If there’s one thing to learn, it’s definitely from the masters. We have ranked the 15 most successful brands of 2016 and will tell you how the best of the best run their promotions, what they offer to customers and how they make marketing strategies. Read carefully!
15. Cisco: business model development
The 15th place of the rating was taken by the American multinational company Cisco, which is engaged in the development and sale of network equipment. The company’s products are designed for large corporations and telecommunication enterprises. Today it is one of the largest companies that specializes in high technologies. It employs about 75 thousand employees.
The company’s success lies in its unique business model – an extensive multi-level certification system for computer network engineers. The value of Cisco professional certifications is recognized worldwide, because it is designed not only to test knowledge of the company’s products, but also knowledge of network technologies and protocols.
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In 2016, Cisco launched an ad campaign with an optimistic attitude, arguing that the world is becoming a better place because of technology. Will Elliott, creative director at agency GS&P, says it doesn’t matter how ambitious your dreams are and the problems you’re trying to solve are impossible. There’s already technology to deal with it. The campaign has spanned television, online movie theaters, print and outdoor advertising. One of the spots, “People in Crisis,” focuses on the role of mobile technology and communication.
Posters from the same ad campaign
14. BMV: bold advertising campaigns
The 14th position is occupied by BMW AG, a synonym for luxury and time-tested craftsmanship. This is an abbreviation for “Bavarian Motor Works”, which is the name of the German manufacturer of cars, engines, bicycles and motorcycles.
When asked why the company is so popular, the owners reply: “We don’t want our customers to get bored“. And it is true that the model range is so wide and diverse that everyone can find a luxury car for their unique taste.
Today, the company has approximately 116,000 employees. The value of the brand grows every year and now stands at $28.8 billion.
BMW is a large brand that pays a lot of attention to advertising, which it uses to provoke car owners and competitors. The company attracts customers with sharp and provocative advertising, the commercials are saturated with lust and sexuality.
Examples of BMW advertising posters
In 2016, the brand celebrated its centennial and released this video. The focus is on the history of the brand and subconsciouslymakes the viewer want to take a trip in a luxury car.
13. AT&T: examples of creative advertising
AT&T is one of the largest media conglomerates and the largest telecommunications company in America. The company is the largest provider of telephone service in the United States. At the end of 2015, AT&T served about 137 million customers.
Founded in 1875, the company is a leader in the telecommunications business. The brand is valued at $32.6 billion. The company spends about 3.6 billion dollars on advertising. AT&T employs 253 thousand employees.
AT&T advertising campaigns rely on humor and visual aesthetics. In 2016, the brand launched several commercials in which the store’s consultant was played by Milana Weintrub (a comedienne).
Posters from the ad campaign AT&T 2009 of 2009
12. Amazon: betting on e-mail newslettersу
A company that needs no introduction. Amazon is one of the first Internet services that sells mass-market goods, the company has the world’s largest turnover in the e-commerce segment. Amazon is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.
The company started its work in 1994. Since then, the service has been selling in 34 product categories. The company has opened branches in many countries outside America.
The company pays a lot of attention to developing and finding new solutions for working with customers. In 2013, Amazon spent 6.5 billion dollars on development.
Amazon’s innovations touch every aspect of the business.
For example, the service pays special attention to client mailings. It includes 9 emails.Amazon’s email strategy : welcome email – invoice email – delivery email – upsell – invitation email – thank you email – Black Friday – review – review.
This is what the emails from Amazon look like (welcome email and invoice)
Amazon tracks all possible actions of buyers to collect more information about them and use it to increase loyalty. The service addresses by name, compiles lists of recommendations, and offers to leave a review. All of this creates a personalized approach to each customer.
11. Samsung Group: a new level of targeted advertising
Samsung Group is a South Korean holding company, one of the largest in South Korea, which was founded in 1938. In the global market, Samsung Group is known as a manufacturer of high-tech devices, telecommunications equipment, home appliances and other. The structure of the concern is a full cycle of electronics production.
Most of the conglomerate’s divisions report to companies involved in the manufacture of finished electronic products and work only for the group. The electronics industry accounts for the bulk of the group’s revenue.
