Digital marketing industry case study library

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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.

Last month, whisky brand Maker’s Mark reduced its alcohol proof from 90% to 84%, sparking outcry as customers flocked to Facebook and Twitter to discuss ‘watered-down whisky’ and switching to rival brands. After nine days of social media, national newspaper and TV coverage, the brand was forced into an extraordinary U-turn. This case study from Gemma Storey at Carrot Communications takes a day-by-day look at how the crisis unfolded for the premium bourbon brand and how it could have managed things differently.

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Brand: Maker's Mark/ BEAM | Sector: FMCG, Food and Beverage | Country: US, UK | Objective: Social media, Crisis Management, email, PR | Format: Social Media

Continue reading "Maker’s Mark backlash- proof that a week’s a long time in social media?" »

In February 2013, Interflora disappeared from the front page of Google’s natural search results, fuelling speculation that the florist has breached the search engine’s guidelines. The flower delivery service's home page fell off the first page of Google's results when searching for the term 'Interflora' and ’Flowers’ (see screen shot above). Google refused to give a reason for the block, but did cite ‘webspam‘ in its answer to queires.

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Brand: Interflora | Sector: Florist, FMCG | Country: UK | Objective: Brand positioning, drive engagement, Seasonal promotion | Format: SEO, Google, AdWords, Newspapers |

Continue reading "SEO mystery: Interflora vanishes from Google search after Valentine's promotion " »

This year’s Valentine’s day ads have produced some eye-opening stats, with subject lines without discounts performing better than those offering a discount, and ‘lust’ getting higher clicks than ‘love’. This case study looks at promotions from from Ann Summers, La Senza and Time Out London to determine how to get the most out of seasonal email marketing campaigns.

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Brand: Ann Summers, La Senza, Time Out | Sector: Clothing, Magazines | Country: UK | Objective: Build brand engagement, drive sales | Format: Email | Agency/ Partner: Return Path

Continue reading "Email marketing case study: Saucy subject lines seduce subscribers" »

As social media and blogging sites pull readers away from traditional newspapers and their websites, one publisher decided to fight back with this clever banner campaign that highlights how opinions shared on social media aren't always reliable. The banner with an opinion on everything made one message clear: an educated opinion is based on fact. The banner had a 33% engagement rate and the newspaper increased its subscriptions by 1.6% as a result.

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Brand: Khaleej Times | Sector: Newspaper | Country: UAE | Objective: Build brand engagement, drive subscriptions | Format: Display advertising | Agency/ Partner: TBWA/RAAD Dubai

Continue reading "Khaleej Times ‘banner that talks back’ boosts subscriptions" »

This social media campaign from Cape Town Tourism invited users to take a virtual tour of the South African city, getting 350,000 highly engaged users and a 118% rise in bookings in the process. As it was impossible to send everyone to Cape Town, Ogilvy decided to send their Facebook profiles instead. During the four-month-long campaign 8,212 people played the Facebook game. Players of the game came from South Africa, the UK, USA, India, and Germany - by order of participants.

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Brand: Cape Town Tourism | Sector: Travel, Tourism | Country: South Africa | Objective: Build brand engagement, drive sales | Format: Social Media, Video Facebook, YouTube | Agency/ Partner: Ogily

Continue reading "Social media case study: Facebook users get virtual holiday in Cape Town" »

Built around Virgin’s association with Olympic gold medallist Mo Farah, this ad unit was all about speed. Using Say Media's Ad Frames format, the opening unit featured dynamic menu items that raced around a track, compelling the viewer to chase them to investigate. This is a good example of a gaming mechanic employed to drive engagement. Once successful, the participant was rewarded with more Virgin content. This unit also came with a more traditional arcade style game, in which the player raced Mo Farah, reminiscent of the famous mid-80s game, Track & Field which involved bashing alternate buttons on the keyboard furiously to make your athlete run faster.

