THE TOP 3 BEST MARKETING CAMPAIGNS OF ALL TIME

A good marketing campaign needs to be disruptive (you can't stop thinking about it), nostalgic (reminds you of something pleasant and vivid), problem solving (eliminate uncertainty regarding the brand or product), or interactive (think contests). Most campaigns can't be all of those things, and they shouldn't try to be. An iconic marketing moment is best when it goes 100% at one ambitious goal rather than overcomplicating itself. Below are the 3 marketing campaigns that come to mind when I think of successful marketing!

IHob

IHob, at least from my perspective, was so confusing. Was the name change real? Are they taking away pancakes forever? Is this a new, separate restaurant from IHop? No one really knew from the initial announcement made by the breakfast chain on June 4th, 2018.

That's when they first announced the name change, but then a few days later revealed what the B stands for. It felt like everyone was was talking about it, whether or not they were a part of an official sponsorship. I remember seeing some of my favorite Youtubers at the time order every single burger from IHob for a mukbang (shoutout to the sister squad).

I'm assuming this temporary name change was to promote their burgers as an option so people come to IHop for lunch and dinner? I don't know, I didn't get that far in my research (I have a job!).

I can't lie, the burgers look pretty good...but I've never tried them and I probably never will!

U2 x iTunes

Remember when U2's new album automatically downloaded onto everyone’s iTunes account and you couldn’t delete it? What a time to be alive.

According to Variety, Bono, the lead singer of U2, wanted iTunes to consider the strategy like movies on Netflix, meaning iTunes would buy the album and upload it to millions of user's libraries. People were so pissed with the free download that iTunes had to create a special tool to remove it.

I was one of the 500 million who received this download, and I remember being absolutely livid since it was disrupting my casual "shuffle all". BUT, I didn't know who U2 was, so I only put this campaign on this list for the reason that I learned a lot about them from this and the fact that it's so funny how badly it flopped. Sometimes bad marketing is good marketing!

Duct Tape’s Prom Contest

During the prime of back-to-school Youtubers and Pinterest, Duct Tape blessed us with an interactive and crafty contest that still runs every year.

Even though this contest has been running for over 20 years, Duct Tape took full advantage of the trending Duct Tape DIYs in the golden age of 2010-2014. We saw makeshift wallets, bows, flowers, anything you can think of crafted to perfection by our favorite teenage Youtubers.

Every year, Duct Tape chooses one winner for each category, dress and tux, and a handful of runner ups. The winners would win a $10,000 scholarship each, and runner-ups would win $500.

It's fair to say that most high school students who entered this contest were interested in studying fashion in college, so this was a great chance to get a scholarship for that likely out-of-state education (but who knew Duct Tape would have such an impact in the fashion industry?). If duct tape starts trending again, I could see them revamping this contest into something new and fresh since their landing page still looks like how it did 10 years ago.