Marketing

By now you’ve probably seen some form of marketing for the Barbie movie, or at least heard someone mention it in conversation. How could you not? It’s estimated that the total marketing expenditure for the campaign was $150 million, more than the movie cost to make.

Sure, the budget is big, but Warner Bros isn’t just dumping money into ads. The Barbie marketing team used a wide variety of unique, out-of-the-box marketing tactics including everything from brand partnerships to a Barbie-themed Airbnb in Malibu and much much more. The result? The marketing has now gone so mainstream that talking about it has become an internet inside joke, with a slew of people on social media posting photos of just about anything pink (think sunsets, random buildings) congratulating their marketing team on a job well done. 

With the movie earning $155 million in the US  and another $182 million internationally through its opening weekend, it’s safe to say that the marketing was a success. In this blog, I’ll break down exactly what they did to achieve these results and how their unique strategy led to the creation of “the Barbie effect.”

A 50% clickthrough rate might seem like every marketer’s dream, especially when paired with a $0.01 cost per click. Seeing this, you might think you have struck the advertising jackpot. But, as everyone knows, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

When one of our TikTok campaigns showed abnormally “good” results like this, we decided to investigate why. The first thing we found was that we weren’t the only ones experiencing these weird results. Looking on Reddit, we found other TikTok advertisers sharing similar stories. We kept seeing Pangle pop up in posts, which immediately tipped us off to what was going on.

Few ads are as well-received as those featured in the Superbowl. Every year, the Superbowl attracts millions of viewers, with 2022 setting a five-year record of 112.3 million viewers and 11.2 million streams. So naturally, February is game time for advertisers who vie for the mass exposure afforded by the United States’ annual football spectacle. And, as the event becomes more lavish, so do the ads. 

The past two decades have presented some genuinely memorable Superbowl commercials. Some made us laugh, some made us cry, and a few sent messages we all needed to hear. And let’s not forget the ones that made us say: ‘Huh?” 

Ahead of Superbowl LVII, we’ve compiled a list of the best Superbowl commercials of all time.

We’ve comprised this list using four main criteria: creativity, results, cultural relevance and “wow factor.” To determine the winners, we judged each ad out of 10 and ranked accordingly. The victors are as follows, from best to worst.

A new wave of chatbots like ChatGPT uses artificial intelligence that could reinvent – or even replace – traditional marketing methods.

Between the 1990s ‘dot.com boom’ and today, few companies maintained market relevance long enough to truly upend the tech industry. One thinks of the iPhone, Google, and Facebook when considering the handful of products that changed our society. 

Just over two months ago, American AI research laboratory OpenAI staked its position as one of those potentially revolutionizing companies when it released its highly advanced text generator called “ChatGPT.” Some experts speculate that ChatGPT might replace internet search engines like Google, or that it will unsettle democratic practices through lobbying. Others believe it won’t become anything more than a nifty device for Twitter jokesters and customer service departments. 

At the very least, the language model is poised to reshape many fields – from your child’s homework to traditional marketing methods.

Updated for 2023. Vancouver is full of innovative thinkers and creative marketers – experts in turning words into poetry, bringing brands to life, and making a company shine. It’s no simple task; marketing is a lot more than putting together a few advertisements, designing a logo, or making a website. It’s about bringing many moving pieces together to tell your story in a memorable way. 

Luckily, you can outsource the load to an agency who will dream-up creative advertising solutions for you! The trick is finding the right one.

It can be difficult to find the best person to tell your compelling brand story and show the world your awesome new product. Each agency uses different techniques with its own set of pros and cons. 

So, we did the research for you.

The following is a list of the top 25 marketing agencies in Vancouver. Our findings are compiled based on i) testimonials; ii) agency type; and iii) portfolio to help you find the right fit. These agencies have proven they have a creative eye for detail and can come up with a memorable marketing campaign.

