Well, that happened.
2015, we mean.
And hey, did you notice? There were a few stories this year that seemed to take the whole “never say die” thing a little too literally.
So what do you do when a wave of popular culture comes swooshing by you? You take it for a ride, baby.
Here’s a look at five of the year’s biggest stories and how savvy companies jumped on them for their own content marketing purposes.
“If you don’t think I had a huge year, you’re stupid,” (is what we think The Donald would’ve said had we contacted him for this article).
Donald Trump and Politics as Pop Culture
Ya know, there was a time when saying things like “He’s not a war hero… I like people that weren’t captured,” would’ve meant instant annihilation on the campaign trail. Then came Donald Trump in 2015. Somehow Trump’s Trumpisms never affected his leads in the Republican polls, but they did deliver oodles of marketing magic for the news media, comedy writers, and even opponents who had no choice but to get dirty in the sandbox with “The Donald. “
Don’t even get us started.
The Dress
We’ll forever be shaking our heads at how this one went viral, but lo and behold, social media and eventually the entire media latched onto the debate over the colors in this random dress. Once it reached critical mass, every brand and its sister company piggybacked on it, especially on Twitter.
Back to the Future Day
October 21st was supposed to be Back to the Future day, based on the day Marty McFly travels to in Back to the Future II, but somehow the whole month became engulfed in the event. From star-studded ads to special editions of USA Today, all types of entities joined in the fun.
Deflate-Gate, Dancing Sharks, and the NFL’s Dominance
How much air was in Tom Brady’s footballs? What was up with Katy Perry’s dancing sharks at the Super Bowl halftime show? And what kind of mind-altering substances went into creating this insane trailer for Madden NFL 16? Despite a bevy of black eyes on the sport in 2014, the NFL continued to thrive as a content marketing machine for a myriad of brands.
Sci-fi is fueling the success of The Message.
Space
Whether it was the discovery of water on Mars or a new closer look at Pluto, 2015 was a big year for space-related news, discoveries, and movies. In one of the best examples of content marketing of the year, GE created a fictional podcast that cleverly featured its technology and hit #1 on the iTunes chart in November.
And Now, 2016…
Predicting what will become 2016’s buzzworthy moments for your brand to jump on isn’t an exact science, but it’s safe to say the presidential election will be at the top of the list. Why not start thinking now about how your business can harness some of that energy to your benefit?
Just remember, while Donald Trump might be able to insult his way to the presidency, we doubt a business can insult its way to profitability. But hey, if you prove us wrong, let us know! We have some great zingers we’ve been sitting on for years. Heck, we’ll even write ’em for ya if you like when you take our services for a free spin.