Out-of-box Marketing Campaigns
Photo by AP Photo/Beth A. Keiser
10 Examples of Attention Grabbing Marketing Campaigns
By Robin Anderson
Updated: December 2024
As a startup, you look for ways to stand out, get attention, go viral - trying to find that magical idea that blows your company out of the startup abyss.
Yes, it can be hard to be creative. However, sometimes that creativity is nothing short of amazing, and other times, it’s so far off target that it can hurt your future marketing efforts for months or longer.
Nonetheless, for those who are targeting consumers, it’s out-of-the-box thinking that can transcend the everyday noise to catapult your company into the spotlight.
Here are ten attention grabbing marketing campaigns that are real. This isn’t the Top 10 of all time, or even my top 10. They are simply 10 wacky, crazy, amazing advertising and marketing campaigns to help you think beyond the ordinary.
Kentucky Fried Chicken Log
Towards the end of the calendar year, families in the United States tend to base their holiday dinner purchases to accompany turkey and ham, not chicken. To help drive demand for their fried chicken during this time of year, KFC created and launched a new product - the KFC 11 Herbs and Spices Firelog. When lit, aroma from the firelong would flood the room with the smell of fried chicken. This generated a ton of press - and they sold out of their product in three hours.
DiGiorno Thanksgiving Pizza
In 2023, DiGiorno released a new flavor of pizza—a Thanksgiving version featuring roasted turkey, gravy, cranberries, green beans, sweet potatoes, crispy onions, and a blend of mozzarella and cheddar cheeses. The goal was to make Thanksgiving food more accessible and to turn it into a moment of celebration. It quickly sold out, and due to its popularity as a fan-favorite pizza, it is now becoming a holiday tradition.
Campbell’s Soup Candles
Campbell’s partnered with CAMP, The Family Experience Company, to spark the magic of winter and family fun by creating Chicken Noodle Soup and Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese-scented candles. “The Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese candle features notes of roasted tomato, peppercorn, and gooey grilled cheese, while the Chicken Noodle Soup candle includes notes of savory chicken, cloves, and buttery crackers.” After burning a candle, a special keepsake is revealed as a memento. The candles were paired with CAMP’s Winter Warmup Guide, which included fun activities for the whole family.
Batkid
Five-year-old Miles Scott was battling leukemia. Through the Make-a-wish Foundation, Miles wanted to become Batman’s sidekick, Batkid. More than 16,000 volunteers worked to transform San Francisco into “Gotham City.” Miles, dressed up as Batkid and was called into service by San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr. Two Lamborghinis were turned into Batmobiles to transport Miles throughout the city to fight crime. With Batman joining him, he rescued a ‘damsel in distress from cable car tracks, and captured the Riddler as he robbed a bank.’ Thousands of people lined the streets to support Miles and his endeavor. During the peak of Batkid’s crime-fighting spectacle, Make-A-Wish websites logged about 1,400 hits per second.
WestJet Airlines Holiday Miracle
Passengers flying to Calgary from two different Canadian airports were requested to have their boarding passes scanned with a giant Santa asking them what they wanted for Christmas. During the five hours they were in flight, WestJet employees procured everything that was mentioned; this included socks and even a big screen tv. They wrapped the gifts as Christmas presents. When the passengers landed the gifts were delivered to them via the baggage claim. The look on the passengers’ faces was that of happiness, joy and laughter. Video of the event garnered 7.7 million views in just 3 days along with worldwide media coverage.
Free Air Guitar
A marketing campaign for a new radio station in Scotland offered free air guitars. Empty guitar racks could be found throughout the city with a sign that read “Free Air Guitar. Take One.” The idea was for passerby’s to grab a guitar and rock out to the new radio station’s music. Newspapers, blogs and social media shared the details about the unique promotion including photos giving free news coverage about the radio station.
Nivea Sunscreen pooping bird drone
Nivea ran a unique marketing campaign in Cannes where a drone disguised as a seagull flew over kids on a beach and would squirt Nivia Kids Sunscreen onto them. The idea was designed particularly for kids whom refuse to apply sunscreen, the drone could do it for them. This stunt generated a lot of attention with the Cannes Leadership Team thinking it was a parody film created for the festival.
Pizza Hut Wine
PIzza Hut recently released it’s very own wine - made with tomatoes rather than grapes. The flavoring is designed to “capture the essence of your favorite slide in every sip.” Pizza Hut describes the wine taste as “an aromatic blend of fresh herbs and spices with rich, sun-ripened tomato notes, and a subtle hint of toasted oak.” The wine is available in half-bottles as well as a part of the Triple Treat Box - which includes wine with pizza and two wine glasses.
Vlasic Pickles Candles
November 14 was designated as National Pickle day. To celebrate the ‘holiday’, Vlasic created candles with Candier by Ryan Porter. The candles were designed to look like a jar of pickles and smell like pickles. The candle cost $29 - and sold out very quickly.
Colgate Ice Cream Sticks
For kids that forget to brush their teeth, Colgate partnered with ice cream companies in Thailand. The sticks inside ice cream bars were made to look like tooth brushes. Printed on the sticks were the words ‘Don’t forget’ with the Colgate logo.
As you design your marketing campaign, look to provide something of value to your audience. Something that they can get behind, stirs emotion through humor or tugs at their heart a bit to generate interest and just maybe go virtual. If you are having fun, chances are they will as well.
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FunFact Friday
Looking for a way to generate word of mouth - get customers to talk about your product or company? Jay Baer, author of the book Talk Triggers, writes about the importance of talking to your customers and getting to know them. The purpose of a Talk Trigger is to come up with a creative way to engage customers so much so that they then are compelled to share that experience with others. In the book, Jay writes about how DoubleTree gives guests warm chocolate chip cookies upon check-in which generates conversation as people LOVE the cookies.