The microwave has become an essential part of any household across the world since its invention nearly 80 years ago.
Regardless of which country you go to, you’re bound to find a microwave in any household, essentially making it a staple of modern life.
Yet, despite its status as a household staple, microwaves tend to be one of the least marketable household items.
Photo from Unsplash
The thing is, microwaves have long lifespans and are only bought when the need arises. Consumer awareness is also high, owing to its status as a staple. On top of that, microwaves share similar features, regardless of brand.
As a result of all these, advertising and marketing efforts focusing solely on this product category is a challenging and expensive undertaking.
This was the challenge Consul, a home appliance brand catering exclusively to the Brazilian market, faced in 2024.
Consul was about to release a new microwave product line to its target market. Unfortunately, it had to come up with a way to make this new offering stand out.
How did it pull it off?
By tapping into a cultural phenomenon: Leftover pizzas!
Photo from Unsplash
Even though pizza is a dish that’s best eaten fresh off the oven, there’s no denying that it still tastes good after being reheated.
YUM!
Reheating pizza using a microwave is something millions of people do across the globe, and Brazil isn’t an exception.
That’s precisely what Consul and its creative partner DM9 picked up on!
The new microwave offering that Consul created has a pizza reheating function, making it a well-positioned product for pizza lovers in Brazil.
However, having a product is only part of the puzzle. What did Consul and DM9 do to market the microwave?
They turned to Brazil’s local pizzerias and collaborated with them!
Consul partnered with 20 pizzerias and rebanded them temporarily into “Consul Microwave’s Pizzeria Di Yesterday.”
For two weeks, these stores offered pizzas that were baked the night before and reheated the morning after in Consul’s microwaves.
After offering these reheated pizzas and showcasing Consul’s microwaves, customers were given an offer that was hard to refuse: Buy a Consul microwave and get 30% off!
Photo from meioemensagem
That was a clever way to introduce and promote a product… but was it successful?
The results speak for themselves:
- 3,400 microwaves were sold throughout the duration of the campaign.
- A total of USD 22 million was generated in total media.
- The campaign garnered over 80,000 mentions on social media.
- The campaign earned over 250,000 searches for the search term, “Consul pizza microwave.”
- The marketing strategy brought 18% more visits to Consul’s website.
- Consul recorded an additional 12% in microwave sales.
On top of these stellar results, the campaign received attention from widely-acclaimed organizations such as D&AD and the Clio Awards.
Congratulations, Consul!
Turning A Cultural Phenomenon Into A Captivating Hook
Consul was working with a product category that wasn’t as easy to promote. However, instead of letting that be a hindrance, the brand used a cultural phenomenon to generate buzz for an everyday product.
If anything, this campaign shows that boring, everyday products can be marketed to a highly aware audience.
All that’s needed is creativity and the willingness to take an out-of-the-box approach.
Are you ready to do that, too?
About The Dynamic Marketing Communiqué’s
“Fridays: Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing”
Jay Conrad Levinson (1984) said that Guerrilla Marketing “works because it’s simple to appreciate, easy to execute, and inexpensive.”
Guerrilla Marketing is unconventional.
Looking beyond the traditional ways of advertising, marketers and advertisers need to spice things up in order for their brand to have campaigns that not only make an impact but also stick to their target market’s mind.
Guerrilla Marketing usually aims to have direct contact with consumers.
This type of direct contact should spark an emotional reaction that leads to consumers effectively remembering the brand.
It’s about making a big impression and making that impression last a long time (if not forever).
Guerrilla Marketing can be inexpensive.
The effect of this is being able to create a buzz around the brand, and the strategy used to market it. Almost everything is passed around through word-of-mouth.
Word-of-mouth is one of the greatest outcomes and it usually doesn’t cost anything.
This is every business’ or brand’s dream!
Every Friday, we publish tips, examples, and other useful content on unconventional ways of marketing and promotion.
Learn more about how to grab your target market’s attention and make an amazing first and lasting impression without having to spend a lot of money.
Businesses don’t really need to spend much for a guerrilla campaign. You do not need a big budget to be successful. You just need creativity and a good imagination.
Hope you find this week’s guerrilla marketing insight interesting and helpful.
Stay tuned for next Friday’s “Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing!”
Cheers,
Dyane Diasanta
Senior Content Writer
Valens Dynamic Marketing Capabilities
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