We Asked 4 Marketers to Share Their Favorite Ads

Drawing inspiration from your favorite brands and advertisers is a great place to start when looking for new ideas. From classic commercials to cutting-edge, unconventional ad campaigns, TriMark strategists and creatives break down their favorite ads and why they work.

1. Entertaining Video Ads That Resonate

To kick off our interviews, TriMark Creative Director Brandon Clarke explains what made TV ads of the ‘80s and ‘90s so intriguing and what we can learn from them today.

For a long time, video marketing was really broad, centered around long brand films and marketing videos. But for the lead generation and the advertising side of video marketing, 15-, 30- and 60-second ads are powerful ways to reach audiences—not unlike traditional TV commercials. In both cases, you have to communicate an idea quickly; rather than spelling everything out for your audience, you have to find your key messaging and hit on it hard.

“A commercial is something you watch when you sit down to watch something else—you should at least be entertained.” – Joe Sedelmaier

Similarly, “disruptive” has been a buzzword for a long time, though that can also disrupt the messaging. Enter Joe Sedelmaier.

American film director Joe Sedelmaier, best known for his work in television advertising, is the not-so-secret mastermind behind some of the most successful commercials of the 1980s and 90s. His ads are entertaining to watch while still providing viewers with key product information.

Don’t Advertise, Entertain

Take the John Deere mower commercial below for a more specific example of Sedelmaier’s work. It doesn’t just list out facts or the functionalities of the mower. It doesn’t even show it in use with someone mowing. In a way, that would be the obvious (though not necessarily wrong) way of creating the ad.

Instead, John Deere showed the variety of mower functions wrapped in a quirky composition that’s very simple on the surface. When you look at the depth of the scene, the people in the background, peeking through a window, walking into a frame—they don’t serve a purpose other than keeping your eyes entertained. The ad has jokes, but nothing requires a setup.

If you want to command people’s attention and are asking for their time, you have to give them something in return. If we’re making content just to check the boxes of the messaging and not giving the audience something in return, the burden is on them to take it or leave it.

Bringing Window Marketing to Life With Barbie’s Dollhouse

One final example to showcase these ideas in action is a highlight of some of our work for our client, Window World. In this ad, we hit on the end benefits for Window World’s audience—energy-efficient, budget-friendly, curb appeal—in a way that’s not just showing windows being installed.

Our approach: make the messaging around baseline benefits captivating through micro-stories while tapping into the viral buzz of the Barbie movie.

2. Using New Platforms to Reach New Audiences

TriMark’s Senior Brand Strategist, Hannah Freyaldenhoven, breaks down the importance of platform-specific content and how using new platforms can spark unexpected results.

We’re always looking for ways to create impactful videos for our clients. For one of our recent campaigns, we wanted to reach a new audience demographic. To do so, we turned to new platforms and types of content.

We drew inspiration from a Wendy’s campaign which “aired” on Twitch and centered around streaming.

As part of a limited-run partnership with Uber Eats, Wendy’s created a “Never Stop Gaming” menu only available on the delivery app, featuring Twitch streamers’ favorite Wendy’s orders. They paired this limited menu with giveaways and streaming events in an attempt to reach new, younger audiences.

Why did it work? At the time of the campaign, Twitch had nearly 40 million monthly users under the age of 30, all hungry for content from their favorite streamers.

To reach this gaming-obsessed audience, Wendy’s tailored its messaging to a techy, more gamer-focused CTA of “Get food delivered while you game.” Twitch is driven by interactivity and live participation, including live stream chats, making a CTA to order food mid-stream especially appealing when coupled with discounts and special offerings.

Twitch presents additional creative opportunities for marketers through features like on-screen QR codes, multi-screen displays and overlays and the ability for brands to partner with influencers in their market. Wendy’s thought through their strategy, and as marketers, we appreciate the custom approach in creating new content specifically for the platform.

Using a new platform in a limited capacity is a great way to test the market and your customer base while getting real-time feedback! Below, you can watch the Wendy’s-inspired Twitch video ad we created at TriMark for our client Bojangles.

3. An Unexpected Take on a Classic Medium: Simplicity in Video Ads

TriMark’s Social Media Manager, Ashlyn Hirsh, dives into the impact of simplicity in video advertising and how it resonates with today’s consumers.

