Jan, it’s a wrap.

January the time of resolutions, declarations, and the longest time between paychecks, is almost at an end.

I can hear an audible sigh from all brands that are not fitness, health or vegan related.

So before we catapult into the month of love- yep the marketing calendar is that predictable. Let’s recap on the months that's been, and the best campaigns that I've seen.

And because I love a pattern and order, this month my convoluted attempt to find a commonality in them is centered on the customer. Each one of these campaigns involved the customer- drawing them into the experience somehow.

Whether this was by holding up a mirror to their life or inviting them into the experience, or getting them to imagine what they would say. Each of these campaigns aimed to be more than just a passive exchange- speaking with not speaking at the target customer. 

Channel 4

Every couple of years an A4 letter with blue NHS watermarks drops onto the doormat. It’s time. Time to put my legs in stirrups and cough. It’s not fun, it’s not enjoyable but it’s vital.

However, for millions of women, shame and embarrassment prevent them from following up on this letter and getting a smear test.

To mark cervical cancer prevention week, channel 4 tackled the embossment on head-on. And put cervical screenings at the top of the conversation. 

DAYS

We’ve all been there, we have a friend who gets political, or who texts their ex or takes it a bit too far after a drink. Or maybe that friend is you....

This campaign holds a mirror to the tropes of drinking and shows that there could be another way. I love how the message and the media, have been planned together from the get-go rather than being an afterthought so the whole campaign is contextually relevant.

British Airways

 This had me dreaming of things I wished I had had the guts to said in my out of office of days gone by, and had me planning what my next one might be. I particularly liked how this integrated campaign also featured audio, the sarcasm really cut through in the overly cheerful world of radio ads. How do you stand out? Do the opposite!

UpCircle

It’s been a little while since I’ve featured an email, but given that the theme is all centered on the customer, I wanted to include this example as one that is not particularly creative but does the job of reducing the distance between the brand and the customer. 

My challenge to you is how can you bring the customer into what you are doing. How can you change your marketing from being a passive push message to one that makes the customer feel see, heard and understood?