Written by the The Melotti Media Team, checked by Christopher Melotti
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In Marketing, we’re always asking: what’s new?
But let’s shift it up (and give you a secret Marketing weapon at the same time)!
Let’s talk about something that’s a little ‘old school’ Marketing yet underutilised and very powerful for brands even today…
Seasonal Advertising Campaigns!
Truth be told, these creative brand advertising campaigns aren’t actually “old”. They used to be the norm only a few years ago – but then came digital performance advertising.
As these digital performance PPC (pay-per-click) and PPI (pay-per-impression) ads are typically easy to launch and run, they’ve become the default option…
… but the tide is turning now with all of the digital saturation out there.
Nevertheless, seasonal advertising campaigns have become a lost art – to the detriment of Marketing results!
These super creative brand advertising campaigns don’t seem to be the first thing on any marketer’s mind today. But here’s a hot tip: to move forward, sometimes we have to take a step back.
And this is one of those times.
So, let’s talk about creative Seasonal Advertising Campaigns, your brand’s marketing goals and everything else in between.
What is a creative advertising campaign?
Creative brand Advertising Campaigns are those highly memorable concepts that audiences really love and engage with.
Some of the best are:
- Coca-Cola’s: Share a coke campaign
- Metro Trains: Dumb Ways to Die
- Old Spice: The Man Your Man Could Smell Like
These types of creative advertising brand campaigns are crucial to Marketing as their main goal is to promote your products and services in a fresh new way.
Brand Advertising Campaigns vs Performance Advertising
The most popular and go-to option today for Marketers today is digital performance advertising, such as:
- Google Ads (eg: pay-per-click)
- LinkedIn Ads (eg: cost-per-acquisition)
- Facebook Ads (eg: pay-per-impression)
However, there is a lot of noise in this space now, the platforms hosting them are getting more restrictive and people are starting to avoid them – because, well, they’re everywhere.
This reopens the opportunity for creative brand advertising (or seasonal advertising campaigns) to take the limelight once again.
After all, the goal of Brand Advertising is to build brand favourability by encouraging people to feel or think something new about your brand while the goal of Performance Advertising is to drive a Return on Advertising Spend by prompting people to pay attention to the things they already know.
As Marketers, we want people to re-engage with our brands and see something new in our brand!
Why advertising campaigns need to be put back into your Marketing mix
Digital advertising is great – it works for most Marketers.
But why do you think people pay for premium subscriptions to skip these digital ads?
They’re repetitive and forced. They’re a numbers game. Yep – they work, but sometimes what a brand needs is a fresh new narrative to re-spark interest from an audience.
This is why you need to put creative seasonal advertising campaigns back into your marketing mix.
Creative advertising concepts add much-needed variety to your marketing – and people love fresh ideas.
How do seasonal advertising campaigns work?
Seasonal Advertising Campaigns (or creative brand advertising campaigns) are temporary promotional concepts with a unique Marketing theme that you use for a short period of time to reinvigorate your brand.
When launching seasonal advertising campaigns, you can (re)connect with your audiences by designing the following around a periodic theme:
- A fresh new brand message
- An on-brand but variation to design
- Then rolling it out across multiple channels
Because this advertising campaign approach gives your brand a new face for your audiences to see, it creates excitement around the campaign (and your brand as a whole).
Seasonal Advertising Campaigns add a spark to your usual Marketing efforts and encourage existing and potential customers to re-engage with your brand.
When to launch seasonal advertising campaigns
Your brand can use any time frame to launch a creative brand advert, but anchoring it around a specific period gives it context.
That’s why it’s best to time Seasonal Advertising Campaigns around seasons, specific periods or holidays such as:
- Christmas
- Easter
- Valentine’s Day
- Pride Month
- Black Friday
- Cyber Monday
- Summer
- Winter
Just think about Starbucks’ Seasonal Drinks.
Everything about this campaign is Christmas-themed and is designed to capture the holiday festivities – they are still consistent with the brand but are only available during Christmas, which makes them all the more exciting.
Coca-Cola also launches summer advertising campaigns.
They release seasonal advertising promotions and change the packaging of their products to match the theme of the campaign – and these have been generally well-received during the past couple of years.
Even notable fashion brands like Louis Vuitton consistently launch seasonal campaigns to reinvigorate their brand to audiences.
However, you can launch a brand campaign during other time frames, like:
- During an industry event
- To launch a product
- To mark an anniversary
- To coincide with a milestone
The point of these seasonal marketing campaigns is to keep your brand relevant and connected to your customers through a temporary new angle that highlights the value of your brand.