Often, in video production, you don’t see much stillness—most frames of a video will have some type of motion, which makes sense given the video medium. By contrast, the Airbnb “Voicemail” ad uses photography in the video to create stillness, coupled with the audio of a call going to voicemail, in order to tell a quick story of friends on a fun island getaway (and using Airbnb to make it possible).

Throughout the ad, Airbnb is intentional in how they cut from one photo to the next, creating a sense of rhythm and movement through the editing, almost like flipping through a scrapbook. The ad conveys a sense of place and focuses on the emotions of traveling (and staying at an Airbnb) rather than listing out the benefits of their product.

While Airbnb’s core offering centers around rental spaces and accommodations, their Voicemail ad, one of several in a similar theme, prioritizes the human experience and community aspects of their business over the services they offer.

When working on a new ad concept, it can be easy to go down the rabbit hole of making something too complex or trying to fit every key messaging point into a 15- or 30-second video. This Airbnb commercial is a good reminder that you can slow things down, focus on an experience and still make something that is meaningful and will resonate with your audience.

4. Mindfulness in Advertising

Jordan Nowlin, TriMark’s Director of Paid Social, emphasizes the significance of conscious engagement on social media and the role of mindful advertising.

During the 2020 election period, we were looking to create a set of ads for one of our clients at a time when negativity filled social media. Knowing we wanted to create a new campaign to positively engage with our audience, we drew inspiration for our work from a Calm ad, reminding the world to take a breath and have a peaceful moment.

The concept: Calm created an awareness ad for their meditation app, with a message of “For 20 seconds, just breathe.” During the video, a shape on-screen moves in and out to the rhythm of breathing with the end CTA to download their app.

Why did it work? The ad doesn’t ask the audience for anything directly other than to take a moment of pause during a hectic time. As marketers, it is refreshing to see a brand reminding everyone to take a break from the noise and really connect their product with an experience.

We wanted to introduce a similar feeling for one of our clients at the time, KOHLER Walk-In Bath, in the hopes of engaging their audience in a different way on social media. We tailored the content to highlight the experience of a walk-in bath and how it can enhance one’s quality of life.

This out-of-the-box idea performed exceptionally well with our target audience, resulting in high engagement with thousands of comments thanking KOHLER for this kind of content.

Discovery

This initial step involves defining our client’s business or marketing goals, the audience we’ll want to reach and where we’ll want to reach them, in terms of both marketing channel and the sales funnel. Figuring out the audience early, whether that’s determined as a well-established audience or one you’d like to target in the future, can make coming up with appropriate concepts a much smoother process.

The Creative Director will collaborate with you and your team to craft a powerful, resonating message for your core audience in the desired channels. From there, a team of creatives will brainstorm concepts based on that creative and strategic direction. Once we’ve determined the right creative concept, the Director of Video Production will ensure that our creativity meets practicality and create a detailed budget for the project. This teamwork delivers a video that’s captivating and aligned with your marketing goals.

Pre-Production

Once everyone involved has a clear understanding of what’s needed and you’re happy with the concept, it’s time for our team to gather all the necessary resources to execute a successful shoot. We’ll further develop that concept we brainstormed together, including you in potential edits, and write a script and storyboard based on that final concept.

We now get into the practical needs for the day of the shoot. Video Producers will scout out an appropriate location and build out the set, find a great cast for your video and follow up on the nitty-gritty details of planning and scheduling (scripting, storyboarding, compiling shot lists and set building, just to name a few) so things run smoothly throughout the shoot.

Production

It’s time to get this video rolling! Producing your video involves more than you may think. Shooting the video according to both the script and storyboard includes, of course, filming actors or models, but it also involves capturing product shots and recording audio. This process is the most “walk the walk” component of the entire production, and there should be no surprises on production day—though, of course, sometimes the unexpected does pop up! That’s why Video Producers are hard-wired to adapt and keep the production on track. Meanwhile, the Director of Photography checks that each shot is intentionally positioned and expertly lit.

You’ll be on set, too, providing reviews as we shoot. Your collaboration and feedback on set help us ensure this video matches the idea you’ve invested in from the beginning. Tap on the shoulder of the nearest Production Assistant and they will be able to implement your real-time input with the rest of the crew.

