. Take notes from others, like Compare the Market, to tie your products in with a message in an appropriate but entertaining way.
Interactive virtual events to engage consumers
Coming up with ideas for virtual campaigns that are also interactive could prove challenging, so why not think about utilising Virtual Reality to your advantage? VR is an ever-growing technology being used more and more in the marketing game. For example, Adidas and their 2017 campaign with Somewhere Else, an emerging tech marketing agency.
Their virtual campaign launch allows people to follow two extreme athletes and their mountain-climbing journey, sponsored by TERREX (a division of Adidas). A VR world was built, which is not too dissimilar to what you would find in a video game. The interactive element involves the user being able to control how they scale the mountain whilst being coached by the extreme athletes who would have walked you through it in a full 360-degree view.
The way they utilise VR, going into detail with creating the world and allowing it to be more interactive than a 360-degree walkthrough video, is quite extraordinary and a sign of what is to come with interactive ads in the future. The aim of attempting to instil interest in the consumer is evident within the trailer, seeing how impressed the people are by the technology on display. They may therefore be more willing to buy the product as a result.
Starting a social media user-generated campaign
Social media is a goldmine in terms of ideas for creative campaigns. Many companies nowadays rely on hashtags to spread the word of their product or service, and one way of appealing to the masses is by setting up a user-generated campaign. By getting people to add to and discuss a particular topic through things such as challenges is a perfect way for brands to keep relevant and stay in people’s minds.
The Getty Museum Challenge is a pertinent example of this. The 2020 campaign gave people at home during the pandemic creative freedom to recreate some of their favourite art pieces using items lying around the house. The humour and fun factor surrounding the creativity of what people were able to pull off is what drove the campaign and made it as popular as it was during a time where people needed a boost in their life due to the pandemic taking its toll.
Not only can images be used for these types of campaigns, but video can too, with the likes of TikTok being used by countless brands to appeal to its large viewer base. Hopping on trends and making them their own allows brands to become more relevant to a younger audience who may not have seen things such as their products any other way.
Despite what many people believe, it’s not just big brands that can start user-generated campaigns, any business can roll out a fantastic UGC campaign with the right level of creativity. As long as they have followers willing to engage actively with their products, it can be a great way to increase reach, engagement and sales without the same cost of paid advertising.
Contact Chameleon today to learn more about our services in strategic and creative campaigns. Whether that be launching a new product, campaign, initiative or event, we'll make sure your message is heard. We have got everything you need to create an unforgettable experience from start to finish.