Creative Link

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Brand: Virgin | Sector: Telecoms | Country: UK | Objective: Build brand engagement, drive sales | Format: Display advertising | Agency/ Partner: Say Media

Continue reading "Virgin Media enlists Mo Farah for sports game" »

To promote the Sony Xperia-T range handset, Say Media used an ad unit containing a short video inviting viewers to signup for Face Off, a driving game in which viewers could compete with other drivers, live. Participants clicked through to the site, and registered their personal details to gain access to the game. The Face Off campaign comfortably raced past the 2% click-to-site (CTS) benchmark, complimented by a very healthy video completion rate. The Say Media AdFrame featured the Face Off video shown in the bottom right.

Gaming case study- link to creative | Face Off Video Link

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Brand: Sony | Sector: Mobile | Country: UK | Objective: Build brand engagement, drive sales | Format: Display advertising, ,Facebook, Gaming, Social media | Agency/ Partner: Say Media

Continue reading "Sony Xperia Facebook 'Face Off' game beats click averages" »

The Johnson’s Baby Bedtime bath ad was positioned as fun test for parents to work out how tired (or ‘babylagged’) they were, to promote the sleep, encouraging properties of the bedtime bath product. Using Say Media's Ad Frames format, the campaign was not designed with dominant sales messages. At the completion of the game, players were invited to get more information, which directed them to the Johnson & Johnson baby advice site.

Link to creative

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Brand: Johson & Johnson | Sector: FMCG, Healthcare | Country: UK | Objective: Build brand engagement, drive sales | Format: Display advertising | Agency/ Partner: Say Media

Continue reading "Gamification case study: Johnson & Johnson helps 'babylagged' parents" »

To promote its latest console game, Steel Battalion, Capcom used an expandable banner campaign that gave gamer a sneak peek of the game. Using the Say Media AdFrames format, the campaign exceeded engagement benchmarks by providing an immersive experience that emulated the game’s high quality graphics.

Link to creative

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Brand: Capcom | Sector: Gaming | Country: UK | Objective: Build brand engagement, drive sales | Format: Display advertising | Agency/ Partner: Mindshare/ Say Media

Continue reading "Gamification case study: Capcom Steel Battalion sneak peek drives engagement" »

Ahead of the Christmas rush, Littlewoods used mobile affiliate tracking to boost sales from publishing sites linking to their mobile-optimised store. The results spoke for themselves, with a rise in mobile customers spending more than their desktop counterparts.

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Brand: Littlewoods | Sector: Retail | Country: UK | Objective: Build brand engagement, drive sales | Format: Affiliate marketing , display advertisign, mobile marketing, behavioral targeting | Agency/ Partner: Affiliate Window |

Continue reading "Mobile Case Study: Littlewoods doubles conversions with mobile affiliate tracking " »

To comfort children in their hour of need, Band-Aid teamed up with Disney to embed videos of The Muppets in their plasters using augmented reality. This case study looks at how the Johnson & Johnson brand used the ‘internet of things’ to engage with their target market in a new and innovative way.

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Brand: Johnson & Johnson, Band Aid | Sector: FMCG, Healthcare | Country: US | Objective: Build brand engagement | Format: Video, Augmented Reality, Social Media, iPad, Mobile, Apps |

Continue reading "Band Aid brings Muppets to life with augmented reality plasters" »

This clever little marketing campaign created a 13% sales boost for a small book shop in Switzerland. With more travel research being conducted online, the Travel Book Shop highlighted the limits of the internet with a video showing a crashed Google Streetview car- generating plenty of buzz in the process.

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Brand: Travel Book Shop | Sector: retail, Books | Country: Switzerland | Agency: WIRZ BBDO | Objective: Build brand awareness | Format: YouTube, Video, Social Media, Flickr |

Continue reading "Video case study: Google car wreck hoax gets book small shop 300% more visits" »

Alfa Romeo used Skype to promote its new ‘Supermini’ car, using targeted ads when users were consulting trusted friends and family. This case study looks at how the car maker used a combination of homepage takeovers and ‘conversation’ ads to increase brand awareness over 20% and generate clicks of over 50%.