Behind the scenes video shoot at gold course with golf cart

Post-Production

After the shoot, we’ll pull all those individual parts, both the captured footage and audio, together into one cohesive unit. The Editors have mastered this complicated process, configuring many moving pieces together for one polished deliverable. While editing, they add in other elements like special effects, transitions, color correction, VFX, sound mixing and any needed revisions. Often, this is where Motion Designers and their skillful animations are integrated into the production process. Our ultimate goal at this stage is to match your original vision as closely as possible, so your feedback is essential. We’ll have an open dialogue of internal and client review to bring the pieces together and deliver your final product.

Delivery

Once all edits are complete, your video is finally ready! We’re sure you’re ready to show it off. Your marketing team will help you implement and execute your plan, getting the video out where and when it makes the most sense. The determined distribution method will hinge on your target audience and your intended goal with the video, which will have been selected during the initial discovery phase. From there, it’s just a matter of seeing the payoff of our production crew’s “movie magic.”

Behind the Scenes

We’re just like you: passionate about integrated digital marketing. Looking for inspiration for your next video idea? Kickstart your brainstorming session with these tips.

What We Can Learn About Storytelling from Stand-Up Comedy?

Storytelling is foundational to marketing—from helping pack up and present a brand’s identity to connecting different messages on a web page. To get to the true essence of storytelling and what helps it endure, just turn to stand-up comedy. There’s no other popular form of entertainment that boils down to purely talking. Let’s explore the ins and outs of stand-up for optimizing your marketing stories.

What Goes Into Comedians’ Stories?

The most successful comedians know how to use storytelling to captivate an audience. That’s why even if you don’t find a particular comic laugh-out-loud funny, you can still be completely enamored by what they’re saying based on how they’re saying it. From great pacing to relatable details, there are a variety of ways and styles to keep audiences attentive.

Succinctness

Especially with stage-time limitations, stories let comedians string together more jokes with less exposition. When telling your own stories, it’s essential to keep things streamlined and not rely on saying the same thing over and over again in a slightly different way. Be concise and make your story memorable.

Balance

For comedians, balancing the right amount of punchlines with the right amount of details is essential. When structuring your own stories, be considerate of how you’re balancing what you want to say with what you need to say. Otherwise, you risk your audience tuning out just before you stick the landing.

Pacing

Ensure that your stories have a steady, building momentum while still feeling natural. Comedians know how to weave in the right details at the right time while also knowing when people need moments of pause and reflection. Even if a story is more experimental, there needs to be a compelling, thoughtfully designed structure that keeps the reader moving.

Relatability

Comedy feels extra special when it perfectly captures something we’ve felt or thought about ourselves. With your own stories, tap into relatable, everyday experiences that humanize your products, services and/or brand. This will increase the staying power of even your most simple messages.

Subversion

Comedy also comes from pairing the expected with the absurd. Sure, you can always follow a story to the natural point of progression that everyone expects. But if you’re not risk-averse, sometimes, a left turn when people expect a right can be a great way to ensure memorability.

Lessons From The Pros

While “best comedy storytellers” is subjective, here are a few learnings from some standouts.

1. It’s possible to break down complex points in a conversational way

2. Tough topics can feel approachable with the right touch

“My therapist says I have a preoccupation with vengeance. We’ll see about that.”
Maria Bamford

3. Even the most mundane-sounding thing or event can be entertaining

4. Creativity can have wide appeal in the right context

“I like to use ‘I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter’ on my toast in the morning, because sometimes when I eat breakfast, I like to be incredulous. How was breakfast? Unbelievable.”
Demetri Martin

5. Make comparisons that anyone can pick up on

6. Fully commit to your style and language choices

“One time a guy handed me a picture. He said, ‘Here’s a picture of me when I was younger.’ Every picture of you is when you were younger.”
Mitch Hedberg

7. Vulnerability can be fun and refreshing

You don’t need to be a natural comedian to be a great storyteller, but these tactics will improve your storytelling in any format or setting. Boost your marketing strategies even more with our blog on how to do “scary” marketing outside of October.

