As usual, social’s lately been a hotbed of activity, with engaging new campaigns spanning industries from fast food to sportswear.
Read on as we look at some of the most noteworthy campaigns from recent weeks, and discuss their strengths, weaknesses and the impact they’ve had on their respective brands.
KFC cooks up a storm on social
Earlier in the year, fast food giant KFC ran a fairly bold marketing campaign across social and print to apologise for a nationwide shortage of chicken:
KFC apologises with a full page ad in today's Metro. A masterclass in PR crisis management.#KFCCrisis pic.twitter.com/ZF4SfAuHl5
— Andrew Bloch (@AndrewBloch) February 23, 2018
In recent weeks, however, Colonel Sanders has been at it again – this time around to let customers know about his brand new fries, with idiosyncratic gusto.
Social’s been an indispensable element of the news’ delivery, which has taken place through innovatively engaging with a series of negative historic tweets complaining about the company’s chips – some from as long ago as 2014.
While some tweets have simply been replied to, others have been promoted far and wide across the nation’s timelines with paid advertising spend:
I've got to say, KFC are riding solely on their chicken because Christ, those are crap fries.
— Burnessie (@charliejburness) August 11, 2014
Though the campaign has met a fairly mixed response, with some users demonstrating a little weariness after being overwhelmed by chip-related messaging, it’s safe to say that the majority of Twitter users are now aware of KFC’s revamped fries. And to that end, it must be said that the Colonel’s served up his plans to perfection.
Nike scores a wonder goal on social with Kaepernick partnership
They’re one of the biggest brands in the world, with an iconic heritage of best-in-class ads, so it’s little surprise that Nike was able to use social media masterfully to announce its newest brand ambassador: Colin Kaepernick.
Nike made the announcement by retweeting a post initially made by Kaepernick, featuring the iconic Just Do It branding and the high standards of copywriting that Nike’s ads are famous for, which was also replicated on Instagram:
Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything. #JustDoIt pic.twitter.com/SRWkMIDdaO
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) September 3, 2018
Its results were revelatory. The tweet received close to 1,000,000 likes, and the Instagram post proved a personal best for Nike in terms of engagement, gaining the brand gain more than 170,000 new followers. And between the two, Nike received more than five million mentions on social media in just three days, which isn’t a bad return in the slightest!
Significantly for brands, Nike’s social success also transformed into sales. As part of the sponsorship, Nike has produced Kaepernick merchandise, which sold out within a mere matter of hours, as Nike’s stock prices flourished to a sky-high $83.49.
Out of stock online in just a couple hours!Thank you!I'm humbled & grateful 4 all of the continued support.The KAEPERNICK ICON TEE is currently available at select stores near you!Go to https://t.co/xr8M9wiOiq for a list of places you can purchase them in store!#KaepernickIconTee pic.twitter.com/TKZxkHACn1
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) October 25, 2018
It’s always great to see brands utilising social to its best potential, creating content that shines and converting that engagement into commercial excellence. We’re intrigued to see what Nike delivers next!
Burberry climbs out of the saddle and into social
Of late, fashion brand Burberry has made a range of changes to increase its desirability to contemporary shoppers.
Firstly, it dispensed with its classic logo, exchanging its knight on horseback for a modern new strapline of ‘London, England’ and brandishing its heritage with a sleek new look.
More interestingly, however, is that the company’s announced a new strategy for promoting new inventory to the industry, which is that it’ll launch new products directly from its Instagram feed.
As part of this, products will be purchasable directly from social streams, thanks to elements like Instagram Shopping which make social more viable than ever before for e-commerce businesses. Meanwhile, functionality like Instagram TV will be used to advertise products in innovative new ways.
The high esteem in which a brand like Burberry holds Instagram is a testament to the channel’s credibility and opportunity, and we’re excited to see whether other brands follow suit moving forwards!
Join us next month for more social news from the team!
by Tom Payne
