Real Life Squid Game?!
Not gory, but attention worthy.
Netflix’s ultra-violent mega hit has been the trend across the globe - with cafes hopping on the Honeycomb Challenge as a genius form of marketing to drive traffic, as well as timely sales of the Squid Game attire for Halloween-ready goers. Besides these typical sales strategies implemented by businesses around the world, there is one other entrepreneurial company that stood out in its pursuit for greater public awareness, and more importantly, for a cause.
Using the hit show’s imagery, the app Relief and agency Wunder aim to reach Americans in debt, giving out 10,000 of the ‘Squid Game Cards’ out around New York and Miami. This comes with the increasing financial stress and job losses in America due to the Covid-19 pandemic which bears the consequence of more people finding themselves in debt, but not speaking up. Targeted at the one in three Americans behind on their credit card bills, Relief uses AI and collective bargaining to reduce existing balances and help people pull themselves out of debt.
Here’s what we liked about their campaign, and what brands and businesses can follow suit:
Hop on the bandwagon
As cliche as it may sound, jumping on a trend may not necessarily mean that your marketing strategy is unoriginal or plain. Rather, it can help to gain traction to your campaign, allowing you to gain the visibility you desire for your cause.
2. Improvise
Not all trends that are crazy popular are worthy to jump into - or at least, it just might not be as straightforward. Relief’s use of Squid Game’s imagery might seem like a copy-cat given that they also target people in debt (but of course, without the intention of harming anyone), but the key comes in where they strategically target those in crucial need of help to relief debts, especially during the pandemic, to spread awareness about an otherwise taboo topic that many might tend to avoid.
3. Let your vision/mission shine
Behind every brand, we have our own mission and vision that grounds us. Never tweak it for any marketing campaign, nor reroute your campaign focus just to ultimately reach your mission and vision. The main thing that Relief did right was the straightforward link between the Squid Game cards and its campaign purpose along with its brand mission, allowing them to shine through.
It is ever-so-interesting learning from others’ campaigns and strategies - there are inexhaustible lessons to be learned. For us at BCD, that’s what we enjoy - picking up and learning to improve. If you’re looking to join us, feel free to contact any of us! Because at BCD, our focus is YOU.
Reference: https://www.adweek.com/convergent-tv/squid-game-inspired-an-app-to-drop-10000-of-these-cards-in-new-york-and-miami/
