Moment marketing: If you post it, they will come (if it’s good).

What does it cost in paid advertising to increase the brand awareness of a company by 40% over 12 months?

If you get your strategy right, like Weetabix, nothing.

By empowering their creative team with a “yes, and” approach to new ideas, Weetabix, a breakfast cereal popular in the UK, have been able to organically generate over 1000 pieces of media coverage, 1.5 BILLION Twitter impressions, social media engagement with over 600 other brands, and have even had their creative discussed in the heart of the British parliament. Not bad, huh?

Using online media channels, Weetabix have made a habit of playfully giving their two cents on significant moments in British culture, from Boris Johnson’s appointment as Prime Minister to soccer matches. In the middle of Britain's most recent lockdown, Weetabix managed to create their own ‘moment’ when they tweeted a picture of Heinz beans on Weetabix.

Meltdown ensued, with everyone from the US embassy to Piers Morgan weighing in on a debate that was soon labelled “more divisive than Brexit”. 

Hundreds of other businesses quickly realised Weetabix had hit the zeitgeist-jackpot and used it as an opportunity to show their own brand personalities with tongue-in-cheek replies incorporating subtle brand integrations. With quick responses and clever copy these brands were able to piggyback Weetabix’s moment and generate their own interactions, and when the media picked up on the viral sensation, the best of these responses were included in the coverage.

Having empowered their team to produce moment marketing as quickly and creatively as they could, Weetabix found themselves at the center of their very own moment.

So what exactly is moment marketing?

A Deloitte Digital trend report defined moment marketing as "The ability to take advantage of an event to deliver relevant and related, seemingly spontaneous, and often fleeting interactions with customers in real-time." It’s campaigns like these that intrigue people, create conversations, and make marketing globalization possible.

Here’s another great example. Game of Thrones wasn't just another TV series - it was a global sensation. You might have heard about it. Fans around the world would shape their whole weekends around the show, either staying up late or waking up early depending on their time zone to see the latest episode’s premiere. For brands, it was a no-brainer that they’d try to capitalise on the popularity of the show.

One of the show’s most anticipated ever episodes, the Battle of Winterfell, was always going to be prime ‘watercooler TV’. But when the Night King finally faced off against our beloved anti-heroes, not everyone liked what they saw. Or rather, not everyone liked what they didn’t see. The episode’s lighting was so dark that viewers had trouble making out just what exactly was going on. Predictably, the internet was outraged. 

Crompton Lighting jumped on the moment and released this.

Hey presto – with a little bit of witty creative, Crompton Lighting had inserted themselves into the conversation around one of the most watched TV episodes of the decade. And they hadn’t waited for Winter to come either – the creative was able to strike a chord with GoT fans because it was published quickly enough to be part of that cultural moment.

So what makes for successful moment marketing?

When an organization creates content around topics of interest and emotion, it captures attention. Memes, pop-culture references, sports, and social initiatives are easy ways for companies to use moment marketing to connect with customers.

And, when brands engage smartly enough with the ongoing conversation, it sets "Triggers" in people's minds. According to Contagious – Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger, "Triggers" are stimuli that connect thoughts and ideas. So, by associating themselves with GoT, Crompton Lighting made it more likely that people thinking about the show would also think about their brand.

Brands can even tweak a trendy meme to market their products in a new light. Ikea did this well by using the viral meme of Bernie Sanders' adorable sitting pose during  Joe Biden's inauguration to promote their GUNDE chair.

Whether it's a meme or the latest news, social media means that nowadays brands always have the means to come through and become a part of a larger conversation. It helps them stay relevant and connected to their users around the world.

Moment marketing is pretty new, and marketers are still figuring it out. But it's here to stay. With the right tools and strategies, it can help you acquire customers at low costs. Unlike typical TV or online ads, marketing communication that uses ongoing global and regional events to connect with people comes across as less forced and gets better engagement.  

Anyone can lead a successful moment marketing campaign.

But there’s a catch. Moment marketing may not be rocket science, but it is a risky business. 

Companies can damage their brand with hurriedly posted, substandard creatives. The production costs of making static and video creatives also increase with the number of such campaigns, and, with so much happening, it can be hard to keep up with every trend. 

And yet speed is crucial. Ideation, writing clever copy, creative production, and publishing should be done before the event becomes outdated. They say slow and steady wins the race. Not true. Attention spans are shorter than ever – you don’t have long until everyone’s moved onto the next shiny thing. In moment marketing, fast and continuous efforts win the race and put dollars in your pocket.  

It's also essential to keep a consistent brand personality. Weetabix's Twitter page is an excellent example of brand consistency in action, and it has a tangible impact on sales.

The company saw a 15% sales spike in Sainsbury's the week after posting the infamous beans tweet, and a 24.1% increase in the likelihood of purchasing since June 2020.

Moment marketing is all about speed, relevance and tonal consistency. That means an empowered marketing team. And that means the right tool.

ReMake is a software platform built to customize any piece of creative (both video and static) for regional audiences or serve an additional purpose. You can create 100s of versions of the same creative within minutes - which manually would take hours. 

And the best part is you can retain fonts, animation, and style and spend zero hours on a learning curve - it's brutally simple to use.

Our clients - renowned global brands - are accelerating content production by 200% and saving up 80% in their content versioning costs. 

By empowering your team with ReMake, you can insert your brand into the conversation everyone is having right now. Book a Demo today.

---

Further Reading: 

1. How Top Brands Leverage Moment Marketing And How You Can Too (Examples & Insights)

2. Reactive Marketing: Why Timing Is Everything

3. What is "Moment Marketing" and How Is It Helping Brands Stay Relevant?

4. 34% of brands have switched to ‘moment marketing

5. How to Effectively Use Memes in Your Content Marketing

Weetabix:

1. Weetabix attracts users, brands & even ministries with a viral brand association Tweet

2. Why Weetabix suggested baked beans as a suitable accompaniment

3. Weetabix: ‘Brave work comes through creating an environment where it doesn’t feel brave’

4. What made Weetabix baked beans a viral hit – from the agency behind it

5. 'Weetabix With Heinz Beans?': Debate Reaches UK Parliament Floor, MPs Describe Preference