That’s a Wrap
Christmas is right around the corner, which means the new year is approaching just as fast. I think it’s safe to say most of us are over 2020, so I’d like to bring forward some fond memories and nostalgia. Here are highlights that took place over the past decade, as they pertain to the advertising and marketing world.
2010 – Silly Bandz
I don’t think I ever saw a single ad for them. I never purchased a pack, but somehow I had about 30 of them. These were IT. You weren’t cool if you didn’t have them. Word of mouth advertising at its best. A recent Study Breaks article notes, “After the bracelets hit stores in 2010, however, the company grew to almost 3,000 staff members in the U.S. and China and was making over $100 million a year.”
2011 – YOLO
There were shirts, there were hashtags on social – and it came from a song by Drake. To me, this is my first recollection of something going ‘viral’. There was even an anonymous app that synced with Snapchat. The marketing world ate it up in every type of way. According to Wiktionary, the acronym was put into the Oxford English Dictionary as a word in 2016. That’s the motto.
2012 – The World Ending
Maybe they meant 2021? That’s a joke. Fear marketing is proven to be extremely effective. Even if you didn’t believe the world was ending, you definitely heard about it. CNN stated about 1 in 10 people around the world thought we were toast.
2013 – The Harlem Shake
Now, do the ~Harlem Shake!~ YouTube has grown over the years, but to me this was a staple for vlogging and video content. Oh, and yet another viral trend. According to an article by Mash, there were 12,000 videos posted and were collectively watched over 44 million times.
2014 – ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
Can you believe it was 6 years ago? Me neither. An engaging challenge to spread awareness for Lou Gehrig’s disease. We all saw at least one video of someone doing this, or we did it ourselves! Another video trend that took off using social media. The ALS Association, stated they raised $115 million from the challenge.
2015 – Blue&Black vs. White&Gold Dress
I’ve always seen blue and gold, so I guess I’m broken. Another great example that shows the power behind social media with the combination of word of mouth. The dress sales also increased by 347%, according to CNN.
2016 – Pokémon Go
A notable and monumental moment for the AR (augmented reality) category. An article by Business of Apps states by the end of March 2019, the app was downloaded over a billion times. Is it a coincidence you found a Pokémon in a pizza place? Perhaps not…
2017 – Fidget Spinners
Have you ever looked at something and it made you itchy? These are the equivalent, but they made me feel antsy. Kind of like when someone yawns, you can’t help but yawn too. What’s interesting about these types of trends – you don’t really need any ads to know they exist. Just people talking and knowing where the nearest store is so you can grab one (literally).
2018 – IHOb
Did anyone realize IHOP had burgers before they changed their name? This is the power of marketing and advertising! They never intended to permanently change to IHOB – and it got people to do more than talk. In fact, here are the results according to PRweek and FSRmagazine:
92 percent intent to repurchase (burgers)
2.1 million social media conversations
1.2 million tweets in the first 10 days
To-go traffic increased by 23%
2019 – Area 51 Raid
While I was not one of the attendees, I do believe I was invited via Facebook event. While only about 150 people showed up despite the 2 million who marked ‘going’, the volume of what a single person can do with a Facebook invite is astonishing. It may just be a clever idea for a marketing campaign if you can get the traction behind it…
2020 – All of it?
As we all know, it’s been an interesting year – so it’s tough to choose just one subject. The most important thing we can take away is the how key it is to know where you get your information from so you have the truth. I go into more detail about additional issues and my personal predictions for the advertising world in the following blog. I hope you read on and I’d love to hear your point of view, too!
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