Sometimes even the best marketing campaigns fail. These campaigns sound great as an idea in the conference room, but when finally executed, they can go wrong.
Whether the fault lies in the execution or the way people have perceived it, the result can hurt a brand significantly.
The good news is, we can always identify reasons why campaigns fail.
There are many speculations on why marketing campaigns fail: insufficient budgets, wrong focus, poor copy, too much emphasis on sales, and many more. While these are indeed reasons for failure, focusing too much on them can become a hindrance to improvement.
Marketing campaigns are all about getting results. Sometimes the goal is simply generating traffic or views, while at other times it’s about driving “real” results—namely, sales.
The Two Key Factors That Determine Campaign Success or Failure
- Understanding your target audience
- Quality of products or services
Get one of these wrong, and marketing campaigns will fail, no matter what.
Understanding Your Target Audience
Marketing campaigns often start with the approach of ‘what do we want to sell?’, which is a significant part of any campaign, but the next step is crucial.
At this point, many marketers look at their competition and think about how they’re better and how they can convince their target audience of that superiority.
This is where the campaign begins to lose connection with the target audience—the focus shifts entirely to the product/service rather than addressing “what customers want.”
Marketers may claim they understand their target audience, but if the campaign continues to be product/service-first, they don’t truly understand their customers’ needs.
Marketing campaigns work most effectively when they solve a problem for the audience. If your solution can solve their problem, brilliant. If not, your campaign will likely fail.
The key is to find that sweet spot where your product/service and target audience have common ground. That’s when your marketing campaign starts to pay off.
To get there, marketers need to start by understanding their target audience first; otherwise, the chances of failure are much higher.
Quality of Your Product/Service
Many non-marketers believe that marketers, through their campaigns, are just there to ‘fool’ them—to manipulate people into buying something they don’t need. That’s not marketing; it’s a certain type of sales approach.
However, sometimes marketing campaigns do play into this perception. Whenever you market something, the quality of that product/service largely defines the campaign’s success or failure.
When you set up the wrong expectations among people and the product/service you’re offering doesn’t meet those expectations, any marketing you do has a high probability of backfiring. You can’t effectively market something that doesn’t deliver value.
There are many examples of brands that can’t shake off a bad reputation caused by poorly conceived marketing campaigns. This includes some major brands like Coca-Cola, Domino’s, Pepsi, Dove, and others.
Case Study: New Coke Campaign
The Marketing Campaign that failed on both key factors: the New Coke Campaign (Coca-Cola).
The Coca-Cola Company introduced “New Coke” in 1985, marking the first formula change in 99 years. This “New Coke” marketing campaign failed.
The reason behind the failure was explained by Coca-Cola itself: “The fabled secret formula for Coca-Cola was changed, adopting a formula preferred in taste tests of nearly 200,000 consumers. What these tests didn’t show, of course, was the bond consumers felt with their Coca-Cola—something they didn’t want anyone, including The Coca-Cola Company, tampering with.”
Therefore, for any marketing campaign, it is important to get two things right: understand your target audience and ensure your product or service delivers on its promises.
Other Critical Elements for Campaign Success
In addition to the two key factors, there are two important elements that marketers should always keep in mind when planning any marketing campaign:
1. Content Messaging
Content messaging is what we say about ourselves and the products and services we offer. Effective messaging is not about how much volume we generate.
It’s about whether the content you put out has value to customers, and whether what they read makes a difference in how they consider, choose, and stay loyal to a brand.
Example: Last year, Unilever’s Dove ad posted on Facebook was a four-panel image showing a young African American woman removing her shirt over three panels, with the fourth panel showing a young white woman. The ad campaign became known as the “Dove racist ad” in Google search results.
While no agency took “credit,” Unilever said the ad was intended to show “the diversity of real beauty.” It received extremely negative reviews and well-deserved criticism on social media. Ultimately, Dove apologized.
The takeaway here is to consider the implications behind your messaging. In this instance, the campaign unintentionally implied that the African American woman was ‘dirty’ and the white woman was ‘clean’—far from Unilever’s intention, but the outcome was damaging nonetheless.
2. Promotion Strategy
Promotion strategy refers to the activities that increase brand awareness among the target audience. It includes advertising, public relations, and sponsorships.
Since the costs of performing these activities can be substantial, it’s important to conduct a ‘break-even analysis’ when developing promotion strategies.
Example: In September, a Russian Domino’s franchise launched ‘Dominos Forever,’ a marketing campaign offering 100 free pizzas a year for 100 years to customers who tattooed the brand’s logo on their skin.
The campaign went viral, with hundreds of social media posts from inked pizza lovers flooding in. Domino’s quickly had to add restrictions, such as requirements for the tattoo size and a 350-person cap on the offer.
The campaign was supposed to run for months, but had to be canceled within days to prevent thousands of people from claiming the offer.
The takeaway is to always consider the costs. A viral marketing campaign can cost several billion dollars over budget if not properly planned.
Avoiding Campaign Failure
To avoid campaign failure, brands should think carefully about their target audience and aim to solve their pains and inconveniences with appropriate solutions.
To create a positive social profile, brands should prioritize what’s good for customers and the environment. Seeking feedback and considering customer opinions while designing new products and offerings is essential for long-term success.
By focusing on understanding the target audience, ensuring product/service quality, crafting appropriate messaging, and developing strategic promotion plans, marketers can significantly reduce the risk of campaign failure.
