Things of Internet: When big brands help the little guy (aw!)
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Last year, a lot of small shops had to close, many of them permanently. Flybondi - which caters to Argentinian locals more than international tourists, wanted to help. They built out an e-commerce platform to help "all those who make the destination what it is, from craftsmen, tea houses, excursions and more." It's quite nicely done, allowing visitors to buy souvenirs in advance. Read more here, or see the video below.
That sort of reminded me of the time last year Corona (the beer, not the virus) launched a website dedicated to eco-friendly homestays to help get the local tourism economy kicking again.
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This campaign couldn't get any more New Zealand. The sponsors of their famed rugby team, ASB Bank, "donated" their sponsorship to 100 SMEs across the country. It's a delightful campaign - read more about it here, or see the launch video below.
And if you want to see how it turned out (the campaign is over) - see the final ads here. Terrific way for ASB Bank to come across as SME-friendly.
ASB Bank has done other fun stuff with their sponsorship of the team, including make a series of YouTube skippable ads with members of the team literally... Skipping. Here's one.
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Early in the last decade, AmEx created a brilliant campaign encouraging Americans to shop from small businesses during the holiday season rather than the usual big few names. As part of the campaign, they even gave away millions in advertising credits on Facebook to small businesses, created online resources and more. It's a masterclass of how to champion what you believe in beyond a tagline.
What you saw above was from 2013. Here's something from 2017...
This is a long-running campaign, which AmEx is still going strong on, with a dedicated page on their website and a dedicated Instagram handle celebrating small businesses. Again, fantastic marriage of business objectives and communication that goes beyond mere posturing or words.
The best Superbowl ad of 2021 was an ad for 2022. Some folks secured a slot for next year's advertising and rugby - oh sorry, American Football - bonanza and have opened up mini-slots to purchase. Pay $1000 and you could be on screen, on a Superbowl ad that otherwise runs into the millions, for a short while. Amazing. No kidding, watch the teaser below, and if you want, head over to SuperSuperBowl.
I love all the above examples. I've normally seen individuals do this - like musicians / photographers / artists with a big following linking out to smaller folks - but for brands to do it, even if it's in the service of marketing - is quite awesome. Maybe even a little heartwarming.
Going against the grain of this newsletter's theme - BigBasket is acting a little silly, giving a cease-and-desist notice to a small Coimbatore player called DailyBasket. The latter made a nice little website called BBIsABully. Not a good look for a company now under the Tatas.
I've seen all sorts of interesting mediums being used for marketing - from Spotify playlists to hiding job applications in website source code, but this is the first time I've seen a branded Chrome Extension. From US Bank, CapitalOne, whose free tool assures you it can find you a better price. Clever. Also, 3 examples of banks doing interesting things in this newsletter thus far - who says you can't get great ideas from the BFSI sector? I mean... Have you seen GEICO's YouTube channel, that could give Monty Python a run for their money?
I'm guessing some of you are hooked onto WandaVision. Here's a nice read about how it's a reminder that all TV doesn't need to be binged.
Must-read for marketing & branding folks - Airbnb slashes performance marketing spends in favour of building a stronger brand. This is interesting - I'm seeing a renewed interest in building a good brand rather than an efficient sales process.
Speaking of strong brands - the new Dove campaign that speaks out against the ills of Indian matchmaking. What I like about this in particular is that it goes beyond a nice emotional video. The brand has tied up with platforms like Shaadi to insert ads when people are searching, encouraging them to think beyond certain filters.
I don't know if this is evil or genius - American cops are loudly playing songs when they're being filmed, in the hope that YouTube will take down the video on copyright grounds. Again. Evil or genius?
The SanFran Symphony's new branding is delightful - it's almost... Singing!
Lovely read on how South Korean firms are making Manga digestible.
Livestreams are pretty much the only way much of the world is consuming 'live' music these days so it was only a matter of time before we saw several innovations and firsts. Including... A protest? Italian metal veterans Lacuna Coil said they were hosting a free livestream... And then went on to stand in silence, in protest, to raise awareness about closed clubs. This left the fan base polarized (though, given nobody had to pay for the live-steam per se or move from their homes, I tend to side with the band on this one). Anyway, interesting development. Read more about it here.
Move over, all jokes of Indian parents getting their kids into IIT coaching during kindergarten. This baby released an album before she was born... And... It's weird.
I've been seeing lots of screenshots of Dunzo's fun updates on Twitter. Like the below. I guess small moments like these can help build a brand - you probably know of CRED's incredibly fun notes when they update their app - I have never seen that space (normally reserved for saying things like "bug fixes") being used for brand-building. But there you go!
NFTs are all the rage right now. Heck, Jack Dorsey's first tweet is up for... Sale? And it's currently bidding at $2.5 million. The Hard Copy wrote about Indian creators that are cashing in on the boom. And here's Andreessen-Horowitz on the topic.
See you next time. If you've come across examples of big guys supporting small guys, do write back. Would love to hear from you.
See you next week!