In addition to that, creative ad campaigns tap into your customer’s fear of missing out (FOMO) – which further encourages them to get your products and services as soon as possible.
Why use seasonal advertising campaigns in marketing plans?
A strategic marketing plan accounts for the various needs of your target audience and uses all possible techniques to reach all types of audiences.
Because today’s market is overly saturated (regardless of the industry you’re in), you want to make sure that you are seen, heard and remembered by the right people. While clear and consistent messaging always hits the mark, it also helps to introduce a fresh theme that will reinvigorate your marketing.
6 benefits of running seasonal brand advertising campaigns
1. Increased brand awareness and relevance
The best way to increase brand awareness and relevance is to consistently amplify your brand’s appeal. By adding seasonal campaigns to your marketing mix, you are introducing variety to your campaigns and attracting more customers by showcasing how exciting your brand can be!
2. More brand differentiation and credibility
Because the digital space is overloaded with performance ads, it helps to do something that will clearly set your brand apart from your competitors. This way, you can position your products and services as the top choice for your customers.
When designing a seasonal creative ad campaign, you’re telling your customers, “Yes this is what we are, and this is what we can do for you!”
3. Improved audience targeting
Seasonal advertising allows you to target specific audiences based on key demographics, buying behaviour and interest – thus increasing your chances of generating more leads.
For more information about audience targeting, check out our podcast episode on the future of audience targeting for marketing.
4. Higher customer engagement and loyalty
The thing is, people pay attention (and deeply appreciate) the effort you put in to connect with them. Seasonal creative advertising shows your customers that you are committed to finding exciting ways to engage them and keep them satisfied.
This is why the most popular brands that have been in the market for a long time don’t stick to the same marketing strategies – they want to show their customers that they are always evolving.
5. Boosted sales and revenue
The measure of any brand campaign’s success is, of course, sales and revenue. Because of the excitement, the FOMO and the nostalgia that seasonal creative ad campaigns trigger, they create a sense of urgency for your customers which then leads to higher sales and revenue.
6. Maximising Return On Investment
Tracking and assessing your creative brand campaigns will allow you to identify the strategies that work best for your customers. The more options you have, the better your chances are of improving your marketing efforts and getting the most out of every investment.
How to create a seasonal advertising campaign for your brand
STEP ONE: The idea
It always starts with the creative ideation phase.
When launching a seasonal advertising campaign, you need to consider the following:
- your audience
- the upcoming season
- your offerings
Do your customers love Christmas? Do they get excited around the summer? Are they more likely to purchase something before the school year begins?
For more information, see our seasonal advertising campaign development service.
STEP TWO: Conceptualisation
Now, you find a way to tie all of these together to develop a concept on which to launch a successful campaign.
You can pick a central theme and create messages, designs and pitches that match both your brand and the season – all these will be visible during the next stage: the execution part.
For more information, see our creative brand advertising development service.
STEP THREE: Execution of the brand campaign
You then use this brand ad concept as a theme across all of your platforms and apply the campaign wherever possible, including:
- website design
- social media
- articles and blogs
- key opinion leader content
- ads (both digital and traditional)
- booklets and collateral
- presentations
- stands and event installations
- and more – the possibilities are endless!
Once the season ends and you have built excitement, you can revert back to your regular marketing efforts and plan for the next seasons to come!
How Melotti Media creates seasonal advertising concepts for brands
At Melotti Media, we help give your brand a creative seasonal renewal through brand-compliant ad concept development services.
We create advertising campaign messaging and marketing concepts that will empower your brand to stand out during any season – setting you apart from your competitors and adding a fresh spark to your usual marketing strategies.
Powered by our passionate ideas guy, Christopher Melotti will set up a marketing strategy session with you and develop reinvigorating concepts that you can roll out across your marketing and sales.
So, are you ready to spice things up for your marketing?
How can Melotti Media help your business achieve success through Seasonal Advertising Campaigns?
At Melotti Media, we understand that you want to get cut through in a competitive market and achieve business success – and a powerful way to do this is by investing in brand messaging and innovative Marketing ideas that will drive results.
However, you may find that you’re time-poor and spread thin or you still have a lot of unanswered questions.
You don’t need to worry.
At Melotti Media, we can assist with all your creative advertising concept ideas while you focus on what matters most to you – growing your business.
Let’s start earning the results your business deserves!
To speak to your trusted message marketers and copywriters, email us at enquire@melottimedia.com.au or phone 1800 663 342.
We can sharpen your words to achieve your goals today!
The Melotti Media Team
Melotti Media | Copywriting & Message Marketing Bureau
www.melottimedia.com.au
