Creating while integrating: the secret sauce of full-service marketing campaigns

Regular marketing campaigns used to be enough. Brands could spread their message and sell their product using one channel. Two, max. Those days are over. Times have changed, and so have customers. They’re savvier and less likely to be won over by marketing that delivers lots of sizzle but no steak.

So, what do you do when a regular marketing campaign doesn’t cut the mustard anymore? You stop thinking in silos, and start thinking of how you can create something unified and coherent. Something that joins the dots. Something integrated. So what are integrated marketing campaigns? And how can they help your brand connect more with audiences, new and old?

Beginning with the basics. An integrated marketing campaign is one that uses several different marketing channels in tandem to promote your products or services. Think of it like the orchestra creating the perfect musical interlude. Each instrument plays its part but when they all come together that’s when the magic happens. Think of each marketing channel as an instrument. A marketing channel is simply a tool you use to connect with your audiences. They include things like social media, blogs and newsletters, and email marketing. It’s the in tandem part that makes integrated marketing campaigns so powerful – and a little more complex to execute.

Effective integrated marketing campaigns consider the relative strengths and differences of each of your channels. Then, like Saville Row’s finest, they tailor accordingly. Why, you might ask? After all, aren’t we promoting the same products or services? Yes, but actually… no. The thing you’re selling – the product, the service, the message – might be the same. But you have to use different techniques to appeal to different audiences. That’s where the cookie cutter approach of the past isn’t enough in an age of clever, creative, calibrated marketing.

Think of integrated marketing campaigns like a secret sauce. Its contents might be a mystery to customers. But they also know that they just can’t get enough of it.

That’s enough explanation for now. How about an example?

In 2012, Metro Trains decided they wanted to increase public awareness of accidents on Melbourne’s train network. They wanted something original. Outside of the box. Something that would cut through the noise and get people (especially young people) to stop scrolling and actually pay attention to a message that could literally save their lives.

You’ve probably heard the result: Dumb Ways to Die, a delightful and morbid little ditty featuring cheerful animated characters meeting their end in various unfortunate ways. Within 24 hours of its launch, the “Dumb Ways to Die” song reached the top 10 chart of iTunes. To ensure that its incredible early vital success was sustained (and its message heard by as many people as possible), the campaign expanded into new channels: merchandise based on the characters, a mobile app, even an educational book. There was even a mobile game developed, which hit number one in 53 markets. At the time of writing, it has close to a quarter of a billion (that’s with a ‘b’) views on YouTube. They’re still making the games! In October 2021, a studio paid Metro Trains $2.25 million to acquire the Dumb Ways to Die franchise.

Not only were the song and its characters a huge success, they also achieved their goal of raising awareness. According to Metro Trains, the campaign contributed to a more than 30 per cent reduction in "near-miss" accidents in November 2012-January 2013 compared to a year earlier.

Dumb Ways to Die began with a single, clear goal (reducing pedestrian-related accidents on Melbourne’s tram network) and just one (albeit incredibly catchy) asset. Probably no one involved expected it to become such a sensation. However, it was the ability to turn a brief viral moment into a sustained integrated campaign that was the real secret sauce.

Not every integrated marketing campaign will have the wild success that Dumb Ways to Die did. But despite being unusually successful, it effectively shows off the key benefits of integrated marketing campaigns:

Doesn’t break the bank

Since you’re creating content that can be used for multiple purposes across several platforms, integrated marketing campaigns, despite appearing bigger in scope, are actually more cost-effective and more engaging. By blending digital and traditional media you can achieve surprising results from your marketing budget. Never say never until you have checked with us.

Creates loyal customers

A key purpose of integrated marketing is to form a meaningful relationship between your brand and your audiences, at the various stages of the Path to Purchase. Of course you’re trying to sell something. Your customers will know that. But they will also begin to recognise your brand wherever it appears, and by being consistent with your brand experience, they’ll also grow to trust your brand, and your messaging.

Ties everything together

Consumers are already exposed to endless information every day. Don’t add to their burden by showing them unaligned, incoherent messages with different fonts, colours and design schemes. Instead of showing them five different things and confusing them, present them with a coherent campaign across multiple channels.

Case Study: Delite Mandarins

Nutrano Produce Group is one of Australia’s leading produce companies. Their range includes Delite mandarins. Delite mandarins, rightly recognised as Australia’s number one mandarin brand for their sweet, juicy, naturally seedless mandarins, are proudly grown right here in Australia.

Nutrano approached Thirst Creative looking for a campaign that would drive awareness and sales of Delite mandarins this season. We looked under the hood and knew that the best way to deliver results as sweet and satisfying as a Delite mandarin was to create an integrated marketing campaign across organic and paid social, catch-up video, and even live billboards.

At the time of writing, the campaign has yielded the following impressive results:

• Featured on 75 high-profile digital metro billboards

• Aired on Broadcaster Video on Demand (BVOD) platforms nearly 1 million times

• Over 400,000 video views on YouTube

• Close to 1.2 million views on social media

• Leveraged and strengthened the character personalities we developed in 2021.