While no campaign is truly a "$0 campaign," given that plenty of people are hopefully getting paid for their ideas and time along the way, it's still always worth taking note of successful marketing that sidesteps paid media strategies.
Case in point: Burger King Denmark's razor-sharp trolling of McDonald's via Facebook.
To build awareness around BK's enhanced commitment to customer service, the brand waded into enemy territory and started responding to disgruntled McDonald's customers.
While Burger King has a storied track record in recent years of needling its largest rival, this time the challenger brand kept its tone polite and positioned itself as just trying to lend a "helping hand" by responding to complaints (some more than a year old) that McDonald's hadn't gotten around to yet.
I love these kinds of Viking-esque raid stunts (perfect for Denmark brands), but it's important to keep one vital aspect in mind: PR. Gleeful trolling like this only works if you let the masses know about it, which generally requires a case study with translated examples (and the foresight to plan for screenshots and other assets before McDonald's deletes the posts off its page).
What are some of your favorite stunts in this vein? Let me know at the email below or at @Griner on Twitter.
David Griner
Creative and Innovation Editor, Adweek
David.Griner@Adweek.com
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