10 Insane Video Marketing Examples that Redefined Brands
As you read through this list of 10 video marketing examples, you’re bound to recognize at least one campaign. If I’m right then it’s proof as to how memorable and sticky a successful video campaign stays with you, which could very well mean forever. How much would you pay to have your brand ingrained into people’s minds forever? Tough to answer but fun to think about.
10. Red Bull - Felix Baumgartner Stratos Jump
About the campaign
Red Bull gives you wings, literally in this campaign. Red Bull sponsored Felix Baumgartner, a sky diving daredevil, to fly him to the edge of space using a helium balloon to the altitude of 127,852 feet.
This stunt set several world records at the time including: the first human to break the sound barrier on descent, highest manned balloon flight, and highest altitude jump.
9. Blendtec - “Will It Blend?” Series
About the campaign
How do you drum up attention to a product as boring as a blender? You make a web series blending everything you’re not supposed to be blending. Just remember to not try this at home and definitely don’t breathe in blended up iPhone dust.
Blendtec realized that you’d get more eye balls and attention if you entertained rather than inform. Instead of showing videos touting specs and features, Blendtec demonstrated its toughness through blending ridiculous things like iPads, crowbars, lighters, and golf balls.
8. Apple - 1984 Super Bowl Ad
About the campaign
Apple ran this commercial as a Super Bowl ad in 1984. The commercial was in stark contrast with other companies who were running commercials at the time. Instead of comedy or celebrity endorsements, the theme was a dystopian future inspired by George Orwell’s novel “1984.”
Apple was launching the Macintosh and it needed a way to communicate it’s defiance against the status quo of that of intel which held market dominance at the time. Apple hired the director of the movie Blade Runner, Ridley Scott to create the commercial. Additionally, Apple took on a major risk to invest in one commercial to bank on its success vs filming various other versions.
7. Old Spice - “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” Campaign
About the campaign
This Old Spice commercial initially aired during the Super Bowl in 2010. Old Spice had a goal of increasing their sales by 15%. Armed with data that suggested that 60% of all body wash purchases are made by woman, they needed a connection with their target audience.
This campaign was highly successful. Sales of Old Spice increased by 107% year over year.
6. Dollar Shave Club - Our Blades Are F***ing Great
About the campaign
When you’re a startup selling a commodity, like razor blades, you’ve got a lot of headwinds. Price competition, lack of differentiation, market saturation, and limited pricing power to name a few. Not to mention, you’ve got established incumbents with distribution channels that is hard to break through. So, how exactly do you break through the noise?
See Dollar Shave Club, who created a humorous video which contributed much to their early growth and success. Dollar Shave Club eventually was acquired by Unilever for $1 billion dollars.
5. Poo-Pourri - “Girls don’t Poop”
About the campaign
There’s nothing glamorous about selling bathroom products. However, if you make a hilarious poop video, you’re going to go viral and maybe some of them will try out your product. Poo-Pourri sold 260,000 bottles, $1 Million in revenue in its first year of operation. Most everyone who know the brand, knows the video. It’s worth pointing out that they also deploy humor to their product packaging and copywriting.
4. Squatty Potty - “This Unicorn Changed the Way I Poop”
About the campaign
Research has shown that sitting on a toilet is a less than ideal posture vs squatting. For that reason, the Squatty Potty was created. While the company could have easily taken the informational route, akin to what many toothpaste brands do (IE: 9 out of 10 dentists recommends) they choose instead to go all in on humor.
The result of that is similar to Poo-Pourri. Online sales in first year of operations was over $1 million.
3. Kmart - “Ship My Pants”
About the campaign
In 2013, Kmart had fallen precipitously against its rivals (Amazon, Walmart, and Target) from it’s peak in 1992. They created the “Ship My Pants” commercial as a awareness campaign for free shipping if products were not available in store.
The campaign resulted in a 50% increase in revenue for the year and for the first time in more than a decade resuscitated the brands relevance. Unfortunately, it couldn’t make a full comeback and filed for bankruptcy in 2018.
2. Tesla - Cybertruck Unveil
About the campaign
This video is the only one in this top 10 list that is not actually a commercial. Up until 2023, Tesla does not spend any money on marketing. Also, unlike the other video marketing examples in this list, the result was completely accidental and unplanned.
In 2019, Tesla unveiled the Cybertruck. Tesla’s Head of Design, Franz von Holzhausen, was on stage with Elon to demonstrate the toughness of the Cybertruck’s armored windows. When Franz threw a steel ball at the window, the window shattered which wasn’t supposed to happen. To make matters worse, Franz tried again and shattered the back window. This caused practically unprecedented media coverage making fun of the failed product demonstration. However, it seemed to work in Tesla’s favor with over 2 million reservations.
1. Liquid Death
About the campaign
I’ve saved my favorite for last. Liquid Death, is a canned water company disguised as a media company. Their tagline is “murder your thirst.” Led by founder Mike Cessario who ideated the brand from his background of being a creative director, love of punk rock, and healthy drinks at parties.
This is a company that iscreative video marketing led. Everything they do evolves around irreverent outrageous marketing. From commercials that feature decapitated flying heads and celebrity endorsed enema kits, this company is fraught with brow raising stunts.
In Conclusion
Here’s the thing you have to keep in mind when it comes to video marketing. If your company is thinking about getting into video, you’re competing against insane trick shots, Mr Beast, and people pretending to be real life NPC for 8+ hours a day. Avoid traditional corporate marketing and make something genuinely entertaining. If you don’t your company will be noise that people tune out.
