A Humorous Spin and An Unexpected Topic

Breaking through the advertising clutter means taking a creative risk. And Caterpillar did just that. Many companies are looking for a way to “go viral,” when in reality marketers have no control over that. What we do have control over is crafting a message grounded in research, finding a unique way to promote it and then targeting the heck out of it.

A Unique Solution

In collaboration with our long-standing partners at Caterpillar, we developed an awareness campaign to stand out in a crowded marketplace and take the Cat® Fluids value message directly to customers in a unique and interesting way. The approach we took uses humor to educate customers and change perceptions about Cat Fluids. So, we asked customers, “Are You Suffering from Fluidium?” What could potentially have been a stuffy topic was spun in a digestible, relatable way to garner attention.

Rather than just a fun, easy-to-share video used to catch attention, an overarching strategy was implemented to turn a general awareness campaign into a year-long engagement campaign.

This strategy included:

• Video development and creative assets
• Stopfluidium.com landing page
• Paid media placement including display, social, email blasts, search and retargeting, weather-based targeting and competitive purchase targeting
• Product brochures and sales support materials for dealers

All campaign solutions drive traffic to StopFluidium.com to further educate customers on the benefits of Cat Fluids.

It All Means Nothing Without Targeting

Many brands develop creative, well-produced videos, but then fall short of performance due to the lack of targeting. It’s no longer good enough to just put your content out there. We as marketers need to ensure that the right person is seeing the right message for them. Otherwise, the message will never realize the desired results.

So, in order to take this general awareness campaign a step further, we strategically target Do-It-Yourself customers who own a small fleet of one to 10 machines. The target audience spans industries beyond just construction, such as paving, landscaping, agriculture, forestry and more. We also use innovative ways to target based on existing data, like delivering specific messaging based on the weather people are experiencing.

Related: It’s Raining Leads: Targeting Using Data

The display ads used to target different locations based on the weather patterns they’re experiencing.

Quick Performance Results

In the four months since the campaign launched, it has generated a lot of positive buzz. The video has more than 8,000 views and the landing page has experienced more than 64,900 visits—and it’s only the beginning.

The campaign will run until the end of the year, alternating different teasers and ads each month. Our strategy and media team is estimating 25,900,000 total impressions for 2018. Success is measured through media traffic performance down to open rates, click-through rates and cost-per-engagement, with the results giving us the ability to make data-based decisions in the future. In addition to these quantitative metrics, there are additional benefits that—although difficult to measure—surely exist. So far, we’ve delivered 3,896 hours of product value education direct to customers—that’s 78 percent of the campaign goal!

Find a Way to Break Through

If you are experiencing a bit of writer’s block and your marketing efforts seem to be falling flat, that’s ok. It happens. Think outside the box, look around for inspiration and talk to people – ask questions and explore new ideas.

Related: Distruptive Marketing: The Hook vs. The Strategy

It might be time to get an outsider’s perspective to bring some fresh ideas to the table. When looking for a trusted partner, find one who balances strategy with creative – both are essential for success.