6 Clever Social Media Campaigns That Made a Big Impression

By Anita Reid

A marketing objective for many businesses today is to come up with a social media campaign that goes viral. Companies are looking more and more into portraying their brands in ways that capture people's attention and affect the way they think. Over the last year, we've seen several brands do just that, with marketing strategies that ended up being truly unique and memorable. The end-result for a number of these companies was campaigns that people all over the globe talked about, essentially benefiting each and every organization that was smart enough to take the risk.

The following are some of the most exciting and captivating social media campaigns in recent times that have left a lasting impression.

WestJet's Christmas Miracle

Canadian airline WestJet knocked one out of the park last December with a social media initiative that gave passengers a surprise they'll never forget. Travelers were required to check in through a mysterious check-in station. Not only was the station purposed as a self-serve check-in, it also served as a giant webcast of the WestJet Santa Claus asking passengers to share their most desired Christmas wishes. Little did the passengers know that that their wishes would be literally granted, with presents awaiting for them at their arrival destination. Gifts included small items such as socks and toys, and even larger-scale presents like televisions and return flights home. WestJet truly did not hold back any expense.

The overall campaign process was filmed and showcased online, spreading like wildfire to the tune of 7 million hits in just three days. In the end, it was a blissful victory for WestJet. The initiative further built on WestJet's brand by striking an emotional chord among passengers and viewers alike, boosting the company's reputation.

When people see that a brand cares, then they, in turn, care as well.

Heineken's Departure Roulette

The team over at Heineken took a unique approach with their Departure Roulette campaign, challenging airport travelers to take a leap of faith into the unknown.

And what was offered? A complimentary roundtrip ticket to an unknown destination, two free nights at a hotel, and $2000 in spending money. There was more to this than meets the eye; however, travelers were told to put their current travel plans on hold and instead, detour to whichever destination they randomly selected after pushing the Departure Roulette button. Sure, there were numerous reluctant guests, but it didn't take long for a few daring souls to take the plunge, fully willing and able.

The return on investment to Heineken for pulling such a stunt paid off quite handsomely. The video clip which showcased the campaign in action collected over 10 million views on YouTube, massive amounts of major blog coverage, and thousands of social media mentions. All of this was to promote Heineken's "Dropped" web series, which as a result, gained tremendous exposure.

Batkid Saves Gotham

A highly visible initiative that became a viral sensation during 2013 was the Batkid campaign. Together with the city of San Francisco, the Make-A-Wish Foundation granted the wish of a little 5-year-old patient of leukemia, Miles Scott.

Miles' particular wish required a fair bit of coordination from multiple parties and numerous volunteers, but essentially what ended up getting pulled off was a sight to behold. The campaign sought to turn San Francisco into Gotham City, in which Batkid and Batman would play out a full-scale scenario of saving the city from villains and evil terror. No expenses were held back as the duo rolled around town in a Batmobile, fighting crime and capturing bad guys.

The Make-A-Wish grant drew in thousands of bystanders and onlookers from all over, giving the campaign an enormous amount of attention which resulted in mass media coverage on every major news outlet and millions of tweets from all over the globe.

In the end, the front-page news campaign was a success for Batkid Miles and served as an eye-opening reminder of the power of social media today.

Telus's Stuffed Panda Vending Machines

Telecommunications giant Telus embarked on a a noteworthy campaign last year when it decided to set up a unique type of vending machine. What made this vending machine unique from a typical machine was that it dispensed stuffed panda bears in exchange for tweets.

The way the promotion worked was any time a passerby tweeted the hashtag #HomeTweetHome and a location-based pindrop to verify their location, the vending machine would dispense a stuffed animal. There was an alternative route of buying the plush toys in-store for $9.49, but the tweet-method was the obvious transactional winner.

The initiative was conducted in conjunction with the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF), with Telus donating $1 to the nonprofit  for every tweet that used the designated hashtag.

Mater Prize's Home and Lions Game

Mater Prize Home Charity is an Australian charity lottery in which all proceeds benefit the Mater Foundation. As a way to significantly increase the number of people who play the lottery (or donate to Mater Hospital), at a Brisbane Lions game, the organization gave a fortune cookie to all 15,000 attendees in the audience. The cookie held information about where people could buy tickets for the Mater Prize draw.

Results were amazing, as over 2,000 people bought tickets and signed up for the organization's ongoing mailing list. This promotion demonstrates that most people are willing to help out if you make it easy for them to participate.

Virgin Australia's Simplistic Viral Billboard

A simple campaign ad that was run by Virgin Australia was a perfect example of a little going a long way. The billboard campaign was implemented in the U.S., and due to its simple and unique message, went viral on the Internet in an unplanned and unprecedented way.

The ad itself was minimal, yet clever enough for passersby to stop, take a picture, and share it amongst their network of friends on social media. The online sharing of the image eventually made its way to reputable blogs and image-sharing forums such as Reddit and 9gag, which in turn sparked a wildfire of impressions.

Virgin Australia had simply wanted to create a smart ad that could compel people, even if they glanced at it for just a second. What they got in return was a campaign that was a gold mine in terms of media attention, further proving that momentous achievements can be made with little resources when dealing with social media.

All of these campaigns engaged people by either being fun and interesting, or strongly appealing to a person's emotions. The takeaway is you don't have to burn though a huge budget like some of these companies did, as that's not what made their campaigns stand out. What you do have to think about is what will get people hyped enough so that they will share the experience with their friends.