There are various reasons to celebrate throughout the year in every country. However, some not so well known holidays in summer can give companies a chance to celebrate in unique ways. Even businesses can grab the attention of their audience with innovative campaigns that leverage the folklore or a special day to highlight something about the occasion as well as the brand. 

Do we believe that every holiday will work for your brand? Absolutely not. But there are so many obscure ones that one can surely spark great campaign ideas just by celebrating with your intended audience. Free perks anyone! 

Here are some summer marketing campaigns that make an impression. They might just inspire you with some cool ideas! 

 

 1. KRAFT FOODS/ALADDIN (SWEDEN) 

The Aladdin chocolate box has been popular as a Christmas classic since the past 70 years in Sweden. People though had fell out of nostalgia and were losing a personal connection to the Aladdin brand.  

So with a new praline ready to be given away in the Aladdin box in Christmas, the agency, Prime, pitched only about the new praline, focusing on the chocolate. Fans could defend their favorites, thus getting attached to the brand once again. A digital polling station was installed on the site where Swedes could choose their favorite chocolate flavor before Christmas. Several media groups and influencers were invited to the campaign while Facebook Pages and Groups brought in the crowd. Aladdin also developed a Facebook application of a personality test based on favorite pralines. 

The campaign worked extensively with several fans created films, social groups, fan pages, and blogs about their favorite pralines. More than 400,000 votes were generated with 15,000 people becoming fans while 140,000 people took the Facebook test on pralines. The sales jumped by 26% from their average holiday season! 

 

 2. RECKITT BENCKISER/CLEARASIL (RUSSIA)

Now the Clearasil brand did something that no other brand manages to do successfully. They wanted to connect with teenagers who do not watch much TV but fond of online browsing. With ad agency LLC Grape, they launched a campaign enabling teenagers to share their experiences with Clearasil products through the popular Russian social site, Vkontakte.ru. 

Is that the only thing they did? Nope, wait, there is more. 

The company created a special group page for users to share audiovisual content, post news articles and comment on experts’ advice. The company even opted for branded Clearasil apps for more brand interactions, even exhorting users to create cool profile snaps through their “Profile Pictures” app. Teens could use markers shaped as a Clearasil tube to eliminate pimples from their photos. 

The company also wanted to showcase results through an application called ”Clearbooth” that encouraged users to post daily photos based on changes they experienced after using Clearasil. and post them on the group. Within a year, users uploaded 13,000 photos and even commented 120,000 times on these photos, with a total participation of about 500,000 people. 

Clearasil’s sales picture improved considerably, witnessing a surge of 30% during the year! 

 

3. BUDWEISER (AMERICA)

Budweiser beer equated its brand to “America” in summer of 2016 with its inventive “America is in Your Hands” campaign, even pasting the philosophy on their titular cans and bottles. 

This was a masterstroke by the brand considering the Rio 2016 Olympic Games; with presidential campaigns and a looming election hinting at a transitional yet emotional political climate. The brand tapped into the American identity and Anheuser-Busch was smart enough to leverage it. 

 

4. WOW AIRLINES

Wow Air is an Icelandic airline that relied on Snapchat to create a winning summer campaign. Dubbed as “the world’s first SnapTraveler program,” they encouraged fans to post short Snapchat stories to its contest microsite. Participants from across the world could win a summer trip to one of 28 different destinations! 

The best part of the campaign was not about Snapchat. The brand got the winners to create engaging social media content on behalf of the brand for designing fabulous vacations! An absolutely WOW idea, isn’t it? 

 

5. HÄAGEN-DAZS UK

Haagen-Dazs UK is one company that did the unthinkable. During the Wimbledon, the Ice-cream making company initiated #LoseYourself campaign through social media channels Instagram and Twitter. 

Now the unthinkable part – was not the creative photography itself but the main focus of the pictures. They evicted all tennis stars from the campaign, and focused on photos of tennis fans, who expressed their emotions on the spur of the moment – of elation or of sadness in varied ways! 

 

6. KOPPARBERG (SWEDEN)

Kopparberg, a Swedish fruit cider company, launched its marketing campaign in the summer of 2015 with a £5m marketing investment in varied events, press engagement, social media channels, and outdoor photoshoots. 

The campaign was targeted to ramp up interest in the classic Kopparberg cider flavors – Strawberry & Lime and Elderflower & Lime along with the launch of the new Frozen Fruit Cider range. 

The inspiration of the campaign focused on trends embedded in tattoos and creative body art. Vines of strawberries interconnect with limes to form interesting tattoos on models, ably aided by a compelling aesthetic that inspires authenticity, style, and the brand identity. 

The creative was used on 1,900 sites in eight key cities across the UK, including London’s Piccadilly Circus and Manchester’s Glasgow Central. The brand benefitted a lot owing to this campaign with renewed interest in its offerings among the general public. 

 

SUMMER MARKETING CAMPAIGNS: TAKEAWAYS! 

 

One can pick a recurring theme from each of the above campaigns that is complete fun! Smart marketers know that to engage people, the campaigns need to be outdoors.  

As marketers, one should consider the interests of the intended audience during a specific time of the year. One should make summer campaigns mobile-friendly and choose summer holidays, even the quirkiest ones to evoke interest. 

 

The summer solstice, for instance that is the longest day of the year can feature a campaign related to the sun.

The Hammock Day (July 22) can work for a laid-back brand and help their audience to relax. Or an offer for a weekend getaway! 

Friendship Day is another quirky holiday that celebrates strong bonds of friendship. The campaign can focus on gratitude for customers with thank-you notes and emails to clients. You could also conduct a survey for feedback with customers in order to improve your mutual relationship.  

Left Hander’s Day (August 13) is one opportunity to give advantage to southpaws and some extra attention. You could promote left-handed products during the campaign too! 

 

LOOKING FOR SUMMER MARKETING CAMPAIGN INSPIRATION?

No matter how you could turn around a holiday, it is important to stick to the brand message aligned with real human emotions. Forging conversations with your audience is fantastic, and a great way to keep them interested and entertained, even boosting sales in the process! 

Want to do something weird and funny for your next summer campaign? You know who to call.