When it comes to strategic marketing some brands stand out. Here are five brands that nailed their marketing strategies.

1. NIKE
When you mention Nike the first thing that comes to mind is shoes. They are one of the largest shoe companies in the world. But did you know that when they came into the market they were solely (no pun intended) there to cater for marathon runners?

What happened? Well a new fitness craze emerged around the early 90s. Everyone was and is still obsessed with working out. Nike jumped onto this craze and targeted this new trend. Their team came up with solid strategic marketing plans. From this the phrase “Just do it” was born.

In ten years between 1988 and 1998 their sales grew from $800 million to well over $9 billion.

2. Volkswagen
At a time when many Americans were obsessed with buying big cars VW had a product, a pretty small one at that, we all know it as the beetle.

To penetrate this market in a time when WWII was still ripe and rife was evident they needed to nail their strategic marketing. So what did they do?

They sold the car for what it is. Small. They used the tagline “Think small”.

They were honest. This won the hearts of many people who were used to being lied to by brands claiming to be something they are not.

Did it work? Well even decades later the beetle is still an iconic car. So yes; it worked.

3. Dove
A personal care brand that saw a gap in the market and filled it. Their campaign dubbed “Real Beauty” is a great case study for strategic marketing.

They realized that in everyday life instead of feeling beautiful most people walked around wondering if they were beautiful. This made people anxious and unable to appreciate themselves.

So Dove made it their strategy to make sure everyone felt as beautiful as they are.

Here is a video to part of the campaign. Tell us what you think.

4. Apple
At a time when everything PC was windows and Microsoft; Apple had a challenge. They needed to convince consumers to get a mac. Which ironically was the phrase coined for their campaign.

They leveraged their strategic marketing on the endless debate as to which was better; a Mac or a PC.

Here’s a collection of ads they did for the campaign.
Short. Clever. Witty.

5. Old Spice
Old spice came up with a pretty unique strategic marketing campaign.

Their insight revealed that women are a major determinant to what scents men wear. So what did they do? They fashioned their ads towards women.

This was brilliant.

Catch a compilation of their ads here