#21: On Remarkable
How to create something worth talking about and paying attention to
Pass It On is a bi-weekly newsletter bringing the tech and non-profit sectors closer together through knowledge sharing, written and edited by Lauren Crichton.
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What does it take to create something remarkable—something worth talking about, worth paying attention to? This question has been on my mind ever since James Turner, founder of Glimpse Collective, told us that imagination and storytelling are essential to creating positive change.
As it happens, today marks almost exactly five years since James and I, together with some friends, did something remarkable:
We replaced all the ads on a London underground station with pictures of cats. We did it to inspire Brits to think differently about public space and, in the process, made headlines all around the world. No, this wasn't an act of vandalism: we successfully crowdfunded £23,000 and purchased the advertising space with Transport for London's approval. Today, our campaign (known as the Citizens Advertising Takeover Service, or C.A.T.S) is recognised as one of the best Kickstarters of all time.
C.A.T.S may sound like a once-in-a-career wild idea, but it wasn't all luck. The campaign became remarkable because we created it from the right set of underlying elements. And if we can do it, then so can you. Today’s knowledge share will show you how.
The seven key ingredients to remarkable marketing
1. Constraints - boost innovation through limitation
Constraints provide focus and a motivating challenge. When James invited us to the first Glimpse brainstorming session, he gave us two things: the brief about public space and the reality check that we had zero budget. Without the latter, it would never have occurred to us that we could crowdfund the money for the campaign. At the time, that was a world-first idea: people used Kickstarter to fund new products, not fleeting experiences. The constraint helped us see something that no one else had.
2. Virality - find what the internet loves
The average success rate of crowdfunding is 23%. Since we had no paid media budget and one month to raise the £23k, we needed an idea that would spread on its own and spread fast. So we asked ourselves: what does the internet love? Once framed that way, the answer became obvious: 😸 . And it worked. Nearly all our highest-pledging backers were serious cat lovers—one even flew to London from the US to see his cat in one of the final posters!
3. Subversion - interrupt the pattern to grab attention
Normal is easy to ignore. C.A.T.S subverted expectations in terms of both its medium and its message:
Medium - The group behind Glimpse worked in advertising and comms, the last people you'd expect to challenge advertising directly.
Message - When commuters walk through a London underground station, the last thing they'd expect to see is a wall of furry felines.
These two subversions jolted people out of the status quo and, consequently, succeeded in sparking conversations. By the end of the campaign, the estimated global media reach was 4 billion.
4. Tension - leave some questions unanswered
Our attention spans are notoriously short. To ensure that commuters gave C.A.T.S more than a two-second glance from their phones, we knew we'd have to do more than change their surroundings—we'd need to get them asking questions. So we withheld information, keeping the poster designs minimal and without any explanatory text or call to action. The only way commuters could solve the mystery was to head to our website, which we included on some posters.
5. Partnerships - join forces to increase your reach
When we came up with C.A.T.S, Glimpse was an experiment, not an organisation. With next to no brand awareness and reputation, we needed influential partners to talk about the campaign on our behalf. Enter: Cats Protection and Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, two of the largest UK cat charities. They both agreed to promote the Kickstarter and the campaign if we included their logos on the website and featured some of their cats in the final posters. It was a win-win. And with a combined Facebook following of over 1million, an oppawtunity we couldn't refuse.
6. Targeting - go to those who'll spread the word
It pays to know your audience. Aside from the press, we had two core target groups for the campaign: (1) cat lovers to back the Kickstarter, who we reached via the cat charities, and (2) digitally-savvy commuters to share the actual campaign, who we'd reach through the underground station. Naturally, we wanted to catch as many of these commuters as possible, so we chose to host the takeover at Clapham Common station because the area was full of young professionals like this:
7. Scarcity: Use FOMO to your advantage
C.A.T.S was live for two weeks. The main reason for this was cash flow; we couldn't afford any more air time. However, the limited takeover worked in our favour from a marketing perspective because it increased the tension and created FOMO—the "what if I miss it?" The only way to release that tension was to go and visit the station before time was up.
And there you have it: the key ingredients for remarkable marketing. Ultimately, the final recipe’s up to you, but combining at least a few will increase your chances of making something unfurgettable.
How would you define remarkable marketing? Let me know by replying to this email or: