15 Integrated Marketing Campaign Examples to Inspire Your Strategy
Getting good leads is one of the top marketing challenges. As such, there are many good reasons for your small business to look at integrated marketing. Exploring integrated marketing campaign examples can provide valuable insights and inspiration. With a blend of different marketing strategies, these campaigns offer a cohesive and effective approach to promoting your brand.
In this article, we’ll explore 15 integrated marketing campaign examples to inspire your strategy, showcasing how various businesses have successfully harnessed the power of integration in their marketing efforts.
What is an Integrated Marketing Campaign?
“Integrated marketing is any marketing campaign that uses multiple channels in execution. For example, you might see a popular new donut flavor in a commercial, then drive past the donut shop to see posters of the donut. And if you flip through Instagram once you get to your destination, you might see a GIF on your feed, displaying the donut.”
Mark Schmukler, the CEO and Co-founder of the Sagefrog Marketing Group, adds to that by saying, “Integrated Marketing combines both outbound, traditional marketing with inbound marketing and other tactics to promote accelerated success in businesses.”
That means you can and should use social media to promote a live event where you’re highlighting your goods and services. After all, what better way to fill the hall with prospects than by reaching out to them directly on Twitter or Facebook? Still, that’s just one possibility because integrated marketing builds a bridge between online marketing and it’s more traditional print and PR cousin in a variety of ways.
Here’s a related word about integrated marketing communications from the Division of Outreach at the University of Mississippi
Integrated Marketing Campaign Examples
Here are 15 examples of great integrated marketing campaigns that work by combining content, digital and website marketing with traditional marketing methods like PR.
Old Spice: Smell Like a Man
This heads up our list not only because it was integrated with great videos and social media but solid copywriting for the complete package. This integrated marketing campaign held your attention first and sold you later.
GoPro: Be a Hero
A great example of a small start-up that took off is when GoPro launched its recent campaign, “Be a Hero.” It uses a variety of outdoor ads, brand-related sponsorships, and even a firefighter’s original video.
Always: #LikeAGirl
Designed to further a cause rather than promote a product, Always, a feminine hygiene brand, ran its #LikeAGirl campaign. The video’s jumping-off point worked with the hashtag to spark a debate centering around gender equality.
SFPCA: Condoms For Pets
You read that correctly! San Francisco Society For Prevention Of Cruelty To Animals ran this ad to highlight the need to spay and/or neuter your pet in 2015, but it stands up. They developed a website and a brochure filled with these mock condoms.
Mike’s Hard Lemonade: “Mikehacks”
Another blast from the past if you consider 2015 all that long ago, the Mikehacks videos for Mike’s Hard Lemonade included a barbeque-in-a-can of the beverage and paired this with in-store retail displays.
Snap Inc.: Spectacles
Another great example of integrated marketing with a twist, Snap Inc. understood the possibilities and how to blend brick and mortar with online efforts. The company placed “Snapbots” in select cities. These were actually vending machines for Snap Inc.’s Spectacles product, and people posting on social media while they waited in line caused the buzz to intensify.
H&M: ‘Come Together’
Here’s proof positive that the old blends well with the new as far as integrated marketing is concerned. This interesting and innovative Christmas ad featured Adrian Brody and brought old-school star power to cyberspace and YouTube.
Levi Strauss & Co: Ready To Work
Documentaries about rebuilding efforts in a rundown steel town across multiple media sources made this campaign an integrated marketing gem. It was real Norman Rockwell stuff that stuck a chord.
Volkswagen: Kombi’s Last Wishes
When Brazil closed the last assembly line for the Volkswagen Kombi in 2013, they decided to host an “unlaunch.”
The company asked people who had bought the vehicle to place stories about their experiences on a special website.
The campaign spurred a worldwide conversation across various mediums and was promoted with a series of well-placed ads reflecting the truck’s “last wishes.”
