Pretty Little SnAps... "A" Stroke of TV Marketing Brilliance

I'm constantly telling people how on top of the digital marketing game one of my fave guilty please shows, Pretty Little Liars, is. (Okay, maybe it's not that much of a guilty pleasure... I mean, I have written on this topic once before.) With that, it's no shocker that the show that knows it's Gen X audience the best has hit the major TV milestone of 100 episodes.

To mark this occasion, the show teamed up with one of the many brands ready to market to its sought-after target audience — Audi — for a fun new promotion featuring PLL fan-favorite Ian Harding, who plays Ezra Fitzgerald (half of the much-loved TV couple "Ezria"). What's truly interesting about this promotion, however, is how it made use of Snapchat.

Begun as strictly a mobile app for sharing short videos or photo snippets with your cell contacts, Snapchat is evolving into much, much more. The developers are continuously rolling out new features for the app and often (mainly on holidays and to launch said roll-outs) send messages to all users. It hasn't taken long for marketers to realize the potential here: Snapchat can allow a brand to have a "private" conversation or highlight an exclusive event/new product/etc. with fans willing to add them as a Snap contact.

Have a seat. Get comfortable. @IANMHARDING is hosting #PLL100 tonight live on our Snapchat. Get ready. #PLLAudi pic.twitter.com/1Lfwot168J
— Audi (@Audi) July 8, 2014

Audi jumped on this as an early adopter in a big way — with TV's most social show — and it worked. I caught wind of the promo via Instagram (screenshot below from @prettylittleliars) and added the brand to see exactly how it would unfold. The results? Pretty creAtive indeed.



For even more fun from #PLL100, including a live chat with a returning cast member, check out the hashtag's Twitter feed. Then, comment with what brands you'd like to see on Snapchat!

Simple. Brilliant.

In a brand new marketing ploy, Clorox has jumped into the spotlight with a truly brilliant campaign. How? By capitalizing on the product's basic functionality.

"Bleach It Away" combines clever billboards throughout Las Vegas with a fun digital counterpart for fans to fill-in-the-blank. The downside: In true "What Happens in Vegas" spirit, the phrases some people come up with may be less than ideal... but, hey, it has people talking about Clorox and reaches a new audience. These days, classic brands such as this need to find relevance in a crowded market where consumers will not necessarily have the same brand loyalties as boomers once did.

[Side note: Clorox has quite an impressive Facebook following but not so impressive engagement in the social space — maybe that's their next aim... ;)]