May
This month, technology went wrong for a few big brands. Bots almost derailed Gymshark’s new limited edition drop, hackers took down the Marks and Spencer IT systems, and Duolingo had to backpedal after customers pushed back against the brand’s AI-first memo.
Gymshark tried and failed to launch its Onyx collection, a highly anticipated launch of t-shirts that fans were desperate to get their hands on. When the limited edition run sold out in literal seconds, fans were frustrated. When bots started posting on social media and the t-shirts appeared on resale sites for ten times the price, fans were angry. And so was the brand.
Gymshark canceled the bot orders, let their customers know in a unique way, and then promised to try again. Despite Gymshark doing what it can, fans are still unhappy, and there are numerous comments on the post demanding that the brand simply make a larger run of stock. Keep reading for our advice on getting scarcity marketing right, without angering your customers.
Also having tech issues was UK retailer Marks and Spencer (M&S) due to a huge cyber attack. The attack started in April, and it was announced this month that it is expected to last until July. Won’t anyone think of the picky bits? The hack meant the brand has had to suspend all orders from its website, and physical stores have also faced disruption, with some empty shelves due to the IT systems being down.
M&S has said the hack was down to ‘social engineering’ where the hackers pretended to be someone trustworthy to trick employees into giving out login and password information - so that’s me never complaining about phishing training ever again.
It’s been a busy month, let’s dive into some of the marketing campaigns that caught our eye.
Every Minute Matters
It’s been a big month for football with the FA Cup final, Europa League final, and the Championship Play-off final all happening in May, and all won by Dotdigital customers. Coincidence? Yes, most certainly, but we’ll take it. Whilst watching the English Football League (EFL) play-off games this past weekend, you may have noticed the start times were all one minute past the hour, disrupting the usual kick-off times.
This was due to the Every Minute Matters campaign between the British Heart Foundation and Sky Bet to highlight the importance of learning CPR. The initiative launched one year ago, and the goal was to get three times the capacity of Wembley Stadium to learn CPR in time for this year’s Play-offs. Even before this weekend, the campaign has already smashed its target and has taught over 270,000 people to learn CPR using the online RevivR tool.
The EFL has a huge audience of millions of people tuning in, making it a great opportunity to spread awareness. The cause is also incredibly relevant to the game itself. Campaign ambassador Tom Lockyer, Luton Town Captain, suffered a cardiac arrest during a Premier League game in 2023. He has been a huge part of the campaign, driving awareness and support for the initiative.
Education on CPR is incredibly important, and it was the nature in which this campaign was executed that grabbed people’s attention. Polished videos and huge billboards are great advertising mediums, but these formats can easily fade into the background. During the minute delay to kick-off, a 60-second video explaining the campaign was played on the stadium’s screens. This timing meant that the vast majority of supporters would be in their seats, or tuned in at home, and would have seen the video. It was just long enough to grab attention, without angering (too many) fans.
The EFL’s support in allowing the ‘stunt’ to impact kick-off times should be applauded. Creating this harmless but still very noticeable change to what people were expecting and their routine was a great way to get eyes on the campaign and get people talking about the issue. I loved seeing something so innovative and attention-grabbing, especially for an important cause rather than flogging a product.
The partnership made sense for all parties. The British Heart Foundation is committed to driving education and awareness, and Sky Bet’s participation boosts the overall brand perception - something very important to gambling companies.
A recent survey revealed that charities are struggling to appeal to younger generations, with donations among younger age groups falling. Charities must think outside the box to capture the support of younger generations, something we dive into on our blog. Speaking of younger generations…
Summer is pop-pin’ off for Gen Z
In the northern hemisphere, summer is approaching, and that means hot weather, sunny skies, and cold fizzy drinks. Numerous studies show there is a decline in alcohol consumption among younger generations, particularly Gen Z, so is the big focus now on soda? The amount of new ad campaigns from the soda giants would suggest the answer is yes.
Sprite, part of the Coca-Cola brand, has just become the third most popular soda in the US. The brand is focused on growing this momentum and has launched a new, consumer-led flavor. After recognizing a TikTok trend where people were putting tea bags into a bottle of Sprite, the brand has acted on social listening in the best way. The brand has jumped on the trend to create the new flavor, very creatively named, Sprite + tea. The flavor will be available for a limited time only over the summer months - more on that later.