7 Tips for Effective Holiday Marketing

It’s that time of year again: time to schedule your end-of-year time off, check your gift-giving list and create your company’s holiday marketing strategy. Whether you’ve been brainstorming ideas and taking inspiration for months or you need tips to get a solid strategy out the door quickly, we’ve got takeaways you’ll find helpful. Learn from our experts about effective holiday marketing strategies you can start implementing today.

1. Schedule Your Content in Advance

The more time you allot for your holiday campaign in your content calendar, the more you can tease special deals or exclusive products. Some companies like Sephora or West Elm even promote teasers and presales or offer holiday products several months to half a year in advance. While you may not need to think that far in advance, planning out your content could prove useful for future promotional campaigns. The latest you should start planning out your holiday strategy is mid-October, with posts, promos and ads popping up throughout the next couple of months.

Christmas advertisement from IKEA promoting an early Christmas sale

2. What Will You Offer?

Gift-giving is as intrinsic to this time of year as holiday cookies and cards from loved ones. Around the holidays, consumers expect special offers, discounts or exclusive deals, so get creative with how to frame your products or services around the holidays. Before you start writing posts or ad copy, determine what you’ll have to offer prospects or customers. From there, you can strategize about how to present this offer. At that point, you’ll be ready to write stellar copy.

Whether you decide a discount for loyal customers is your best bet or a short social campaign with gift ideas based on your product line, commit to the offer. If you’re offering a discount, use discount codes for e-commerce convenience. Since more and more consumers shop on their phones, a mobile-friendly shopping experience is crucial. Make it as easy as possible for them to add your discount code to their order. If you’re promoting your products as gift ideas, create a cross-channel campaign with emails, social or SMS messaging.

If you’re running multiple offers or campaigns, segment your audience for a more targeted approach. Provide early access sales or discount codes to loyal customers, or use an “abandoned cart” messaging strategy with a simple reminder email and special discount in the spirit of giving.

Christmas-themed social media post from Papa John's

3. Stay True to Your Brand

What do your marketing materials look like most of the year? If your brand keeps things professional, a sudden shift to holiday sparkles and cozy, familiar language would be jarring for customers. You can still incorporate holiday cheer without breaking with your brand voice; add holiday messaging that maintains your messaging pillars, so it won’t be surprising to customers when you share a little joy. If you’re not a Bojangles’, don’t be a Bojangles.’ Stick with what works for your brand and customer base.

Holiday-themed social media post from Bojangles' that reads "The seasoning of joy is here"

4. Inclusive Marketing is Key

November and December are more than a Thanksgiving-to-Christmas pipeline. There are a variety of holidays and celebrations around this time of year, and for others, it’s simply any other month. Still, many people do view this time of year as a chance to get together with loved ones, regardless of the holidays they celebrate. You could focus on beloved pastimes embraced this time of year, like baking or making snowmen—Campbell’s Soup has a long tradition of using snowmen in their holiday campaigns. Using inclusive terms like “happy holidays” recognizes and celebrates the season, centering the holidays your customers celebrate and helping them feel seen.

5. Show Gratitude

Being grateful toward your customers should be part of your everyday marketing, but ramp it up another notch at the holidays. This is a time of year when we recognize how good we’ve got it. Still, that doesn’t mean your messaging can’t have something concrete behind it. Rewarding your customers or leads adds goodwill that can pay off later! Adding an email to your regular nurture campaign with an offer for free shipping or another juicy incentive shares your gratitude in a tangible way.

Another way to show gratitude is through giving back, either through community involvement or charity work. Consumers, especially Gen Z, love to know the companies they support are giving back in a tangible way. Showing your work is a great way to share the love.

6. Nostalgia is Your Friend

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… for nostalgia marketing. You’ll likely scroll your social feed and see plenty of cozy scenes straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting. From Coke’s soda-loving polar bear to Hershey’s classic Kisses holiday bells ad, using elements that evoke childhood wonder or family togetherness is a classic move for holiday marketing. This is the time of year to get creative with your brand while maintaining consistent voice and messaging. That could mean something as simple as adding a holiday wreath to your social media icons if more extravagant nods to the season are out of character for your brand voice. Some holiday embellishments are a fun way to celebrate the season!

