In recent years, the power of moment marketing has taken the marketing world by storm. This marketing strategy offers businesses an opportunity to capitalize on timely and relevant topics to build brand awareness, engage with their target audience, and ultimately drive sales.
But…
what is moment marketing, and how can businesses utilize it?
In this blog post, I’ll go through the benefits of moment marketing, provide real-life examples, and provide case studies that can be studied and implemented by companies.
We’ll also look at how this new form of marketing can be used to create opportunities out of current events, and how it can be an effective tool in any company’s marketing toolbox. Last but not least, I’ll note down the common mistakes to avoid and my recommended tools.
So, let’s dive in
What is Moment Marketing?
Moment marketing is a strategy used by businesses to capture a moment in time in marketing that resonates with their consumers. It takes advantage of an occasion, trend, or event in order to promote a product or service and make it more appealing to the target audience.
Also known as “real-time marketing”, this tactic is famous for making people aware of your brand and sharing your message with their networks. By creating content that is relevant and timely, businesses can stay top-of-mind for their target market and remain in the public discussion.
While it has become commonplace in today’s digital world, moment marketing has been around for far longer than you might think!
From artists like Andy Warhol to the advent of television, businesses have always sought ways to tap into the potential of this strategy. Capitalizing on trends and moments has always helped them reach out to their target audiences in timely & effective ways.
Moment Marketing of 21st Century
Social media has revolutionized how companies can interact with their customers and tailor their campaigns to match current trends, events, or viral content. This allows businesses to tap into the collective consciousness of their audiences and capitalize on the most relevant or “happening” topics in real time.
Such strategies can have an undeniably powerful effect on consumer engagement and marketers should take note of the numerous opportunities afforded by this strategy.
Also, you run the risk of getting left behind if your competitors utilize the power of moment marketing and you do not!
Overall, marketing on top of certain moments has become essential these days for companies looking to stay on top of the competition. By making use of the latest trends and events, businesses can create campaigns that will find resonance with their audiences and lead to more successful products and services.
With the right strategy in place, it can be a powerful asset for any business.
Why is Moment Marketing Important?
It’s all about the timing — reaping the benefits of a moment!
If you’ve ever wondered why is moment marketing important, the benefits are limitless! Let’s take a peek at some of the fundamental ones:
From creating an emotional connection with your audience to delivering timely messages that are relevant to what’s happening at the moment, businesses can take advantage of unique opportunities to create meaningful content that stands out from the rest.
Moment marketing can also help businesses reach more people and boost engagement, as timely topics tend to generate more interest than generic content.
A well-crafted campaign can add credibility and trust to your brand as you show that you’re up-to-date with current trends and conversations.
By leveraging this marketing technique, businesses can stay ahead of the competition and keep up with the constantly changing landscape.
With the advent of the meme culture, people need new trends to learn and get entertained. You can fill up that gap and take mindshare of your audience’s minds.
A successful moment marketing campaign has all the ingredients for the recipe of going viral — a big deal in today’s world of marketing.
On the execution level, it’s often a cost-effective growth hacking tool as well. So, the ROI (Return on Investment) has the potential to skyrocket like never before!
Satisfied with the benefits?
Let’s see some perfectly-executed examples you can get inspired by
Moment Marketing Examples & Case Studies
As mentioned before, moment marketing is all about being present with your brand in the right way at the right moment.
To help you get inspired and follow in the footsteps of the “tried and tested” campaigns, let’s look at some of the best moment marketing examples and successful case studies:
1. Oreo’s Dunk in the Dark in Super Bowl
Moment marketing is a powerful tool, and the best example to follow when it comes to harnessing its power is Oreo’s ‘Dunk in the Dark’ Super Bowl Tweet.
On the night of the 2013 Super Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, the power went out. Oreo capitalized on the unexpected blackout by quickly creating an image with the caption “you can still dunk in the dark” and sharing it on Twitter.
What made Oreo’s tweet so effective was how it was relevant not only to its product but to the moment as well. By taking advantage of the unexpected moment, they were able to create something funny and engaging, while at the same time reinforcing their brand message.
2. Uber Thanks You for Not Riding!
When the Covid-19 pandemic spread worldwide, transportation companies like Uber were hit particularly hard. Despite the challenges, Uber found an opportunistic way to make an impact amid the crisis-leveraging moment marketing strategies to bring extra value to their customers.
In April 2020, Uber released an initiative called ‘Thank You For Not Riding’, an unexpected and unique way to show their appreciation to customers who are staying home. As part of this campaign, they provided free transportation for frontline healthcare workers and free meals to first responders and healthcare workers, and more!