About $3.3 billion went into the 2016 ad campaign. The value of the brand is 36.7 billion dollars.
Samsung Corporation is now in the process of introducing advertisements on smart TV screens. In October 2016, the corporation sent out targeted advertising information to advertising agencies and media partners. Based on the smart TV data, the ads will be targeted through live broadcasts, AdExchanger reported.
The smart TV network includes 20 million units in the U.S. and 50 million worldwide. Samsung will show targeted advertising through smart TVs in the same way that DirecTV, Comcast and Dish do through satellites or set-top boxes.
10. General Electric: new brand positioning
General Electric is a diversified corporation based in the United States. It manufactures a large number of machinery, power plants, gas turbines, engines, equipment, household appliances, and more. The headquarters is established in Connecticut. The company, founded in 1878, now has 6 divisions, which, in total, employ more than 305 thousand employees.
Recently, the brand has been busy developing a new image. For example, in 2016, the company released a series of videos, the main idea of which is the coexistence of robots and humans.
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The company’s advertising covers all possible services and platforms. This is what a Snapchat story from General Electric looks like.
9. McDonald’s: non-standard advertising techniques
An American corporation that until 2010 was considered the largest fast food restaurant chain in franchise form. The company has been operating since 1940. By the end of 2015, more than 32 thousand restaurants in 118 countries were operating under the McDonald’s brand. About 14 thousand of them are located in the USA.
In 2015, McDonald’s advertising budget passed $720 million dollars.
McDonald’s often creates advertising campaigns that attract a lot of attention in the advertising business. For this purpose, the company uses all possible means and utilizes all formats – outdoor advertising, print, television, non-standard constructions. For example, during a festival in Switzerland, one of the crosswalks turned into a huge package of potatoes.
Basically, McDonald’s advertising campaigns showcase the product by inducing appetite and are based on humor.
8. The Walt Disney Company: Family advertising
The Walt Disney Company is one of the largest conglomerates in the global entertainment industry. The company was founded in 1923 and is one of the largest studios in Hollywood. The Walt Disney Company owns 11 theme parks, 2 water parks, several broadcasting networks and more.
The headquarters is located in the United States, in the city of Burbank (California). The Walt Disney Company employs more than 180,000 people. The corporation spent about 2.6 billion dollars on advertising campaigns.
The emphasis in Walt Disney’s advertising campaigns is on family values.
7. IBM: high technology and celebrities
IBM is one of the largest manufacturers and suppliers of software and hardware. The company also offers consulting and IT services. It has offices in almost all countries of the world. IBM employs about 380 thousand employees worldwide, 27% of them – in the USA, 19% – in India. The brand spent about 2.6 billion dollars on advertising.
To promote the IBM Watson cognitive system, the company chose a series of commercials that featured several celebrities – Bob Dylan, Carrie Fisher, Ridley Scott (the work of the Ogilvy & Mather agency).
With this solution, the company not only fully demonstrated the innovative capabilities of its product, but also attracted the attention of the audience with the help of celebrities.
In 2013, the corporation launched a project called Smart Ideas for Smart Cities. Outdoor advertising became functional and useful for city residents, which emphasized the company’s rational image and customer focus.
6. Toyota Motor Corporation: Finding target audience
Toyota Motor Corporation is Japan’s largest automobile manufacturing corporation, which is also involved in financial services and other businesses. The corporation is the world leader in the sale of hybrid cars and one of the largest companies that promote the use of hybrid autos for mass sales.
The value of the brand exceeds 42 billion dollars. The company spent $3.6 billion dollars on advertising. You can read about the Toyota brand legend here.
In its advertising campaigns, Toyota aims to impress its customer with an unconventional appeal, manages the audience’s emotions and utilizes a large number of promotional channels.
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In 2015, the company used Snapchat and a special API from Google Places. In April 2016, it sponsored a live stream of the Stagecoach music festival from Tumblr and Yahoo. In December 2016, Toyota began sponsoring a sitcom from Buzzfeed that presents the world with teenage problems. It can be inferred that the brand is targeting campaigns at G-zen, i.e. millennial teens.
