SMILE: WHY CAMPAIGNS WITH NO ROI MATTER

Morning!I fucking hate horror films. I was THAT kid that couldn't sleep after seeing Voldemort in Harry Potter and I'm now THAT guy who shits himself at the slightest of jump scares in films. My point is, I was never built for horror films.

Why am I telling you this? Because I'm writing this with a mildly raised heart rate after just getting back from the cinema where I watched... you guessed it, a horror film.

Why? Because their marketing got to me...

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Breaking Down The Strategy

How in the world did I get marketed into a film I didn't want to see, you ask?Let me explain...

Firstly, I'm a huge fan of a trip to the cinema - especially on a Friday or Saturday night. It's the perfect mix of decompressing, whilst also not feeling like a bum sat in watching Netflix.

I get out of the apartment + get to sit like a couch potato. It's a win-win for me.

But it also means that I very rarely have a film in mind when I (very easily) convince the Mrs to go to the cinema. So instead, we scroll through the list of films showing and pick one out.

Tonight, we scrolled through that list of films and didn't see any that really stood out.

There were no big-name films or any involving big-name actors. But there was one I'd heard of - 'Smile'.

I thought... that must be decent because I'd heard people talking about it.

Next minute, I'm sat in the cinema gripping the life out of the Mrs' hand for two hours completely shitting myself.

All because of some great marketing.

More specifically some great brand awareness marketing - one of the most underrated and misunderstood forms of marketing.

Here's how they did it:A week before the release of the film, the Smile team launched a guerilla marketing campaign where they paid actors to creepily smile from start to finish at a group of MLB games.

Freaky right?

Well, the smiling campaign went viral all over social media. - Fans at the game posted about it- News outlets wrote stories on it- Marketing groups created case studies on it

It was everywhere.

The important thing to recognise here though, is that the campaign "technically" had no ROI.

There were no QR codes on their shirts, no links to book cinema tickets, nothing like it. The campaign had one purpose, to make people aware of the Smile film.

And that's exactly what it did to me...Weeks ago I saw the campaign on LinkedIn and thought nothing of it. Then tonight, weeks... maybe even months later, I was scrolling through the list of films showing and BOOM! There was just one film I was aware of - the one that I had seen on LinkedIn. That's where brand awareness comes into play.

They understand that they didn't need to focus on acquiring viewers with their marketing, they just need to focus on making people aware of the film.

I feel like this makes so much sense, yet, marketing today has become tainted with brands being solely focused on acquisition and data-driven, direct ROI campaigns.

They want to pay X and get Y.

Which is great, I mean don't we all want it to be that easy? But it's not always the best decision.

The Smile team could have run ads galore focused on directly selling cinema tickets or online purchases. Instead, they paid a few actors a couple of hundred quid and made millions of people aware of their film.

The campaign had an unknown ROI, but it brought about brand awareness.

And that brand awareness will have led to millions of people picking to go see the film (just like I did).

Brand awareness isn't just for the film industry though, it's for every industry.Just think about it...When you walk into ASDA and are choosing a new washing-up liquid, which one do you choose?The brand you are most aware of.

When you're in Spain and you're buying snacks, which brand do you choose?The brand you are most aware of.

When you're on Uber Eats looking for food on a weekend, which takeaway do you choose?The brand you are most aware of.

If your product is on a shelf, an app, or a website alongside various other brands. 9/10 times the customer will choose the brand they are most aware of, and it's your job to make that one your brand.

Here are 3 simple ways you can do just that:

1. Grow your brands' socials

It's a classic nowadays, but it's the simplest of the bunch. Personal branding might be the new kid on the block, but you still need people to be aware of your company. So, post regularly on socials and make sure you're brand is registered in the minds of your target audience.

2. Work on collaborations

Yeezy → AdidasSupreme → Louis VuittonAdidas → Bored Ape Yacht ClubThey all made another brand's audience aware of their brand.It works. You should try it too.

3. OOH campaigns - but for social

OOH campaigns, especially OOH with a focus on social are one of the most effective brand awareness campaigns to choose from right now.

The concept is simple: Do something in the real world with the focus of it going viral on socials.This is the exact thing the Smile team did. Thursday (the dating app) are also amazing at this.

It's a super low-budget way to get eyes on your brand - give it a go!

And that's all for today.

Time for me to lie in bed and try not to think about all the creepy smiley people I watched for the last 2 hours. For those wondering if they should go see Smile - go watch a rom-com instead.

Until next time,

— Niall

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This has been a breakdown of Smile's marketing strategy. I hope you have learned something and can implement a similar strategy in your business!

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