Web 3.0 technologies like NFTs have gained popularity very quickly in the last two years. But, people still have a healthy dose of scepticism about this blockchain ‘revolution’ – and fair enough. The NFT space is saturated with fraud and is subject to some serious ups and downs.

Some consider NFTs to be a bandwagon fad poised to ‘pop,’ while others position them as emerging tools that will revolutionize the marketing and investing landscapes.

Either way, artists have been looking for a tool to better commodify their work for some time, and NFTs offer up a way to do so. While we undergo a rapid transition towards Web 3.0 and a digital economy of goods, more artists – musical, graphic, and otherwise – are producing digital works in an online, shareable space. NFTs emerged in response to artists’ need for a way to monetize their work.

They’re also a great example of the influence marketers have, along with a potentially effective strategy for companies looking to create a more personalized customer-brand community.

Want some tips to help write your first blog post? You’re not alone.

Honing your writing skills takes practice and persistence; it’s one of those things that you can never truly ‘master.’ The ultimate goal – whether you’re a blogger, a persuasive writer, an email marketer, or want to be the next Margaret Atwood – is to engage your audience and spark interest. Every word and phrase is intentional. 

Unfortunately, there is no fixed recipe for capturing a reader’s attention. After all, writing is a creative endeavour that comes in various forms.

For our purposes, let’s define creative (or “blog”) writing as anything that’s not academic, scientific, or news writing – the opportunities are endless. But sometimes, the trick is just getting started. 

In the post-COVID era, people and brands are seeking an opportunity to turn a meaningful new leaf, and it looks like Instagram is the latest member of the visual refresh club.

The last time Instagram visually rebranded was in 2016 when it changed its iconic polaroid logo to its now well-known pink gradient logo.

The 2022 update features three significant changes to the platform’s architecture:

1. A vibrant update to its gradient motif via 3D modelling.
2. The introduction of a brand-new typeface, Instagram Sans.
3. A seamless, full-bleed layout that places community and content before anything else.

Imagine a perfect world where marketers have unlimited access to customer data across all devices, countries and ecosystems. They have a crystal-clear view of their customers, preferences, and exactly where they are in the buying journey. It sounds nice, doesn’t it?

Today, the unfortunate reality of marketing data privacy is not so simple; developing global privacy laws, changing consumer expectations, and new company policies are making customers harder to describe, actions harder to track and data more expensive.

This has put immense pressure on marketers and companies, forcing them to seek out creative ways around this newfound obstacle.

The last couple of years have been rough on everyone and changed basically everything. A lot has changed since our last look at this subject in 2018. Now more than ever, it’s hard to grab an audience’s attention—and nearly impossible to keep it. People are working harder, rushing around faster, and dealing with a lot more than before. But even so, there are slivers of genius that break through the clamour of daily life and remind us just how special advertising can be. Here’s our take on the best Canadian advertising campaigns in 2021.

Picture two different brands. Brand A and Brand B. Brand A is reliable, safe, and smart; It prefers safety over style and never strays outside of the lines. Brand B is different; it’s inspirational, resilient, cool, and constantly pushes the boundaries of what is achievable, never settling for less. Which brand inspires you? If you were to choose one to identify with, who would you choose? Crafting a powerful brand story is highly important for businesses and, if done correctly, can engage and inspire customers, converting them into loyal advocates.

The way you market your company affects how well you succeed. Why settle for a typical marketing agency for your product? At Kipling Media, we specialize in alternative marketing. We are a six-person Vancouver-based company that will take your initiatives seriously and operate on your budget. Kipling Media can help grow your brand awareness and bring in more revenue for you and your team. 

We have worked with a variety of clients from women’s clothing brands, to senior living communities, to the University of Manitoba. You can preview our work on Clutch, a B2B platform that uses client reviews to provide authentic rankings of service firms within their industry. We have been recognized by Clutch for our ability to deliver consistent products for our clients and our expertise in the marketing industry.