2 businesses who started 2023 with a marketing bang
January often starts off slow for everyone and many brands don’t really kick things off until the Super Bowl weekend, but there are businesses who jumped right in with some exciting marketing campaigns.
Let’s take a look at a couple brands who have kicked this year off with a marketing bang.
Toronto Zoo
When you think of Valentine’s Day, what do you think of? Probably heart shaped everything, chocolate, and more. This year, the Toronto Zoo’s Wildlife Conservatory launched their very own Valentine’s Day campaign... The Name-A-Roach campaign. Yeah, you read that right. For a minimum $25 donation, people could name a cockroach after an ex... or anyone who’s been bugging them.
For this campaign, they were inspired by the San Antonio Zoo’s Cry Me A Cockroach fundraiser and the Bronx Zoo’s Name a Roach for your Valentine campaign.
In addition to naming a cockroach, donors would also receive a tax receipt and would have the option of emailing a card to someone or printing out a digital certificate for themselves.
The campaign launched around January 14, 2023, and by January 19, 2023, they announced via social media that they were closing the campaign due to an overwhelming number of orders. They also announced that they were able to raise over $15,000 in support of the Toronto Zoo’s conservation and resource efforts.
P.S. You can also adopt a penguin couple (aww) from the Toronto Zoo Wildlife Conservatory for a minimum donation of $100 – which is a pretty sweet and unique gift.
What businesses can learn from this campaign:
An idea doesn’t have to be completely new to work and to be exciting, so It’s ok to draw inspiration from others and even your own past successes. If you do riff off of what others have created, it’s a good idea to still make it unique to your business and/or give the other credit (as the Toronto Zoo did).
Don’t be scared to have some fun with things and think outside the box. Creepy crawlies and Valentine’s Day don’t exactly go hand in hand, and roaches aren’t the first thing you think of during Valentine’s Day, but it’s a fun and unique twist on the day, it still fits by tying in the aspect of naming a roach after an ex, and it’s for a great cause. It’s also kind of funny and something that will get people talking.
Figure out ways to make holiday campaigns work with your business. I mentioned this above, but although people are generally thinking of love, hearts, and all those kinds of sweet things on Valentine’s Day, The Toronto Zoo found a way to make the day work for them – and it’s a fun and different take than we typically see for Valentine’s Day.
Tarte
Influencer trips are nothing new. Many people, like me, who have been interested in beauty products for a while have seen cosmetic brands take plenty of amazing, and often luxurious, influencer trips throughout the years. Since 2015, the cosmetics company Tarte, in particular, has organized a lot of influencer trips, but their first trip of 2023 has sent the internet, particularly TikTok and the beauty sphere, abuzz.
For their first trip of 2023, Tarte took nearly 30 influencers (and their plus ones) on a 3-day trip to Dubai (actually, it’s just outside Dubai). The trip seemed especially lavish, for one, because of the destination, but also because it included business class flights on Emirates, private villas (which even included private pools), clothes, jewelry, tons of Tarte makeup, and a lot more. Here’s a peek at the trip.
This particular influencer trip has been met with a mix of reactions. Some people enjoyed keeping up with the influencers on the lavish trip while others have negative feelings about it. For example, many feel that the trip is tone deaf right now given inflation and the state of the economy and job market, many young people can’t afford a house, rent is astronomical in some cities, and groceries and gas are expensive. If Tarte truly paid for the flights, villas, excursions, and more (which is highly doubtful), it would cost tens of thousands of dollars for each person. Yep, EACH PERSON. So, it’s easy to see why some people feel the trip is a little tone deaf right now.
Whether people loved keeping up with influencers on this trip, or hate it, Tarte has people talking. Videos from the trip have racked up a lot of views, the branded tag #trippinwithtarte has over 133 million views (though they are from multiple trips), and the #tartedubaitrip hashtag has over 16 million views. If exposure was one of their goals, they certainly got it and if another goal is sales, they’ll likely get that too, because many products sold out after going viral on TikTok and other social media sites after influencers talked about them.
I’m curious to see how the year will play out for the brand, particularly their next launch that was promoted on this trip, and if they’ll release a case study on the results of the trip and campaign later.
What businesses can learn from this campaign:
I think one of the biggest things businesses can take from this is that influencer marketing isn’t slowing down or going anywhere, and influencers have a lot of... well influence, on consumer purchasing decisions.
Being relatable matters. Yes, there are those of us who love to watch others take a lavish trip or live a lavish life. It’s one of the reasons why shows like the Real Housewives, MTV’s Cribs, The Kardashians, and others have been popular in the past. However, many people feel it’s unrelatable (and maybe even insensitive) in this economy. On another note, a lot of the influencers who were chosen for this trip, like Alix Earle, have gained popularity on social media because they feel authentic and relatable, like a best friend. This makes people trust and admire them. Overall, relatability is important.
Are there any businesses you think kicked off 2023 with a marketing bang? What do you think of those we mentioned? Let us know on Instagram!