ICYMI: A verified winner
I'm posting a series of ideas that I hadn't seen before they won at Cannes.
Sometimes the Cannes festival awards impractical ideas that have little to do with marketing like an artificial reef or reflective spray.
That's why I like this Social and Creator Grand Prix winner from Ogilvy Singapore. It's smart, current, savvy marketing.
• Social listening revealed people sharing innovative uses of Vaseline. Some were bogus, though, and some were dangerous.
• Vaseline responded with their own social videos testing whether these hacks worked or not. It reminds me of Will It Blend.
• Creators were thrilled their hack was chosen by Vaseline to be tested and posted about being featured.
• They made smart use of the hashtag, #VaselineHack.
• People sought out more of Vaseline's content after seeing it organically via a creator.
• Vaseline kept the free exposure going by sending creators a trophy if their hack was confirmed as useful and safe. Creators couldn't help but film an unboxing video of their trophy.
• They used the social term "verified" and a variation on the blue verification check.
• The effort got additional free exposure via earned media.
The whole program shows an understanding of social creators and culture. That's smart marketing.
The case study itself is an accomplishment, too – watchable and persuasive.
BUT... allow a little rant here... While it absolutely deserves the Grand Prix for Social and Influencer it shouldn't have won for Health and Wellness or Media. And it definitely didn't deserve a Titanium Lion which is supposed to be for innovative campaigns that break new ground. It's a an excellent campaign, but it's a straight-down-the-middle social campaign. There's nothing innovative or groundbreaking. It's simply a great social execution. But they didn't ask me to judge, did they?