Not only did this trend marketing strategy surprise and delight customers, but it also encouraged people to respect social distancing guidelines and stay home during the height of the pandemic. This type of generous act resonated well with customers and gained Uber lots of positive publicity.
The ‘Thank You For Not Riding’ campaign is a strong example of how moment marketing can be used during difficult times to combine customer service and social responsibility into one powerful message. It goes to show that even during times of crisis, there is still an opportunity to connect with customers in meaningful ways.
3. Tesco’s Creative Billboard in Ramadan
Around 7% of the UK population is Muslim.
Tesco holds around 27.3% of the supermarket market share in the UK.
What do you get when you combine these two?
The ‘Together This Ramadan’ campaign from Tesco in 2022, of course!
Launched in April when Ramadan started, these billboards were put up in Muslim-populated areas such as London and Birmingham.
As seen in the video, the billboard has been cleverly done to look like a timelapse. The plates look empty at the beginning of the day and gradually they get filled up with food as the daylight fades away.
Beneath the imagery, a message reads, “Together this Ramadan,” and an explanation below states that the plates will only be filled at sunset as a tribute to those who are observing the fast.
It’s a brilliant way to depict the fasting of Muslims in the month of Ramadan which is usually broken in the evening by intaking food. And in the process, Tesco garnered praise and appreciation from the Muslim community of said areas a.k.a. their prospective customers.
This is a solid example of moment marketing that is —
- latest
- non-humorous
- unconventional
- socially constructive
So, kudos to Tesco UK for making this happen!
4. Netflix + Twitter = Moments Worth Remembering
If I start talking about the marketing strategies of Netflix, days will pass, seasons will change, and it still wouldn’t be enough
So, for today, I’ll be focusing on how Netflix takes moment marketing to the next level by not only utilizing trends but also making moments itself!
Heavy rainfall in Mumbai? ️
No problem, Netflix’s Indian wing will turn that into a marketing opportunity like a pro —
Here’s another example from Netflix India where they celebrated Father’s day by incorporating their popular shows and movies:
As people tend to give out spoilers which is a bummer for murder mysteries, Netflix cleverly made a pun and capitalized on the hype of the release of the Glass Onion movie.
Also, I mentioned above how Netflix can also “create” moments by itself. Its social media handles, especially on Twitter, are famous for engaging with users and having humorous exchanges — even playful trolling at times.
Here are a few samples of that:
When it comes to making and using moments for marketing, no one can match Netflix and its marketing teams around the world.
5. The 5-Second Super Bowl “Accident” from Reddit
Next on our list of examples of moment marketing is from a “friendly neighborhood” social platform — Reddit!
But first, watch this
Yes, this is an actual ad run by Reddit in 2021, on a Super Bowl spot.
Yes, a Super Bowl commercial, which is the most expensive ad slot in the advertising world. They ran this 5-second ad, which looks either like a glitch or a meme, with an approximate cost of $915,000!
So, why did they run a commercial this expensive which doesn’t even look like a commercial?
Well, it certainly got the attention it wanted —
Apart from that, this little experiment
- Boosted the site traffic by 25%
- Got them featured in 300+ news and media outlets
- Received 270,000+ upvotes on the Reddit post
- 6.5 billion impressions on the ad itself
And most importantly, skyrocketed the brand awareness of Reddit on a global scale.
Worth every penny, right?
Learn how to beat inflation, retain the purchasing power of your money, and prevent falling victim to economic downfalls!
6. Zomato Being Zomato with Every Moment
Zomato, one of the biggest players in India’s food delivery market, is famous for its unorthodox and innovative marketing efforts. When it comes to current moment marketing in India, they have a vast collection of successful campaigns to get inspired from.
Take, for example, this “callback” tweet from them when Elon Musk “reportedly” fired Parag Agarwal.
The original tweet from 2021 made a pun on Elon’s Tesla with Thepla, which is an Indian flatbread variant. In the wake of the sacking incident, they created a hilarious moment marketing example by apologizing to Elon claiming that the previous post was an accident.
This new tweet said “elon bhaiya mere muh se nikal gayiii”, which translates to “Elon brother, the previous tweet accidentally slipped from my mouth.”
The tweet from Zomato, for obvious reasons, went viral.
Another great instance from Zomato would be the piggybacking post on the hype of the then-launched iPhone 11.
The triple-camera buzz around the phone was quickly picked up by the marketing geniuses behind Zomato. The visually-uncanny post got extraordinary engagement and many made memes on it.
