Digital marketing industry case study library

You can do this online through our online submission form or by email. If you'd like to submit examples of your work then email them into CaseStudies@DigitalTrainingAcademy.com and after an initial review we'll be in touch if we feel they can be used to support learning goals.

There is also an online submission tool, here: http://www.digitaltrainingacademy.com/submit. By sending us a case study you agree we can use it in training, conference speeches, book chapters and reports and other media. You need to be confident you have the necessary rights and permissions from partners or clients to be able to do this. Case studies cannot be restricted to one particular course so we can only accept material which can be used in any aspect of our training. However, if youd like us to withdraw a case study at any point, then we can do this within two weeks.

All too often, YouTube ads are not tailored to pre-roll, meaning that viewers are likely to skip because they are given little incentive to continue watching. The case study looks at how US car insurance firm Geico generated 725,000 unaided YouTube views in one day by playing on the format, winning the 2015 Canes Lions Grand Prix in the process.

Continue reading "Cannes Lions case study: Geico wins top prize for ‘unskippable’ pre-roll ads" »

In a stark warning to brands with too many untracked website domains, Heinz was left embarrassed after a QR code on bottles of Ketchup linked to a hardcore porn site in Germany.

Continue reading "Marketing fail: Heinz QR codes accidentally link to ‘saucy’ porn site" »

In a stark reminder of the perils of having a digital-only plan, a UK music festival plunged into chaos in June 2015 as its cashless payment system failed- leaving music fans unable to buy food or drink and being forced to queue for hours.

Continue reading "Cashless payment fail: Chaos at festival as system crashes" »

YouTube’s video ads often fail to capture viewers attention, leading to people clicking the skip ad button before absorbing the marketing message. With this in mind, Australian health insurer Medibank created the first pre-roll ad that actually played more, the more it was “skipped”… with amazing results.

Continue reading "Pre-roll case study: Medibank stops pre-roll ad-skipping with clever YouTube ad" »

LatestinBeauty.com increased sales by a third following a new type of campaign, which lets retailers to run a promotion without discounting. This case study looks at how the luxury beauty site used a gamification element to boost win customers over and boost brand presence online.

Continue reading "Ecommerce case study: Luxury beauty site boosts sales by third with ‘lucky egg’ " »

Organic food retailer Biocoop wanted to push their ethical farming message to a wider digital audience- but stay core to their values by keeping carbon emissions to a minimum. This corporate social responsibility case study looks at how the firm produced the most eco-friendly ad ever.

Continue reading "Corporate social responsibility case study: Biocoop runs ‘Most Eco-Friendly Campaign Ever’" »

Dixons Carphone, the company that owns Currys and PC World, dominates the UK market for White Goods, computing and consumer electronics. This case study looks at how the firm worked with Greenlight to optimise paid search campaigns, improving increase in reach by 135%.

Continue reading "Paid search case study: How Dixons Carphone drove uplift in reach by 135% in just nine months" »

Retailer Urban Outfitters worked with agency Greenlight Digital to streamline its paid search campaigns and expand from three markets to 13 in just one year.

Continue reading "Paid search case study: How Urban Outfitters replicated its strong brand presence in the UK across the rest of Europe" »

Nike+ Fuel which is available through the Nike+ app and wearing the Nike Fuelband is an example of a great game, which ensures a large number of customers stay in contact and communicate with the brand.

Continue reading "Gamification case study: Nike+ saves customers from zombies (and wins their data)" »

Glastonbury festival is one of the biggest and most popular contemporary and performing arts festivals in the world. Each year over 130,000 tickets to the festival sell out in under an hour, making it extremely difficult to get access to the event. UK based mobile phone network EE created a game on social media platform Twitter where users could win tickets.

Continue reading "Gamification case study: EE launches Glastonbury ticket treasure hunt on Twitter #Glastonburied" »

Gamification is being used by brands to stimulate interest and increase engagement of its customers. Some brands are opting to create highly sophisticated apps that have a practical application while others like M&M’s chose to include game like aspects into a larger marketing campaign. This case study looks at how M&M’s did the latter incorporating gamification into the launch of a new flavour of sweets.

Continue reading "Gamification case study: M&M’s eye spy pretzel " »

Back in 2013, VICE's music channel Noisey and Garnier Fructis launched a college tour in the US. This case study looks at how the hair brand married style with substance to get its core youth audience visiting in droves, enjoying 3 million video views and 6 million social shares.

Continue reading "Content marketing case study: Garnier gets 6m social shares with Vice music tour" »

Fashion brand Edun wanted to showcase ‘Made in Africa Philosophy’, so it partnered with VICE to create a documentary in the Congo to exploring the gorilla's fight for survival as a species. This corporate social responsibility case study looks at how the Bono-owned brand created a fresh identity around ethical trading, boosting sales 800% in the process.

