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A great campaign often boils down to a single, groundbreaking insight.
As a product marketer, my primary role is to be the voice of the user. I spend a good chunk of my time championing insights that can change the course of the products I work on. Today, I will walk through examples of extraordinary insights that built extraordinary campaigns.
But first, what differentiates ‘good’ from ‘great’?
An insight reveals fundamental truths about human behaviors and reveals core truths about the brand itself — including its target audience, the competitive landscape, and the broader cultural context.
The most powerful insights are unexpected, but obvious in hindsight. It distills the very essence of user needs and can be used to predict future behaviors.
This feeds into how you communicate with users. The closer you are to fundamental human truths, the stronger your message is. These campaigns usually don’t feature the product at all - the emotions and ideas they convey form a long-lasting association. Great insights translate into ideas that evoke such strong emotion that your audience can’t help but share them broadly.
As a marketer, you should aim to be on the right side of the quadrant (below). A good insight executed well > a great insight executed poorly.
Great Insight, Great Campaign: #LikeAGirl
In 2014, Always, owned by P&G, unveiled a three-minute video that features men and women who are asked to do things “like a girl.” What followed was an impactful message meant to ask “When did doing something like a girl become an insult?
Insights
Research showed that girls’ confidence drops at puberty, significantly more than boys', and rarely is it regained. If it does come back, it doesn’t happen until much later in life.
Campaign
Women internalize the phrase ‘like a girl’ to mean weakness and vanity. But a little encouragement can go a long way in changing perceptions. The campaign inspired women and men to banish the stigma that comes from doing something like a girl. This message sparked a conversation with high shareability.
Before watching the film, just 19% of 16-24s had a positive association with the phrase ‘like a girl’. After, 76% no longer saw the phrase negatively. Two out of every three men who watched it said they’d think twice before using the ‘like a girl’ as an insult.
Always’ brand equity showed a double-digit percentage increase during the course of the campaign while most of its competitors saw slight declines. (Source)
Good Insight, Good Campaign: Dating Apocalypse
In 2016, Hinge launched a new version of their app and built a campaign positioning the app as a place for ‘serious relationships’ — calling out Tinder. In its ad, it reimagines the dating app world as a dystopian fairground that reflects the reality of modern dating.
Insights
As part of the campaign, the company sent out surveys to ~500,000 users. They found that:
81% of users have never found a long-term relationship on a dating app
4 out of 5 users can’t recall the name of their last swipe
22% of men have used the app while on a date with someone else
These insights present a sobering reality for people looking for long-term relationships.
Campaign
Hinge launched a campaign differentiating itself from other dating apps, which led to its current, far more effective, positioning. Today, the app can confidently say ‘We’re designed to be deleted.’
Good Insight, Great Campaign: Spotify Wrapped
In 2015, Spotify Wrapped was called the Year in Music, listing a user's top 100 songs. The experience evolved in 2017 with personalized listening stats that laid the foundations of the now-familiar campaign. What started off as a digital experience and has now evolved into an end-of-year cultural moment.
Insights
Music is a big part of a person’s identity. People feel a sense of pride about the music they listen to and the artists they follow, but often don’t have a space to share it with others.
Campaign
Making data accessible, interesting, and shareable can create delight. For example, Spotify used listener stats to inform users if they’re the top listeners of an artist. Now, who wouldn’t want to share that?
Planning to launch a ‘great’ campaign soon?
Before you do, here are a few things to keep in mind:
Get your insights right. Watch out for common biases you might encounter as a fierce customer advocate.
Differentiate the good insights from the great ones:
Focus on the message, not the product. This builds a long-lasting, emotional bond with your audience.
Content is only as good as its distribution. Identify what makes your content ‘shareable’ and double down on expanding reach.
Until next week,
Shrikala