Just Because You’re in Business Doesn’t Mean Your Ads Should Be Boring
Examples of disruptive advertising from ‘traditional’ industries
In today’s digital age, where the internet makes Guerrilla marketing easier and more impactful than ever, brands everywhere feel a mounting pressure to be ‘bold’.
They see ‘disruptive’ campaigns going viral and realise, “We need to do more to stand out”.
Problem is, though, most of these brands are inherently averse to taking risks. No matter how much they want to stand out, they struggle to stray from their conservative norm. And who can blame them?
Businesses operating in typically ‘traditional’ industries have it hard-wired into them that they mustn’t rock the boat. “Don’t stir the pot, Steve. Lest we leave a sour taste in our giant pool of prospective customers’ mouths.”
But here’s a helpful hint:
💡 You don’t have to purposely offend people to win in marketing, but you definitely can’t create an effective campaign if you’re concerned with pleasing everybody.
If you want to stand out, you need to do something different. And that might mean ruffling up a few feathers. But if those feathers aren’t directly within your target-market pool, who the hell cares?
As a Copywriter, most of my clients are happy for me to experiment with their messaging, to get a bit cheeky with it. And they’re happy for me to do it because they know it makes them more human, more relatable, and people remember them for it.
But some, more reluctant enquirers, tend to bite back with examples of disruptive brands “who can get away with it because they’re from more relaxed industries” (you know the ones they’re thinking of — KFC, Innocent Smoothies, Greggs in the UK…)
My reply?…
Have you SEEN what happens when brands from strait-laced industries get unconventional with their marketing? — It’s EPIC.
HABITO
In 2018, newbie mortgage brokers, ‘Habito’, launched their hilarious ‘Hell or Habito’ campaign — a series of gory cartoons dramatizing the traditional mortgage application process.
Whilst pitted against money-grabbing zombies, flesh eating piranhas and limb-ripping werewolves, Habito positioned itself in these ads as the homebuyer’s saviour — an angelic mortgage broker with a simpler, easier, less stressful way of doing things.
In just one year of running the Hell or Habito campaign, Habito’s brand awareness doubled whilst their number of new customers more than tripled.
Liquid Death
For their first appearance on prime-time TV, in February 2022, Liquid Death stuck two fat, tattooed fingers up to the wholesome image that their traditional counterparts’ herald.
Instead of the typical ‘idyllic scene of crystal-clear water cascading down Mount Fiji to the tune of Enya’ that we’re used to from bottled water adverts, Liquid Death gave us a raucous party of prepubescent kids pounding tallboys of water, to a heavy metal cover of ‘Breaking the Law’ by Judas Priest.
Think of it what you will, but Liquid Death absolutely NAILED their first impression. They gave health and eco-conscious consumers something completely different to what they’re used to, and the global reaction was mostly positive.
Within a year of launching, Liquid Death is now valued at $525million and sells in more than 29,000 major-brand stores across the U.S., including Whole Foods, Target, Amazon, Safeway and 7-Eleven.
The Dollar Shave Club
Ok, this one’s been done to death, but that’s because it’s so. damn. good. And it’s one of the best examples — in my humble opinion — of what you can achieve on a ‘modest’ budget…
In 2012, The Dollar Shave Club’s founder — Michael Dubin — took a cheap shot at ‘The Best A Man Can Get’ with his YouTube premiere: The Dollar Shave Club — Our Blades are F***ing Great.
During 90 seconds of total absurdity*, Dubin manages to convey all the unique benefits and features behind his product-service based business, and despite costing him a fraction of what his conglomerate competitors spend on a video half as long, Dubin’s ad blew up the internet.
A wave of new customers crashed The Dollar Shave Club’s website in less than two hours, and when it came back online 24 hours later, they had a whopping 12,000 new customers and counting.
*If you don’t like toddlers holding razors, machetes, or epic ‘make it rain’ scenes featuring bears and a leaf-blowers — I’d suggest you steer clear of this ad.
Air BnB
This one’s a little mellow, and you might argue that there is much more leeway in the travel industry to have fun with your ads, but the majority of tourism providers today still play it safe…*Cue scenes of the all-white nuclear family having fun in the sun: Dad throws a frisbee. Mum tackles kids to the floor. All are laughing*.
But AirBnB are different.
They never fail to impress me with their use of airtime, and their 2022 ‘Beacation’ ad is no exception…
For two glorious minutes we see the most adorable mature couple living it up in Spain to the tune of ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ by the pop-culture power couple, Beyonce & Jay-Z (all hail). I mean… c’mon! It’s unprecedented. It’s ingenious. And it’s a cheery reminder that our ageing population still have life in them yet.
Fred Olsen, eat your heart out.
Purple Bricks
If you haven’t seen a Purple Bricks ad before, they’re a UK based Estate Agents and their ads are good enough to get a few giggles out of you — Hardly ingenious, but I’ve always found them quite funny.
For a while, Purple Bricks ads followed a basic formula:
1. Unassuming character — let’s call them ‘Dan’ — who’s just sold their house is chatting about something inconspicuous with friends.
2. During the harmless chinwag, Dan learns about Purple Bricks, the Estate Agent who doesn’t charge commission fees.
3. Then, a shot zooms in on Dan. A man who’s just crumbled inside, realising he recently paid his estate agent a lofty commission fee on his house sale, when he didn’t need to.
However, in 2019 Purple Bricks took the ‘commissary’ campaign to a whole new level.
Over the course of 9 hilarious scenes, disaster and chaos unravelled around non-PB-customers who’ve just discovered they missed out on the 0% commission deal. One poor man even lost a strip of his hair, at the hands of a suddenly dumbfounded hairdresser.
Now, despite being just 10 years old, Purple Bricks are apparently the top estate agency in the UK (in terms of having the most property sales). And I have a sneaky suspicion their trademark advertising antics have something to do with it.
Conclusion
No matter who you are or what you do, you’re always going to upset someone — either because of values clashes, or because some people just love getting mad at others.
So, during a time where it’s literally impossible for you to resonate with everyone, why not let-loose? Give being unapologetically raucous a go.
If the people you want to engage don’t like it, fair enough. Try something else. But don’t use your status as a ‘professional business’ stop you from playing around. The examples above prove just how well you can do by bringing a bit of spice to a traditional industry.
