The World's Best Marketing Campaign

After Googling "the world's best marketing campaign,” I found that Penny the Pirate was ranked #1 by Warc in 2014. Additionally, it had won several awards at Cannes, London International Awards, Clio, Spikes Asia, Australian Mobile and App Design, ADMA and Caples. Yet, I had never heard of this campaign before, so I took it upon myself to see what made it #1.  

Penny the Pirate is the first children’s book that gives children an exam as they read. In Australia, where the product was created by Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney and OMD for OPSM.

After watching the videos above, I concluded that this campaign did 3 great things - being informative about the problem it solves, specifying the conveniences of this new solution, and understanding it's best channels.

Informative

The campaign video describes the problem in a concise and urging manner by providing statistics, root causes, and consequences. The video claims ⅙ children have an eye problem because there isn't a priority placed on eye screens. There is no standard eye screening process, it's not a priority for parents, and children don't like them. As a result, children with eye problems don't even know they do. By informing their main audience,  Australian parents, this way, parents are able to understand the reason why they should buy Penny the Pirate, which also causes concern about their children’s eye health, something that wasn't there before.

Convenience

Saatchi & Saatchi’s OPSM didnt stop at just being informative with the solution Penny the Pirate provided to the problem of children’s eye health in Australia. They even made it convenient for parents to use and emphasized this effectively. The video explains that parents can also download the application in addition or in replacement of the book. Parents can also see the results of their children’s eye screen within the application along with nearby OPM locations. These aspects that add convenience to the book cause parents to want the product more because they demonstrate how easy the problem can be solved - an important aspect of marketing a product.

Channels
Lastly, understanding the channels through which the product would be delivered made it a success in achieving purchases.  Word of mouth mainly travelling between moms was the best channel for Penny the Pirate. In addition, partner ophtomolgists recommended the product as an easy was for moms to test their children's vision. By knowing the best channels, thanks to great marketing of Penny the Pirate, OPSM experienced a 22.6% year-on-year increase in eye exams and 126,000 books sold.

Penny the Pirate not only came up with a great product that helps children, they ensured that the product was marketed to demonstrate just how great it is by focusing on informing consumers why the product is needed, how easy it is to use, and what ways the target audience could learn about the product and, hopefully, purchase it. OPSM knew what they needed to emphasize to sell the product and did a great job at doing it. A #1 spot well awarded!

Sources:
About campaign: http://www.campaignbrief.com/2014/06/opsm-launches-penny-the-pirate.html 
Awards: http://saatchi.com/en-us/news/opsms-penny-the-pirate-wins-best-in-show-at-the-caples/
Effects: http://mumbrella.com.au/saatchi-saatchi-opsm-penny-the-pirate-campaign-named-most-effective-in-the-world-349849