7. Go Local with Influencers

Do you have a local presence that you’re proud to share with your audience? Try partnering with a local micro-influencer. Micro-influencers are social media mavens who usually have a following for their hyperspecific content, whether it’s knowledge of local budget-friendly buys or trendy restaurants in their state. They typically have a follower count between 10,000 and 100,000, and by partnering with them for sponsored or co-branded content, you’ll have an audience that’s tailor-made for your sector. Audiences also typically trust micro-influencers more than celebrity influencers, whose recommendations are perceived as less credible.

Start Early

The holiday spirit sparks up earlier than you may think. If you’re unsure where to start, we have plenty of ideas to get your inspiration flowing. Whether you level up with a data-driven approach to better target your audience, save time and augment your workflow with AI or want to tell a story your audience will love that’s just right for the holidays, our marketing experts can give a leg up to your digital strategy.

How to Un-Learn “College Writing”

As a content writer, my entire role is centered around my ability to write concise, well-informed content that achieves client goals. After a year in my first full-time marketing position, it’s safe to say that college didn’t prepare me for a writing career. Unlearning my college writing habits took time, patience, and above all, practice.

If you’re currently applying for writing careers or just want to improve your writing skills post-grad, this blog is for you. I’ll touch on three pitfalls of college writing and highlight ways you can write like a marketing professional.

Where College Writing Falls Short

Before you throw your degree away, know that not every college writing assignment (or professor!) is misguided and sets you up for failure. Attending college is an opportunity for students to continue their education, obtain a degree, grow their character and qualify for their dream job. That being said, I noticed three ways my post-graduate writing worked against me as I tried to write effective marketing copy for clients.

Prioritizing Length Over Everything Else

While college writing aims to provide a formal structure for written assignments, this practice inadvertently teaches students to stretch an idea as much as possible. Whether you’re writing two responses to a discussion post or a three-page anthropology essay, taking up space is usually more important than the content itself.

Just because something is longer doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good—especially in digital marketing. Writing deliverables with strict character counts (like optimized paid search and social ads) requires your messaging to be short, concise and impactful.

Quantity Over Quality

The mechanics and fundamentals of writing are seldom addressed in the classroom. I can find bloated sentence structure, simple grammar mistakes, and an abundance of “scholarly” vocabulary words in almost all of my past writing assignments. When writing as a marketer, it’s quality over quantity—contrary to what college may have taught you.

Shorter, punchier writing engages readers faster. If you keep it simple, readers are more likely to remember what you said.

There’s a Lack of Purpose

Students aren’t writing to generate leads, spread brand awareness, or influence a consumer’s purchasing decisions. Most students write to explain or inform instead of to communicate and inspire. And when you combine a lengthy page requirement with little knowledge of how writing works, it’s no surprise that college writing is redundant, filled with errors and downright boring.

Steps for Writing Like a Content Marketer

While college writing may have its flaws, it’s not impossible to fix. By dedicating time to your craft and establishing a solid foundation for professional writing, you can unlearn any college writing habits you no longer need.

Find What Makes Writing Compelling

Writing for a digital marketing agency means that I write for a broad range of clients, audiences and industries. Part of that journey meant familiarizing myself with each client’s voice and how customers respond through different channels like paid media, website copy, blogs, social media captions and more. I’ve learned how different tones of voice are more effective based on the platform, such as a white paper, organic social posts or a homepage headline.

Nurture your writing skills by utilizing any resource you can. Scour LinkedIn for advice, take a deep dive into previous feedback or use tools like Hemingway Editor and The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation to educate your writing process. To go further, try exploring the website of a competitor or a company in a similar industry to understand how they effectively communicate.

Analyze Your Audience

Knowing your audience is crucial to writing successful copy. In marketing, our copy is always written with a goal in mind, whether to educate about a brand or submit a form. Each goal requires a unique message, tone and call to action to resonate with your target audience.

Lukewarm copy that lacks intention won’t communicate value or hit KPI targets, so it’s essential that you know your audience profiles, their pain points and motivators.

Create Value

The meaning of valuable writing depends on who you’re asking. For your clients, your writing creates value by aligning marketing communications with their business goals. People consume millions of messages every day, so creating compelling copy that cuts through the noise and informs or entertains will make a brand memorable and grow loyalty.

Stuck on a writing task with a boring topic? Check out our tips for bringing snooze-worthy writing assignments to life.