Coca-Cola is continuing on the theme of encouraging Gen Z to drop social media and live in the moment this summer. In February, I wrote about the brand’s revival of the classic ‘Share a Coke’ campaign, positioning it to appeal to a Gen Z audience. The new ad is truly new and focuses on being present with friends while drinking an ice-cold Coca-Cola, of course.
The ad features music artist and Gen Z-favorite, Tyla, and her new single provides the soundtrack. Brands are increasingly using younger music stars to reach Gen Z. This month, American Express partnered with Gracie Abrams for its Member Week concert, and Nescafe’s latest launch stars the Weeknd to attract a younger audience, in place of traditional brand ambassador George Clooney.
Not one to be left behind, PepsiCo is also investing heavily in the Gen Z market. This month, PepsiCo finalized the acquisition of Poppi, the prebiotic soda brand. As part of the movement away from alcohol, health-conscious Gen Zers are increasingly interested in new alternatives to traditional sugary sodas.
If the big guns are focusing on Gen Z, it’s a good indication that you should be too. You can catch our on-demand webinar on the topic here. Before we know it, Gen Alpha will soon be hot on their heels, and if that doesn’t make you feel old enough, let’s talk Labubus.
Is scarcity marketing the future?
If you hear Labubu and think Labu-who? Me and you both. These (in my opinion, terribly ugly) little dolls are flying off the shelves thanks to TikTok hype. Or at least they were, until earlier this month when the main UK retailer, Pop Mart, announced it was pulling them from sale until June.
The retailer said this was due to unprecedented demand leading to unsustainable and unsafe consumer behavior, including people camping outside the stores. The dolls are now appearing on resale sites for a heavily inflated price. The cynic in me says this move has only inflated the demand for the dolls, and Pop Mart will benefit from this once it restarts sales.
Scarcity marketing isn’t a new concept, but perhaps now is the perfect storm of endless choice and overconsumption for it to really work. Scarcity to drive demand is a tried and tested marketing strategy, perhaps most notably demonstrated by luxury brand Hermes. You can’t simply buy a Hermes Kelly or Birkin bag, aka quota bags; you must instead build up a rapport with the sales assistant in a Hermes boutique, and if they deem you suitable, you’ll be offered one. This makes them one of the most coveted bags around.
Not reserved for luxury brands, this month Aldi launched an at-home Reformer Pilates machine, and the demand was off the charts. Now, of course, an expensive bit of kit sold at an incredibly low price, combined with an uptick in Reformer Pilates popularity, is going to create demand. Customers were queuing up outside stores before they’d opened, and people were claiming machines by sitting on the boxes in scenes reminiscent of the in-store Black Friday pandemonium of years gone by.
Other people were seen buying more than one, and like Labubus, the machines are popping up on resale sites for a heavily inflated price. So, why didn’t Aldi create more? Because then it wouldn’t have been such an exciting product, the sale of them wouldn’t have become an ‘event’, and without that, it wouldn’t have made its way to TikTok ‘For You’ pages.
So, in a time when everyone can have pretty much anything, how do you make customers want your product? It seems the perfect combination is TikTok hype and a finite product run. So, Sprite has got it nailed.
The downside to scarcity marketing is frustrated customers, and no one wants that. Just look at the Gymshark comments on its post about the limited edition Onyx collection. We’re all about creating a positive customer experience here. So, how can you utilize the scarcity tactic without angering your customers?
As a marketer, there are a few ways you can tap into scarcity tactics and the psychology behind them. One way is to include ‘Hurry! X amount left’ popovers on your ecommerce store, this gives customers a sense of urgency and scarcity, without making them feel like they’ve already missed out. You can also make clear when you are doing a limited run of something, and give people time to prepare or stock up, just like Sprite is doing by announcing from the off that the new flavor is a limited edition summer run.
If you’re in B2B or non-commerce, try limiting webinar and event registrations to a set number of people to build an exclusive feel and drive registrants. And for any marketer looking to grow their cross-channel reach, use incentivization and scarcity combined to motivate your audience. Launch a campaign that rewards the first X number of customers to subscribe to your new marketing channel, like WhatsApp, by sending them some merchandise.
Whew, that was a lot to go through. But, if we wrote this newsletter more frequently, it’d have more than 12 editions a year and no one would get excited about that, would they? Until next month, have a good one.