Digital marketing case study

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Brand: Alfa Romeo | Sector: Automotive | Country: US | Objective: Build brand engagement | Format: Skype, Display ads |

Continue reading "Skype case study: Alfa Romeo ‘conversation’ ads get 50% click through" »

Magnum worked with Coupons.com to run a Twitter camapign promoting its new pleasure pots, offering free ice-cream to the first 5,000 respondents. The camapgin made smart use of the micro-blogging plaform, raising awareness of the luxury ice-cream brand's latest product in an engaging and fun way.

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Brand: Unilever, Magnum | Sector: FMCG, Food and beverage | Country: UK | Agency; Coupons.com, GolinHarris | Objective: Build brand engagement | Format: Twitter |

Continue reading "Twitter case study: Magnum's coupon giveaway with #GrabaSpoon hashtag" »

Unilever Ireland ran a new ‘on pause’ video ad campaign for its Lyons Tea brand in Ireland- triggered every time a user pauses their video player on the RTE website. The format demonstrates what can be delivered by working collaboratively with industry partners, and was the result of significant investment in new technology by RTÉ to enable the ad’s deployment.

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Brand: Unilever Ireland, Lyons Tea | Sector: FMCG, Food and beverage | Country: Ireland | Agency; Mindshare | Objective: Build brand engagement | Format: Video, RTE |

Continue reading "Video case study: Lyons Tea gets first ‘pause button’ video ads on RTE player" »

A 35 minute power outage on the pitch at this year's Super Bowl XLVII led to a surge in traffic on social media. The showdown between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers was shut down for 35 minutes when half of the lights in the New Orleans Superdome went out. The resulting confusion led to a surge in traffic on social media sites talking about what became known online as "the blackout bowl." Advertisers were quick to capitalise on the sudden ad space opportunity. Within four minutes of the outage, advertisers had sent out their first tweets 'newsjacking' the event with their own branded take on the story.

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Brand: Oreo, Tide, Audi | Sector: FMCG, Food and Beverage, Automotive, Household goods | Country: US | Objective: Build brand engagement | Format: Twitter, Social Media |

Continue reading "Social media case study: Super Bowl blackout hands victory to Twitter " »

Last year, Carling Black Label ran a mobile campaign inviting South African soccer fans to ‘Be The Coach’. Using mobile voting users selected the team and make live substitutions in a huge South African soccer game. This case study looks at how the campaign generated almost 450% traffic increase to its Facebook page and a 600% Twitter following increase.

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Brand: Carling | Sector: FMCG, Food and Beverage | Country: South Africa | Agencies: Ogilvy South Africa | Objective: Build brand engagement | Format: Video, Mobile, Social Media |

Continue reading "Case study: Carling lets soccer fans ‘Be The Coach’" »

Amid growing uncertainty about the origin of mass-produced food, this timely McDonald’s app turns users' iPhone’s into an ingredient tracker. McDonalds partnered with DDB Sydney to launch the TrackMyMacca’s app in Australia. By using the camera feature of their iPhone, iPad or iTouch, diners can scan the image of the particular food item they have purchased. Using GPS and the free Wi-Fi in McDonald’s outlets, as well as taking note of the date and time, the app is able to access the company’s supply chain. It can, for example, identify the source of ingredients used to create the meat patty in a customer’s quarter pounder, right down to the particular cattle farm.

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Brand: McDonalds | Sector: Food, FMCG, retail | Country: Australia | Agencies: DDB Sydney | Objective: Build brand engagement | Format: Mobile |

Continue reading "Mobile marketing case study: McDonald's app tracks origin of food" »

P&O’s recent “Grand Event” campaign used dynamic content into their email marketing for the first time, with some extremely strong results. This case study, from Experian CheetahMail, illustrates how P&O a 950% increase in bookings and 679% boost in revenue (as compared to previous email campaign without a video).

