The American public have obsessed and agonised over this year’s Presidential race. And the hype has been perpetuated by the ongoing televised debates that would bewilder even the most astute individual. In light of this, pain relief brand Excedrin launched a Twitter campaign ahead of the third and final debate – named #DebateHeadache – that perfectly captured America's attitude towards the verbal back and forth. Pained.
According to Excedrin’s research, 64% of Americans say avoiding a headache is impossible during a Presidential election, and 73% will have had an election-related headache at some point this year. The brand used this is an opportunity to send out Tweets throughout the day of the debate, in which it offered up its product to ease the pain.
Besides the smart link between the product and the debate, what really set the campaign apart – and earned the brand a 3,100% lift on Twitter mentions from the previous day – was the timing. Not only did it align itself with a pinnacle moment in American history, it captured its audience’s attention when it mattered most – just before the debate. And with over 84 million people tuning into the debates, there were plenty of sore heads to relieve.
Timing is everything. Uber has notoriously earned success via good timing, both by delivering ice creams to hot office workers in the height of Summer, and flu jabs to those who needed them in the thick of winter. And with eBay figures suggesting that, during the hour-long season seven premiere of the Great British Bake Off, there was a 67% rise in interest in baking products, paying attention to the little things that influence people’s behaviour clearly has the power to reap huge rewards for brands.
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Hannah Callaghan is an account executive at Canvas8. When she’s not helping clients navigate the deepest layers of the Canvas8 Library, she’s probably binge-watching RuPaul’s Drag Race or befriending other people’s dogs.