Coca-Cola Australia

Coke’s Share a Coke campaign remains one of the most revered in recent memory. The 2012 campaign printed hundreds of names on Coke bottles encouraging people to buy their names or one for a ‘mate’. The success of the campaign means that even nine years on it continues. Different variations of the same concept have been rolled out since its inception.

In 2021, Coke brought the campaign over to Snapchat. Giving Snapchatters the opportunity to earn their 15 seconds of fame, the soft drink giant utilised user generated content (UGC). Inviting users to shout out their mates using an augmented reality (AR) lens, they then shared their Snap directly to Coke.

After the Snap campaign finished, all the UGC was collated. From there, Snap selected the best shout outs which were featured in a selection of TVCs. This approach drove +19 points on Ad Awareness, which is more than double the Australian norm.

Sweat

In a time when home workouts were some of the only ways to get and stay fit, Sweat was the perfect app. The global fitness app used Snapchat’s 3D full body tracking technology. This allows Snapchatters to access Sweat workouts at home or on the go. 

Sweat leveraged Snap’s AR technology with a workout lens. Through 3D motion capture, multiple neural networks running simultaneously in real-time, and a combination of several advanced technologies, users were able to workout and focus on exercise form. Snapchatters earned points based on how accurately they completed the exercise with correct form – the better your form, the more points you earned.

Samsung 

Snap Australia partnered with Samsung to launch three shoppable AR experiences. The campaign featured three products from the new range. In an Australian first, the campaign combined Snap’s AR Try-On feature. The technology allowed users to view and try on the new smartphone, watch and earphone devices at home. Using the power AR each lens also included an immersive digital product experience. It was then connected to an in-app “shop” button which would connect them to a purchase page.

Hyundai

Snapchat and Hyundai collaborated to launch an AR lens that allowed Snapchatters to explore the new Kona. From the comfort of their own homes, users on the platform were able to take a tour of the new model.

Bringing the car into their own space, Snapchatters were able to scan a Snapcode that brought the car to life. The technology showed off everything that the Kona has to offer.

Mondelez Australia 

Partnering with Wavemaker, Kantar and Snap, Mondelez Australia uncovered the most cost efficient set up in relation to ROI, as measured by Nielsen’s Media Mix Modelling (MMM). Using chocolate bar Picnic, the campaign ‘Big Eats for Big Feats’ used AR lens and traditional Snap ads. 

The campaign was a great success. It achieved over three percent Ad Awareness. It also drove nearly eight percent Brand Favourability. 

The campaign also saw a ten percent uplift in ROI.

Insights

The annual ‘B2B Marketing Research Report 2020 offers extensive insights into business-to-business (B2B) marketing in Australia. The report uses data to identify pertinent industry trends, arming B2B marketers with the knowledge required to improve their strategies moving forward.

When it comes to objectives, the report tells us that only 26 percent of B2B firms actually achieved their marketing objectives during 2019. For this reason the report pays special attention to ‘brand’. Respondents identified that ‘growing and measuring brand awareness and brand health’ was the top challenge that they faced.

Haussegger says that this is an evolving point of interest as B2B marketers become increasingly focused on customer experience (CX). In order to optimise CX, Haussegger says brands need to be clear on “brand strategy, messaging, positioning and personality” across all channels. In a crowded market, the correlation between brand salience and CX is an important area of focus.

Despite identifying ‘brand health’ as a key challenge faced, the report reveals that a remarkably high rate of respondents (41 percent) do not measure this at all.

After 10 years of researching and reporting on B2B, Haussegger says he continuously comes back to the chasm that exists between sales and marketing, where there is also often a lack of consistency and clarity regarding the core value proposition of businesses. According to the report, only 46 percent of sales and marketing teams were strategic partners in business growth. Furthermore, only 26 percent had an agreed definition of a ‘marketing qualified lead’.

Considering that two of the top goals identified for 2020 were generating leads (79 percent) and nurturing leads (68 percent) it seems that there first needs to be some alignment between sales and marketing teams. Haussegger believes that many brands spend time looking externally (considering competitors or trying to find new markets) when the firm can grow the top line with internal improvements in lead management through the funnel.

“The number one reason leads are not followed up is because the lead passing process is ineffective,” says Haussegger.

The dissonance is partly cultural within an organisation and also a lack of education around what the opportunities for marketing in B2B are. “There is a lack of awareness and education at the C-suite as well as head of sales in a lot of these organisations about the real value that marketing can bring.”

An ongoing challenge for many B2B marketers is proving that marketing impact and ROI. Haussegger says that in-depth measurement of data and integrated marketing technology are key for demonstrating ROI. “Best-in-class firms will track and report on marketing sourced leads and marketing influenced leads – and not just leads, but revenue.”

Although there is an impetus to demonstrate the role of marketing within the B2B environment, the table below highlights that many firms are not measuring activity or performance.

An area of growth identified by the report is ‘Account-Based Marketing’ (ABM). The report defines ABM as “a strategy that focuses sales and marketing resources on personalising messaging, solutions, data and content for a specific account or set of accounts and their buying party”.

ABM appears to be in its infancy in Australia compared to the US, with only 40 percent of respondents currently doing it. Of that 40 percent, Haussegger believes that many are doing ABM in a manual sense and there is opportunity for growth. Interestingly there has been an increase in ABM delivering ROI, indicating that it could be a strategy worth investing in.

Moving forward, Haussegger predicts that there will be a shift in the investment model: “We will see more and more organisations start to invest in hyper-targeted marketing and getting a singular ‘account view’ of engagement across the account, which is core to Account-Based Marketing.” The hyper-targeting that he mentions requires an integration of technology, data, channels and content. Paramount to ABM’s success is, once again, “sales and marketing alignment” says Haussegger.

Conclusion

B2B marketing is complex with mid-long lead times and many decision makers and influencers in the buying journey. The report allows the industry to build better pathways by learning from the best-in-class B2B marketers and reflecting on data and trends.

Insights highlight how the drive for customer experience improvements is itself driving brand review and optimisation. Cultivating and maintaining brand trust has become an imperative function of B2B marketers – but first they need to understand it, communicate it and be able to measure it. Leading market research is an opportunity to reflect and ensure B2B success for the long-haul.

Download the report here.

Photo by Ross Parmly on Unsplash.