Time to move on from calling it a “Campaign”?

Marketers love their war-like terms, but isn’t it time to rethink “campaign”? I’ve seen it misused so often — someone sends one email or posts on social media and calls it a campaign. That’s not quite right. Take McDonald’s latest work on their nostalgic McNugget dipping sauces — now that’s a campaign. It’s product-focused, has a clear start and end, and a specific objective.

On the other hand, Heinz’s global brand platform, ‘It has to be Heinz’, goes beyond a campaign. It’s a powerful, simple idea that resonates in markets worldwide. No wonder it won a Grand Prix for creative effectiveness this year.

Creating a ‘War Room’

I once worked on a major brand refresh for a big client, handling social media, content, and community management. On launch day, I was in the so-called “war room,” which was just a meeting room with a fuck off large TV, responding to comments on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. It was fun, but calling it a war room was over the top. It felt like going into battle with the flood of comments, but it didn’t need to be that dramatic.

Not everything in your strategy or plan needs to be called a campaign. Think twice about it next time.