Deconstructing the Mashies

by Lily Bradic

Last week, Mashable revealed the 2014 results of their digital marketing and advertising awards, the Mashies. Let’s look at what worked, why it worked, and how it can work for you:

1. Vine

Target won the “Best Use of Vine” category with their #unPOPtheBox campaign in collaboration with social video collective, Unpopular Now. They sent ten mystery boxes to Unpopular Now’s Vine pros, and challenged them to create a six-second video with the items inside. 

What worked?

• Collaboration on a social scale
  
• Campaign allowed to evolve and grow organically, with opportunities for audience engagement in the form of parodies

What can we learn?
Think outside the box! While a campaign plan is essential, you can absolutely adapt it as you go.


2. Twitter

BTC Revolutions and Applebee’s won the Best Branded Twitter Account award for their How Do You Like Them #FanApples campaign.

What worked?

• Community building to increase brand loyalty
• Encouraging natural audience engagement

What can we learn?

Fans matter — all of them. Applebee’s “no Tweet left behind” motto means that almost every tweet gets a reply. By treating each customer like an individual and recognising their interests — even when that’s One Direction — Applebee’s is showing their audience just how much they matter. So, don’t take yourself too seriously, and shift the focus from your brand to your audience. It works.


3. Snapchat

Rethink Communication won the "Best Use of Snapchat" category with the Memory Project campaign. The brand used Snapchat to send out images and videos of veterans to millennials, using the ephemerality of the medium to drive home the importance of remembering war veterans (tying into Remembrance Day). 

What worked?

• Channel adds to message, rather than simply delivering it
  
• Good understanding of target audience

What can we learn?

With a strong understanding of the platforms available to your brand, you can really strengthen the message you wish to communicate. Snapchat, like Vine, could be used to highlight how quickly something can change (for a morbid example, think of a road safety Vine).

Knowing your audience and their preferred methods of communication is another way to ensure your message is heard. If Snapchat, Vine, Tumblr, or Instagram seems like an unconventional way of communicating your message, that could be a very powerful thing. The contrast between normal Snapchat messages and the Memory Project messages makes the point even more powerful.