Since its launch in 2013, Vine has taken off as an immensely popular social channel for uploading and sharing videos. Many Vines have become viral sensations, as Vines are shared thousands of times per minute across various social channels. There are even “Vine famous” influencers and comedians whose short clips have millions of views.
What began as an app to encourage creativity and community among users soon transformed into an innovative marketing tool for companies to leverage to their advantage. Vine’s six-second video loops make it easy for brands to upload easily digestible, highly shareable marketing content.
We’ve rounded up a list of five Vine marketing campaigns that are clever, effective, and definitely share-worthy:
1. The TV Ad
Dunkin’ Donuts is credited with creating the first TV ad ever made using Vine. The video, which aired during ESPN’s Monday Night Football, featured a team of lattes defeating a team of iced coffees in the cutest football game we’ve seen since the Puppy Bowl.
This short and sweet ad paved the way for future Vine TV commercials, as other brands began to follow suit. Dunkin’ Donuts later released three more Vine ads during the Super Bowl, featuring memorable reenactments of past games. The company effectively connected with its audience while creating an innovative new way of advertising on TV. Creating a TV commercial that is shareable by nature was an ingenious move.
2. The Album Drop
Daft Punk released the track list of their much-anticipated album Random Access Memories via Vine, sending music publications and fans into a tizzy. The Vine is simple, straightforward, and downright effective. Music bloggers and news sites began sharing the Vine, seeming to writing more articles about the format of the announcement than the album itself. The big Vine reveal got the word out about the album and got people talking.
3. The Thinker
This anti-smoking campaign created by the UK based group QUIT uses statistics to send a powerful message about the dangers of smoking. QUIT’s creative director Ant Melder thought Vine was the best medium to spread the message because “Every six seconds, a smoker dies of smoking-related diseases.”
The success of this campaign comes not only from the emotional message it sends, but by QUIT’s keen understanding of its audience. The group works to educate children and teens about the dangers of tobacco. Advertising through a platform that 32% of Internet users ages 14-17 use shows the brand’s awareness of its audience and where they are spending their time online.
4. The Short Film
Airbnb created the first short film made entirely of Vines and premiered the short at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. The film is four minutes long and features user generated videos that were submitted after the company sent out instructions on its Twitter page, calling on users to get creative and help write the film’s story. The result is an inspirational and innovative stop motion movie that perfectly captures the heart of the travel brand.
Premiering the film at Sundance brought awareness to the company. Including user generated content allowed fans (and potential customers) the ability to take part in something big and become a part of the campaign.
5. The Science Fair
In an effort to make their company appealing to a younger generation and get kids excited about science, GE hosted the world’s first “Vine science fair.” Using the hashtag #6secondscience, users were challenged with the question of how much science could fit into a 6 second video. Participants were instructed to create Vines featuring their favorite science projects. The videos were then shared and revined by GE. Most of the entries can be found on a Tumblr page GE created exclusively for the campaign.
This campaign was a huge success, with some of the Vines receiving over one million loops. The success of this campaign was due in large part to its call to action. By requesting users to upload their entries using a trackable hashtag, GE was able to easily monitor the campaign and receive thousands of videos that could later be leveraged as shareable user generated content.