10 Digital Marketing Terms You Should Know

Marketers love an acronym. Why? Because in an industry as fast-paced and ever-changing as ours, the less time something takes, the better. But instead of googling terms like UVP and CPL to decode your latest client call, use this handy guide to translate! Whether you’re new to the industry or simply looking for a refresher, we’ve lined up ten terms (including our favorite acronyms) every marketer should know.

1. Lead

A lead is anyone who has interacted with a given brand and has the potential to purchase that brand’s goods or services. For example, someone may visit your website and sign up for your free newsletter. This demonstrated brand interest opens the door for new communication with that site visitor, allowing you to employ messaging and other marketing tactics designed to facilitate a purchase (and brand loyalty).

With a strong lead nurturing strategy that includes engaging content, a seamless user experience and appropriately timed communication, you can encourage leads to come back, purchase and even share your brand with others.

2. Cost Per Lead (CPL)

This refers to the amount spent on generating new prospective customers (leads) for a brand. You may hear this term used most frequently in reference to paid marketing initiatives, like search ads. An analysis of the amount invested in something like a Google ad and the number of leads that ad generates for your brand will reveal your CPL and whether that ad is worth the money.

3. Conversion Rate

How many visitors to a website request a free estimate or sign up for email communication? A conversion rate is the ratio between how many site visitors complete a desired action (like filling out a contact form) and the total number of site visitors. This can fluctuate depending on monthly marketing strategies and website optimizations, but if your conversion rate is consistently low, you should reassess your strategy and user experience.

group of people working together on computers and notepads

4. Sales Funnel

Also known as the purchasing funnel, this is the relational journey customers take with a brand on their way to purchase. Each stage of the funnel takes the potential customer closer to making the purchase. Marketing teams employ varying strategies at each stage to drive customers down the funnel, messaging with the customer’s brand awareness and engagement in mind. Typically five stages, the funnel includes awareness, evaluation, nurturing, conversion and advocacy.

5. User Experience (UX)

Part of priming potential customers for purchase is offering them a seamless experience with the business. From their initial exposure to a brand through purchase and advocacy on the brand’s behalf, an excellent, optimal user experience keeps a potential customer moving down the funnel. This can often come down to design: good UX design is clear, navigable and usually demonstrates some kind of content hierarchy. It strategically encourages users to engage with your website or landing page in a way that increases their purchasing likelihood, placing a form at key points or highlighting special offers.

6. Landing Page

A landing page is a standalone, often single-page, website used to generate leads. Typically, these pages revolve around an offer to a potential customer—a free eBook, a downloadable template, a free estimate—that requires the customer to provide their contact information in exchange for the content. Landing pages are often the first entry point for a lead on the path to conversion and can be tailored to suit varying audience segments. Brands may even create multiple unique landing pages with unique offers to target multiple audiences within their market.

7. A/B Testing

What message will appeal most to potential customers? What ad imagery results in the most click-throughs? What offer converts the most leads? A/B testing allows you to find out. Test runs of two versions of the same piece of content, with a change in only one variable, allow you to determine which performs better (according to your chosen metric) and should be utilized consistently.

8. Unique Value Proposition (UVP)

Defining what makes your product or service different is key to building a successful marketing strategy. Customers want to know why they should purchase from you—what does your product or service offer that competitors may not? A strong unique value proposition makes this clear by highlighting product benefits, problems it can solve and how it outperforms a similar product. All UVPs offer starting points for messaging and creative within your marketing strategy.

9. Performance Marketing

Why invest in marketing strategies that don’t perform? With a performance-focused approach to your marketing, you quickly get the information you need: which marketing strategies are working. Determining what tactics best engage customers—helping you meet lead or sales quotas—helps you know where the investment is worth it and where to reduce spending. Generally, any marketing that involves analyzing results to inform decision-making can be considered performance marketing.

10. Key Performance Indicator (KPI)

Performance marketing requires ongoing evaluation of applied marketing strategies and campaigns. You can do this by establishing metrics of success, or key performance indicators. These can vary depending on the objective you aim to evaluate; for example, you may define success by the number of qualified leads your landing page generates or the amount of traffic to an optimized blog post. Ultimately, KPIs help you figure out your next move by using data.

For more on all things digital marketing, including building brand authenticity and using Chat GPT to optimize your site, visit our blog!