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Brand: P&O | Sector: Travel | Country: UK | Agencies: Experian CheetahMail | Objective: Build brand engagement | Format: Email, Video |

Continue reading "Case study: P&O email videos get 950% increase in bookings " »

Following the launch of Windows 8 Ads-in-Apps (AiA) Microsoft has unveiled the latest campaigns to make use of its new cross-platform ad formats. This case study looks at 4 brands- Jeep, Delta, Sony Pictures and Ford as they capitallise on the new Windows 8 format.

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Brand: Microsoft, Jeep, Delta, Sony, Ford | Sector: Automotive, Film, Travel | Country: UK | Agencies: Razorfish, Universal McCann/Sapient, Team Detroit, This is Tommy | Objective: Build brand engagement | Format: Display, Video, Mobile, Windows 8 |

Continue reading "Windows 8- how are brands using in-app advertising?" »

Does your brand have a good social media policy in place? This Twitter marketing case stud shows what can happen when firms engage in social media without having the right approach. Marketers being sacked by struggling retailer used the company's official Twitter feed to release their anger, creating a PR crisis. It makes for painful reading, but reminds every business how transparent the world is today.

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Brand: HMV | Sector: FMCG, Retail, Recruitment | Country: UK | Objective: Build brand engagement | Format: Social Media, Twitter |

Continue reading "Twitter marketing case study - HMV's weak social media policy damages brand" »

Nestlé's latest video campaign in India featured dancing babies- seeding the ad on YouTube ahead of its first TV broadcast and getting 1.5m views in the process. As part of promoting the TVC, television will be the lead medium for the campaign with a high frequency intensive burst on a mix of mass and regional channels. Digital and Facebook were also key pegs in the campaign. In a similar vein to Evian’s 2010 ‘Roller Babies’ ad, the Nestle campaign centres of a group of babies that begin dancing (with the aid of CGI) in a daycare centre.

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Brand: Nestle, Kit Kat | Sector: FMCG, Food and Beverage | Country: India | Objective: Build brand engagement | Agency: JWT Delhi | Format: YouTube, Video, Social Media, Twitter, Facebook |

Continue reading "Kit Kat ‘dancing babies’ gets 1m views in a week" »

A Sodastream commercial has become a hit on YouTube, after being banned from an upcoming Super Bowl spot by broadcaster CBS for mocking rivals.CBS rejected the company's initial attempt at a Super Bowl spot, reportedly, because the content of the spot took a direct swipe at two other Super bowl participants - Coke and Pepsi. After the ban, Sodastream submitted a revised version featuring no brand names. It also released the spot that was rejected by CBS. The banned version is now on YouTube, and has ammased around 2 million views to date.

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Brand: Sodastream | Sector: FMCG, Food and Beverage | Country: US | Objective: Build brand engagement | Agency: Common, Pale Dot Voyage, Octopus of the Mind | Format: YouTube, Video |

Continue reading "Banned Sodastream Super Bowl ad becomes Internet hit" »

Home improvement store Sodimac teamed up with the government environmental care agency in Chile to run a smart YouTube ad to encourage eco-friendly habits, through innovative use of the ‘skip this ad’ button. This case study shows how the campaign got 80,000 click throughs in just one week.

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Brand: Sodimac | Sector: Retail, Governemnt | Country: Chile| Objective: Build brand engagement | Agency: Mayo Digital, Draftfcb | Format: YouTube, Video |

Continue reading "Video case study: Sodimac uses ‘Skip Ad’ button as part of message" »

Last year, the Royal National Institute for the Blind ran an email campaign that cleverly played with email conventions to challenge readers to empathise with blind or partially sighted people. This case study looks at how they managed to get a 24% click through rate with a simple but effective email.

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Brand: RNIB | Sector: Charity | Coutry: UK | Objective: Build brand engagement | Agency: Elvis | Format: Email |

Continue reading "Email case study: Blind charity’s email trick gets 24% click through rate" »