And that’s not all, there are countless others! When it comes to utilizing moments for marketing, Zomato is definitely the coolest kid on the block!
7. KitKat Breaking from Gravity toward Space!
Talk about taking a moment and utilizing it to the moon (or in this case, to space)!
Backstory:
Stratos was an ambitious experimental project by Red Bull in October 2012. The project saw Felix Baumgartner, an Austrian skydiver, doing a space jump sponsored by Red Bull from an altitude of 39 kilometers because you know — “Red Bull gives you wings”
But no, they did not literally put wings on him.
Felix came back to earth via parachute.
Okay, enough about Red Bull! Let’s turn our attention toward the ultimate opportunist of this moment — Nestle’s KitKat.
To support Felix’s heroic stunt while also hopping on the hype train, KitKat sent its iconic 4-finger chocolate bar to space with the hashtag #BreakFromGravity (geddit? Have a break, have a KitKat… ) trending on social media.
This is a perfect example of how to piggyback on someone else’s moment and create a marketing opportunity for yourself.
8. Space Full of Marketing Opportunities!
In July 2022, the world became “starstruck” with the first batch of fully-colored images of galaxies, nebulas, and an outer planet by the James Webb Space Telescope.
As expected, brands from all over the world acted quickly to capitalize on the moment.
Big brands like Domino’s and Pepsi did that with their own style and humor:
Here are more examples of moment marketing with the James Webb Space Telescope images:
9. Through the Snapchat Lens of Taco Bell
Time and again, Taco Bell has proved its marketing prowess by launching campaigns reliant on social media and successfully pulling them off. Their launch campaign for Quesalupa was a massive hit on Snapchat and Twitter.
And so was their moment marketing strategy on the occasion of Cinco de Mayo in 2016!
Cinco de Mayo is a big yearly event for Mexicans living in the U.S. and Canada. To make the most of this moment and celebrate the heritage of their Mexican consumers, Taco Bell launched a Snapchat lens that quickly caught on.
So much so that their lens set a new record of 224 million+ views on Snapchat back then!
10. The “King” of Moment Marketing
It’s time to talk about the king!
Be it brand rivalries, timely campaigns, or just sheer genius, Burger King has proved time and again how innovative it can be with marketing.
As for utilizing the moments right, I’ll just leave two examples here — the rest is up to you for judgment.
“Stay Home of the Whopper”
In the wake of the global pandemic, Burger King made use of the moment that not only helped its brand image but also raised social awareness. What’s more — this campaign, called “Stay Home of the Whopper”, also promoted their app and app-based sales.
Here’s a video commercial of the campaign
What this campaign offered :
- No delivery fee for orders exceeding $10 via the app
- Donated 250,000 Whoppers to nurses through the American Nurses Foundation.
All the while spreading awareness about staying home.
The tagline itself is a clever pun on Burger King’s tagline — home of the Whopper. To make the campaign a hit, Burger King changed their store signs to match the campaign slogan in a rather clever way:
“A Day Without Whopper”
Another great example of Burger King’s moment marketing would be this one-of-a-kind campaign to support their own archnemesis — McDonald’s!
This campaign was called “A Day Without Whopper”.
It happened in Argentina, back in 2017. Like the years prior, McDonald’s was observing “McHappy Day” on 10th November.
During this event, customers can support the cause by purchasing Big Macs, Happy Meals, and other signature items/merchandise. A portion of the revenue is donated to the chosen charity, helping to make a positive impact on the lives of children and families in need.
The Burger King team in Argentina saw this as an opportunity to —
- Advocate for a philanthropic cause/CSR activity
- Tap into their customers’/prospects’ emotion
- Create a positive buzz around their brand
- Utilize an ongoing trend by their competitor for moment marketing
So, as part of the “A Day Without the Whopper” campaign, they simply asked their customers to go to McDonald’s (in their own quirky way of dissing their recipe) just for that day (November 10) to support the cause.
Here’s how that went
Even the mascot of Burget King, the King, made a bold move (as seen in the video above) by purchasing a Big Mac from their biggest competitor to support children’s cancer, which was met with praise and appreciation from the customers.
Read this complete guide on how to measure Product Market Fit!
11. Amul’s Moment Marketing with its Cartoons
These guys have been leveraging moments long before it became COOL!
Amul’s first example of moment marketing dates back to 1966 — in the wake of the growing popularity of horse racing ⤵️
I LOVE the tagline for the campaign: Utterly Butterly Amul!
