To support the Digital Training Academy we look for examples of best practice digital marketing from a wide variety of industry sectors. Any agency, advertiser or media owner can submit a case study for our consideration, and on this page you'll find some of the case studies we're currently using to support training in Europe, Asia and North America. Remember that as a training provider we're not directly endorsing the brands or the teams, but we have been impressed with their work and hope you enjoy them. If you'd like to submit examples of your work then email them into TheTeam@DigitalStrategyConsulting.com and after an initial review we'll be in touch if we feel they can be used to support learning goals.Visit Digital's Jargon Buster | Send us your case studies | Book a place at Digital's Training Academy | Visit Digital's Events]]>
When British Airways teamed up with Google they connected the consumer experience they deliver (crossing vast spaces and cultures) with a web experience that had suddenly become the new ‘must do’ online activity. Their television campaign used Google Earth to take viewers on a journey from one place to another, simultaneously promoting their latest pricing offers, the process of online booking, and the brand values of an innovative company.]]>
There were two British Airways Google Earth TV ads with clouds that showed the prices of various destinations with “British Airways World Offers Is Now On”
When the UK government’s Central Office of Information commissioned the online elements of their health education campaigns to teach children about the dangers of drugs, they used a sophisticated mix of web formats to encourage interaction and solicit greater involvement. The ‘Talk to Frank’ campaign integrates the web, television, leaflets and face-to-face marketing activities to provide young people with access to detailed information about the specific risks of different drugs. This multi award-winning campaign included placements of banners and skyscrapers that encouraged viewers to take icons from one to the other in order to trigger an action: they could take the image of a drug from the banner to the brand character in the skyscraper and then see how it affected him. The activity delivered the message of the campaign without demanding a click through and as well as the visible skyscraper and banner formats included a rich media layer over the page.
Internet marketing has the scope to be more powerful, vibrant, engaging and impactful than any other media. In Digital's case study library we've collected just a few of the thousands of great campaigns that really impressed us, but it's worth remembering that somewhere out there, in the depths of an un-targeted run-of-site campaign, the bottom-dwellers of the direct marketing industry are still subjecting internet users to ads like this one.]]>
If you are new to online advertising then take a look at this pop up and this banner.
There was a time when the web was still a minor ‘add-on’ to a car launch campaign, but with most new cars being researched online before a decision is made about the brand (let alone the purchase), every motor manufacturer has had to refocus their efforts to the web. Five years ago BMWFilms.com set a new standard in web content, fusing together the genres of entertainment films, product placement and video demonstrations. They raised the bar so high that few motoring brands have come close since. However, this month’s launch of the Fiat 500 from digital specialists AKQA is a worthy contender. They’ve built 21 short movies with a personality that’s on brand and production quality that would stand up in cinema.
Search marketing works for every type of firm and every size of business. We’ve worked with the team at Google to select these case studies to help marketers see just a few of the ways that pay-per-click search engine advertising can drive traffic to your site. PPC search marketing is key to getting more customers and building traffic to your websites. You can download the case studies here and explore them in more depth on The Search Academy training courses.]]>
Download zipped PDF files of Google AdWords Case Studies]]>
Classified advertising firm gave its disruptive technology a boost today with a new generation release that promises a whole new way to shop classifieds. With a new suite of tools and a complete site redesign, Oodle radically improves the way consumers use classifieds, but it does this by delivering a very different model to the conventional print titles. Oodle positions itself as a whole new way to shop classifieds, bringing together more than 30 million listings from over 80,000 classified sites. Oodle sets out to improve the way people buy and sell locally by offering a more comprehensive search, supported by convenient email alerts and relevant information that gives consumers the bigger picture, helping them to make better buying decisions.
When the Army planned their assault on the West Ridge of Everest in 2006, there was an opportunity to engage young potential recruits by letting that story be told. Climbed only once in 30 years, only one group had ever made it to the top. PCIFitch were supplying the raw materials from the field back into the mainstream media as well as the web. The intention was to touch audiences through streams on the web, podcast downloads, iTunes and the broadest range of touchpoints. Over a million viewers enjoyed streamed content, blogs were posted to the site from the mountain and to feed into the recruitment processes, schools were targeted with lesson plans created for teachers and games for their students. Integration included downloadable posters and images, text alerts and more than a dozen different channels. The campaign went on to win the “Best digital campaign of 2006” at the Campaign awards. When we interviewed Peter Cowie, Managing partner at FitchLive who were behind the work, said “great work comes from the chemistry of the teams working together. The effect of the campaign included attracting 1m people, 30,000 of whom claimed they were ‘interested’ in joining the army. 3,500 are likely to be recruited as a direct result of the campaign”. For Peter it’s clear that “the future of advertising is about using all of these new channels together”.
The digital networked society is a great leveller. The relationship between brands and consumers has shifted. The structure of communications has undergone this massive leap. While the smart thinking in marketing is leaping to embrace a whole new way of doing things, much of the practice in marketing still clings to the past. That's why it wasn't just gutsy, but a strategically brilliant move for Microsoft to use a television-style commercial to make the point for them.
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Since 2000, the Dove brand has been an online pioneer. Their work with the IAB and MSN in North America created landmark research in cross media campaign budget optimisation, and this more recent video was a great example of how the web could be used by a consumer brand to build community, debate and discussion. It’s also creating challenges for regulators who are considering how online advertising works.