Continue reading "CSR case study: Edun documentary champions ethical fashion (and boosts sales 800%)" »

Travel Nevada teamed up with BuzzFeed to create original content showcasing the vast array of attractions the state has to offer. This case study looks at how the tourist board got strong engagement from travellers and local residents alike.

Continue reading "BuzzFeed case study: Travel Nevada launches interactive road trip around the state" »

BuzzFeed’s creative team worked with Mexican fast food restaurant Taco Bell to create sponsored posts based on the theme of not sharing. With the rise of social media many people share multiple aspects of the lives and Taco Bell took advantage of this trend.

Continue reading "BuzzFeed case study: Taco Bell reminds users that not everything needs to be shared" »

The MINI, a small car, unique in its design is “not normal” in appearance compared to traditional cars. The car maker wanted to capitalise on the fact that it is different and created a marketing campaign around being “not normal”. MINI used the BuzzFeed platform to launch the campaign using a native content marketing strategy.

Continue reading "Native content case study: MINI champions all things “not normal”" »

Social media is great for sending personalised messaged to customers- but what happens when brands get too personal? Nando’s recently attracted criticism after a its tweets to a female customer crossed the line from friendly to creepy- this case study looks at where they went wrong.

Continue reading "Twitter fail: Nando's criticised for 'flirty tweets’ to female customer " »

Web surfers don’t click on banner ads anymore. Native advertising, advertorials, sponsored posts – quality content is the new king of marketing. This case study looks at how Virgin Mobile took this new approach the social news site Buzzfeed to create an ‘always on’ newsroom to engage the new generation of digital customers.

Continue reading "Buzzfeed case study: Virgin Mobile creates ‘24/7 social newsroom’" »

To promote its new ‘Hidden Valley For Everything’ dressing, Clorox partnered with BuzzFeed to expand on its nickname “The New Ketchup,” in a fun, engaging way. This case study looks at how the FMCG firm enjoyed a 400% brand lift in social sharing via native content marketing.

Continue reading "Native content case study: Hidden Valley takes on ketchup with Buzzfeed push " »

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a YouTube video featuring a well-known vlogger because it didn’t clearly explain it was sponsored by P&G’s Max Factor brand. This case study looks at how the FMCG giant fell foul of new native advertising content guidelines.

Continue reading "Native content fail: P&G vlogger banned by ASA" »

Searches for how-to videos on YouTube are growing at a rate of 70% per year, according to Google, providing advertisers the opportunity to connect with consumers at the exact moment they're looking for help relevant to a brand's product. This case study looks at how shaving brand Gillette used range of videos that give advice on grooming, from basic shaving to more complex facial hairstyles.

Continue reading "YouTube case study: How Gillette tutorials got an audience of millions" »

Promoting the latest 'Cadbury Dairy Milk Marvellous Ice Creams' campaign, R&R Ice Cream chose PageSkin Plus with the extended header unit to showcase the characters of their campaign.

Continue reading "Display ad case study: Cadbury’s marching penguins capture viewers' attention" »

The Washington Wizards surprised everyone during the 2013–2014 NBA season by making the playoffs for the first time in five years. To capitalize on the team's success, the Wizards' owners, Monumental Sports & Entertainment, looked to grow ticket sales and attract new fans in the mid-Atlantic region. To do so, it used AdWords ad extensions and focused its ticket pricing strategy on the most engaged AdWords campaigns. The final score? Its overall return on ad spend for the 2013-2014 season jumped 293% and 72% of ticket purchases via AdWords come from new fans.

Continue reading "Search marketing case study: Washington Wizards boost ticket sales 72% with AdWords" »

Mondelēz International, a snacking powerhouse consisting of brands such as Oreo, Nabisco and Cadbury, wanted to measure the marketing effectiveness of two new product launches in Brazil: belVita and Trident Unlimited. To do so, it embraced Google's Brand Lift solution, which revealed valuable insights into the campaigns' viewer retention rates, target audiences and frequency caps. Based on the findings, Mondelez adjusted its targeting and its creative to reach a 15% view-through rate.

Continue reading "Brazil case study: Mondelēz boosts Brazil product launches with smarter search marketing" »

In a wildly popular commercial for Turkish Airlines, two of sports" greatest stars-Kobe Bryant and Lionel Messi-vie for the attention of one starstruck kid. Following on its success, the company created a new YouTube ad called "Kobe vs. Messi: The Selfie Shootout" to continue increasing brand awareness in Europe, North America, the Middle East and the Far East. The spot was another huge success: It became one of the fastest spreading commercials on YouTube, with 77 million views in just one week, and was one of the most popular ads of 2013.

Continue reading "How Turkish Airlines reached 100m potential customers with selfies" »