Pret A Manger: Customer Outreach
Natural food store Pret A Manger actually asked their customers what they wanted and then acted on it. When they asked for input on recipes and menus, they got it to the extent that feedback has been shared worldwide. Seeing your menu items in print after you’ve posted them and having that kind of input engages both customers and prospects. The integrated campaign didn’t stop there, either. The company opened a second vegetarian location in London last month with 20 new items on the menu. There are plans to crack the U.S. market in the future.
Southwest Airlines: Transfarency
The airline started this campaign three years ago, and it’s still working for them. Stressing customer education online even got them some ink.
Cancer Research UK
They covered all the bases for a good cause here. The campaign drive even reached all the way back to print and television, combining everything with a digital presence. The campaign asked people to leave something in their will for cancer research. The TV angle featured cancer survivors and scientists.
LinkedIn: “In It Together”
You might not have expected it, but this social media giant launched a campaign with a TV spot under the banner–In it Together, last year. It was especially interesting because it highlighted a number of businesses with videos shot in black and white documentary-style footage. Outdoor ads, video spots and, of course, videos were just a few of the other tools they implemented.
ESSC- “Change the Way You See Disability”
Easterseals Southern California makes the list and does good things with its integrated marketing campaign that features the people who benefit from it. “Don’t Exclude. Include.,” is just one of the slogans used across several platforms like social media and outdoor ads.
Intuit: “A Giant Story”
A great narrative video that personalizes our digital world with a character invented by an entrepreneur is at the center of this integrated campaign. This is a bold move that marks the very first branding campaign for this titan in the corporate world. The company recently said they were looking to target the 750 million people globally who work for themselves, so small businesses should be looking at this campaign carefully to see what the takeaways are.
How to Start an Integrated an Integrated Marketing Campaign
If you’re thinking, “Where do I sign up?,” follow these steps to get started designing and executing a successful integrated marketing campaign:
- Determine the Overall Objective of the Campaign: Understand the primary aim you want to achieve with the entire campaign.
- Select Marketing Platforms and Define Individual Goals: Pick the best mediums to reach your audience and set specific targets for each.
- Customize Your Approach to Different Channels by Understanding Your Audience: Recognize who you want to engage and adapt your strategy for each channel.
- Appoint Managers for Each Channel: Depending on your marketing team’s size, individual members or entire teams may oversee different channels. In a multi-channel campaign, it’s crucial to identify who will be responsible for aligning each channel with the overall campaign goals.
- Create Adaptable Content and Consistent Messaging: Design clear and uniform messages, along with versatile visual content that can be modified for different channels.
- Plan Your Lead Collection Strategy: Identify the methods for gathering and handling leads generated during the campaign.
- Initiate, Monitor, and Refine Your Campaign: Activate the planned elements, continuously assess the results, and adjust as needed to enhance the outcomes.
Below is a table that outlines the key steps for starting an integrated marketing campaign if you’d like to mark things off checklist-style:
| Step | Description |
|---|---|
| Determine the Overall Objective of the Campaign | Understand the primary aim you want to achieve with the entire campaign. |
| Select Marketing Platforms and Define Individual Goals | Pick the best mediums to reach your audience and set specific targets for each. |
| Customize Your Approach to Different Channels by Understanding Your Audience | Recognize who you want to engage and adapt your strategy for each channel. |
| Appoint Managers for Each Channel | Depending on your marketing team’s size, individual members or entire teams may oversee different channels. It’s crucial to identify who will be responsible for aligning each channel with the overall campaign goals. |
| Create Adaptable Content and Consistent Messaging | Design clear and uniform messages, along with versatile visual content that can be modified for different channels. |
| Plan Your Lead Collection Strategy | Identify the methods for gathering and handling leads generated during the campaign. |
| Initiate, Monitor, and Refine Your Campaign | Activate the planned elements, continuously assess the results, and adjust as needed to enhance the outcomes. |
Integrated Marketing Photo via Shutterstock
This article, “15 Integrated Marketing Campaign Examples to Inspire Your Strategy” was first published on Small Business Trends