From print media to TV commercials and now in social media, Amul has been consistent in delivering beautifully-timed ads and campaigns like this since then. The only difference is that the print ads in the 60s used to publish once or maybe twice a month. In contrast, now we get a new ad from them almost every day via social media platforms.
The quality has been the same.
Here’s how they celebrated the surprising Gloden Globe win of the “Naatu Naatu” song from the movie RRR:
Or, how they made people aware of the COVID vaccination which was made available by the government for young adults by lifting the age restrictions:
Take this for example, when Priyanca Radhakrishnan became New Zealand’s first minister to be of Indian descent in 2020:
And also, social events that are worth celebrating:
These are some of literally thousands of Amul moment marketing examples. You can find more, if you want, by manually searching through the internet.
12. The Curious Case of the Spotify Logo!
This is one fine instance of how to leverage a trending UGC for your brand with very minimal effort.
Introducing… Spotify India’s Good Day biscuit incident!
It started from a plain and simple tweet by an Indian guy in 2020. He pointed out the resemblance between Spotify’s iconic logo and the equally-iconic Good Day biscuit which is very popular in India.
As you can imagine, the post went viral as both brands are household names in India.
Spotify India wasted no time to make it a good PR for their brand by simply changing their Twitter DP so that it looks like this
This, obviously, generated quite the buzz and engagement in social media. And what did this classic example of moment marketing cost?
NOTHING!
13. Grameenphone’s Eid Campaign During the Pandemic
Here’s a class act from a brand from my home country Bangladesh — a beautiful moment marketing example during the global COVID pandemic.
Grameenphone has a hit commercial with a theme song that says “স্বপ্ন যাবে বাড়ি আমার” which roughly translates to “my dreams of returning home is coming true” or something along the lines. It celebrates the homecoming of millions of people to their hometowns and villages on the occasion of Eid (the biggest festival for the Bangladeshi Muslim population).
But the 2020 Eid came with an obstacle — the global pandemic and hence, a nationwide lockdown in Bangladesh.
So, no “dream of returning home” this time.
But, did that stop Grameenphone from designing its Eid campaign?
See for yourself
Grameenphone successfully turned the tide by making a different version of the song and fresh visuals. Keeping the same chorus of স্বপ্ন যাবে বাড়ি আমার, they communicated the necessity of the situation with the title ঘরে থেকে ঈদ (celebrating Eid while staying home).
The people of the county loved and appreciated this soul-touching and emotional campaign during the tough times of the COVID outbreak.
Mistakes to Avoid While Making a Moment Marketing Strategy
To pull off a solid campaign like the ones we just looked at, you can’t spare making any mistakes.
One such mistake is failing to adequately plan ahead. Moment marketing requires brands to anticipate popular topics and events that could potentially drive conversation, as well as to have a clear plan in place for how each message should be crafted and delivered.
Brands should also ensure they have the resources and personnel needed to execute their strategies in real time.
Another possible blunder would be not fully appreciating the differences between various channels. For example, certain platforms favor images over text, while others are more conducive to long-form content.
Brands should take time to study the characteristics of each platform before deciding which form of messaging to use.
It’s also important for brands not to lose sight of their communication when planning moment marketing strategy. While it should remain timely and relevant, it should still be consistent with a brand’s core messaging so that audiences can make connections between past and present communications.
Also, the brand persona and how people perceive the brand should also be taken into account. One should not sacrifice the core messages and the characteristics of the brand for the sake of hopping on the hype train of a moment.
Finally, brands should be sure to measure the effectiveness of their moment marketing campaigns. It’s essential to track metrics such as engagement rates, impressions, conversions, and more!
This way, they can identify what works and what doesn’t, as well as understand how audiences respond to different messages.
By avoiding these common mistakes, brands can ensure that their moment marketing campaigns are successful, timely, and relevant — like the case studies we just saw!
See all previous content from M. Asif Jamil on topics ranging from marketing, branding, psychology, copywriting, contemporary society, WordPress, personal finance, cinema, to everything in between.
Wrapping Up
Although moment marketing can be tricky to master, it’s not impossible. By utilizing clever tactics, staying up-to-date on current events, and tailoring campaigns to your specific audience, you can use this marketing tactic to create powerful connections and drive conversions.
And there are always examples you can follow from brands and people who’ve made it with this technique!
Also, which one of these is your favorite moment marketing campaign? Let me know in the comments.
With that, we come to the end of today’s tour! Be sure to comment below if you have something to add. I’ll be waiting for your valuable input.
