I am sure that most of us have been spammed on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, with videos of a mattress that can hold a glass of wine while being jumped on without spilling.
Behind this video is the Australian brand Koala, that produces and distributes ‘zero disturbance’ mattresses, and that has recently included sofas, bed frames, pillows and bedsheets in its range of products.
This company is famous for reaching a $13 million revenue in 12 months, responsible for an innovative product, with an outstanding offer, a good message and even a support for a cause: saving Koalas!
There’s one word to describe the messages, marketing strategy and overall concept of the business: Creativity. Their viral campaign with the wine glass got them in the top of mind of online shoppers. It got people talking about the brand, buying their mattresses and even creating their own versions of this experiment and sharing it in their social media.
Now, looking through their Facebook page I have found a very appealing offer, that reminded me of the ‘Best Job in the World’ campaign.
They have chosen an interesting platform to promote their ‘job’ offer: AirTasker, along with a friendly and formal-wanna-be way of communicating. Koala is finding the best sleeper in Australia to test their bedroom suite for 9 months, and receive $1000 as a reward for their ‘sleep study’. Oh please, where do I sign?
The offer sounds very appealing, no wonder why it is the most commented, liked and shared post on their feed lately, also featured in their Instagram account and in the national news.
It was uploaded 3 days ago, and the long thread of messages of applicants is seriously intimidating. I honestly think this will be their new viral marketing campaign, disguised in the perfect product study. If only…
Online Retail Stores, here’s what we can learn from Koala, and their viral marketing campaigns:
- Start with an idea that surprises your customers, that solves an issue for them or that they feel related to.
- Encourage engagement with user generated content and sharing. It must be interesting enough for people to want to share it.
- The product or service promoted must be a worthy offer that is true to the advertising. People will leave reviews, and they spread fast.
- Create content that helps your customer connect and learn more about your product and brand. Remember: they can’t ‘touch and feel’ before they buy, but they need to be confident that they know what to expect. Eg: How-To videos.
- Spread the message across all channels, it must be easily adaptable. And remember, the number of followers or likes in Social Media doesn’t determine your success.
This is my first post!
Please leave a comment below if you liked it. 😉
Awesome reporting Ana. I have a brother that could help in the new campaign. He sleeps for days.
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Thanks, Fernando! It has been the most popular job posting on AIRTASKER. Here is the recent note on news.com.au that explains why: https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/a-record-number-of-people-are-posting-about-sleep-maybe-we-should-get-off-our-phones-and-actually-close-our-eyes/news-story/4fdc9a8f2eaccc8fce501263693362cc
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👍
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🙂
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Did they record any stats that Koala has gotten solid ROI from their marketing? Be curious as I also saw Tempur is using a similar strategy using traditional advertising (with Serena Williams – https://youtu.be/SIw-lQQ_8vE). It may be that in the competitive space they may be creating category awareness more than brand awareness. It is always a tricky balance.
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Hi Luke! Apologies for the late reply. I recently saw a sponsored post of Koala on facebook (I’m so sorry I couldn’t find it again) where they were persuading their customers about why foam mattresses are the best option in the market. So this might be them creating category awareness. However, I think Koala is aiming for a strong brand awareness as well, an Australian brand, made by Australians for Australians, Ecosa, their main competidor in Australia has failed in creating a similarly engaged community.
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Fun read—I’ll have to sign up for that study XD
I’m excited for next week’s post!
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Thank you! Careful, you might be overqualified for the task XD , xx
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hahahaha that’s incredible… I was going to apply for the job but at the end, they would say that im overqualified for it… but to be honest nice marketing strategy!
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hahaha! Thanks for your comment, and it would be their loss! 🙂 Yes, well thought by Koala to raise brand awareness!
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Seriously, I’d love to sign up for that sleep study! LOL. I’ve seen promotions like this before, for opportunities that seem almost too good to be true. These promotions get tons of shares on social media and I often see my friends talking about them. Very effective !
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There’s two of us now. I prersonally admire companies that know how to take advantage of the momentum. I’d recommend you to look at this campaign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZe1rVgT0WE from Volvo in the SuperBowl… it might not have that ‘too good to be true’ value, but it takes advantage of others’ ad space! Genius!
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It’s 2 of us now! I think Koala does well in chosing the momentum and the right channel to post this ‘study’. At the end of the day it helps them raise brand awareness and that matters a lot, especially for an online retailer without a shopfront…
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Hey Ana! While reading your post, David Ogilvy came to my mind. He always talked about «the big ideas» and he even said he probably only had a limited number of Big Ideas throughout his career, which in relation to your post, makes think about the humans behind the campaigns. Yes, data and numbers are important, measuring the ROI, making sure the KPIs were met, etc. but at the end, Big Ideas like the campaign to find the best sleeper, still come from creative practitioners. I’d just like to point that sometimes even by following the list at the end of your post, success is not granted, but the first point you have there «Start with an idea that surprises your customers, that solves an issue for them or that they feel related to» might be key to raise that brand awareness the company wants so bad. We had a chat before about AI and our role as communicators being still responsible for managing the meaning behind the campaigns; well, this is just another example of that. I wish I could just have an army of bots doing all the technical/operational part of the job to be free to create content ✌🏽
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you’re most right, Cattland. Us communication professionals we must strive to build up a human traits that will differ us from bots: creativity, critical thinking, ethics among others are key.
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