This is a great example of a brand leveraging pop culture for its own gain. This commercial aired during Super Bowl 53 and a couple of months before the season 8 premiere of Game of Thrones. It starts out as seemingly just another addition to Bud Light’s then-campaign of commercials about Bud Knight. But, as the commercial progresses, characters and creatures from the TV series Game of Thrones begin to appear. Bud Light piggybacked off the most talked-about show of all time to create more buzz about their product.
At Turtl, we’re big fans of guerrilla tactics, so when we spotted this great example of buzz marketing near our office last week, we had to give it the credit it deserves.
Honeypot is the “world’s first micro-dating app” where you check in to a location and meet people there and then. It bridges the gap between online dating and meeting someone the old-fashioned way.
What is buzz marketing?
Buzz marketing is any marketing strategy that creates a “buzz”, or organic conversation, around a brand or product. How you create the buzz doesn’t really matter, but it should be something that gets people talking – commercials, advertisements, guerrilla tactics, logos, etc.
It’s a form of marketing with a goal to go viral online and generate word-of-mouth selling.
What did Honeypot do?
The whiteboard shown above was left on Liverpool Street in London during morning rush hour. Bearing in mind Liverpool Street sees daily foot traffic of 184,000, that is A LOT of eyeballs on their stunt.
The sign is a fake public shaming aimed at a boyfriend who has allegedly been cheating on the writer. But, when you search the cheater’s name on social media, you’ll find the profile of Honeypot’s CEO and co-founder, George Rawlings. George came clean about the ruse on his Instagram:
Screenshot from Instagram
We caught up with George about the stunt.
“We wanted to poke fun at ourselves because we know we’re smaller than our competitors. By pointing out our own vulnerability, we make ourselves look more human and personable than bigger brands,” he said. “This is a great tactic for startups to show people they don’t take themselves too seriously, which is something our demographic can really get behind.”
What was the reaction?
This great piece of buzz marketing went down extremely well in our office when someone shared it on Slack. But the praise didn’t end there.
Check out these responses on LinkedIn:
George bagged himself an extra 1000 Instagram followers and his story was viewed 21,000 times. Not bad for a day’s work.
What’s George’s advice for companies looking to use buzz marketing?
“It can’t just be a random stunt. Whatever you do has to be authentic to your brand. Businesses miss out on adding personality to their brand by not connecting their message with the people behind it. By showcasing the people within the company, you build trust with your audience.”
Why is buzz marketing so great?
Word-of-mouth
83% of people trust peer recommendations more than advertising. If you’re able to get people on your side and generate some brand loyalty, it could actually drive more sales than standard advertising. Even if you’re using paid advertising as part of your buzz marketing strategy, the people who see your ad will spread it on social media if you do it right. This makes your marketing messages seem less “salesy” and more organic.
Cost-effective
Because buzz marketing is super flexible, it can be as low cost or as bougie as you like. Honeypot only needed a whiteboard and some pens to pull off their great stunt. As long as the creativity and brand messaging is on point, budget doesn’t really matter.
Brand shaping
Buzz marketing isn’t for brands that like to play it safe. That’s exactly why it’s perfect for smaller companies. When your competitors are much bigger than you, a bold, risque brand voice can help cut through the noise and get you on the radar. And that’s exactly what Honeypot did.
Other examples of great buzz marketing
Game of Thrones | Bud Light crossover
It isn’t just for-profit businesses that use buzz marketing. It can be effective (and even more powerful) in the not-for-profit charity sector too. UNICEF set up makeshift vending machines that sold bottles of dirty water in New York, each labeled with a disease you can contract from unsafe water. This was to remind people that the money they spend on single-use bottles of water could be used to help provide safe drinking water to other parts of the world. It was so impactful it became a major news story.
Mini Cooper boxes in Amsterdam
Mini Cooper took to the streets of Amsterdam to promote its 99€/month finance deal during Christmas time. They placed mock Mini Cooper packaging (complete with Christmas wrapping paper) around the city for people to stumble upon. This created a lot of buzz from the people who saw it and shared pictures on social. The reaction videos also gave Mini Cooper content for their social media.
Kudos to Honeypot
It’s not easy making your voice heard in a big market, but Honeypot’s creative guerrilla tactics were a masterclass in buzz marketing. Not only did they brighten up our office with some much-needed morning laughter, but I’m sure there are a lot more people in London talking about the city’s latest dating app.
This piece is by Chris McKay at Turtl and first appeared on their website here
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