Toyota’s promotional posters from the 2015 campaign
5. Facebook: focus on the product
One of the largest social networks worldwide. It was founded in 2004. The Facebook website is among the top five most visited websites in the world. In July 2016, Facebook’s audience exceeded 1.7 billion active users. The daily audience reached 720 million in March 2016. Facebook’s popularity figures are off the charts. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of the network, became the youngest billionaire at the age of 23.
A lot of materials and books have been written about the success of Facebook, and a feature film has been made. What innovations did Zuckerberg make that brought an ordinary website to the level of one of the most popular social networks?
It is believed that Thefacebook, as it was initially called, had all the prerequisites for success. The site was created for an offline community (a circle of students), so it would already have a guaranteed audience if it was successfully developed. Zuckerberg made all decisions quickly, so he achieved certain results in a short period of time.
Now the company divides its staff into highly specialized teams that make their own decisions and lead the product from conception to realization. There are teams that are responsible for general issues. This internal division of responsibilities allows for clear control over the fulfillment of tasks.
Another reason for Facebook’s success is its employees’ focus on the product. Not on the business. The product itself. Mark even told the press that he would not run for president, because he intends to further develop his brainchild.
Facebook pays a lot of attention to user reactions to innovations and gives feedback by finding compromises. Being customer-centric and user-friendly also leads to the site’s success.
4. Coca-Cola: use of triggers
A non-alcoholic carbonated drink that is created by The Coca-Cola Company. The drink can be bought in more than 200 countries around the world. Statistics say that 94% of the world’s inhabitants have heard the name of the drink at least once. The formula of the drink is kept in the strictest secrecy. In 2016, Coca-Cola spent more than 4 billion dollars on brand advertising.
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Like McDonald’s ads, each Coca-Cola campaign brings major changes to the advertising business. In 2016, the brand armed itself with the slogan “Taste The Feeling” and created a series of commercials, vividly presenting the themes of youth, summer, evoking empathy in the viewer, making him associate pleasant emotions with the product.
Posters from Coca-Cola’s “Taste the feeling” ad campaign.
3. Microsoft Corporation: building off competitors
Microsoft Corporation produces computer software and is one of the largest multinational companies in this field. It is the developer of the most widespread software platform Windows. The company also produces Xbox game consoles and PC accessories. Microsoft Corporation has spent $1.9 billion dollars on advertising.
Microsoft’s advertising campaigns elegantly and succinctly demonstrate the benefits of the product. The latest large-scale advertising development concerned Windows 10. The semantic emphasis on a new operating system that can do more than the competition. A rather aggressive campaign actively promoted the product, using social networks, print and outdoor advertising.
2. google: customer-centricity
The largest search engine owned by Google Inc. The first most popular system (chosen by more than 77% of users) processes approximately 41 billion queries per month and indexes 25 billion web pages. The company’s market share is 62.4%. The brand spent 3.2 billion dollars on advertising.
How did Google rise to the second position of the brand ranking? First of all, it chose the right niche. Leadership positions in the search engine, smartphone and multimedia sectors are held by this company.
All innovation and development begins and ends with the interests of the user. Google is an example of a major brand that proves how important customer centricity is.
- Apple: ideation and design
The expected winner of the battle of the brands is Apple, an American corporation that produces PCs and tablets, phones, audio players and software. It is one of the first companies that started working in the field of PCs and modern operating systems with a graphical interface. 92,600 employees work for the company, which is valued at $154.1 billion. One of the world’s most recognizable brands has spent $1.8 billion on advertising. dollars.
Apple’s advertising campaigns are full of creativity, and the videos are like short films. Often they have important messages about people’s problems or environmental concerns. Sometimes Apple’s ads are more lighthearted and entertaining. In 2016, the company released a series of commercials featuring Drake and Taylor Swift to promote its Apple Music service. The slogan “Distractingly good” is successfully reinforced by playing celebrities who can laugh at themselves.
Apple’s design has already become iconic. To tell more about its success, the company has released a photo book. The pages of “Designed by Apple in California” feature 450 photos of devices designed by Apple over the past 20 years, and not a single word. Pure visual delight.
The book was followed by a video in which the brand’s chief designer, John Ive, talks about how his team works to design the devices.
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