To get to a certain level of success in business you have to spend some money. There is only so far you can go without spending money on branding and advertising, you can’t do it all yourself. This is where specialists in marketing, branding, and advertising will help you reach the next level and help you find the customers that you are looking for.
There are a couple of different aspects of branding and advertising to consider when looking at the most expensive campaigns. Let’s look at the breakdown.
Expensive rebranding campaigns
Rebranding is often where the most money is spent by the biggest companies. A rebrand is difficult to achieve successfully. The wider public already has a firm idea in their collective mind of what a brand and company looks and feels like, and what it stands for. From the colours and the logo to the products and services they sell. A rebrand might be desired due to a stagnation of popularity and profits, or due to bad PR in recent times.
The most expensive rebranding campaigns of all time can be seen below. The numbers are HUGE:
Symantec Brand & Acquisition — $1,280,000,000.
British Petroleum Logo & Marketing — $210,000,000.
Accenture Logo Design — $100,000,000.
Posten Norge Rebrand — $55,000,000.
Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) Logo — $15,000,000.
BBC Logo Redesign — $1,800,000.
CitiBank — $1,500,000
If you are thinking of rebranding, for whatever reason, speak to us and we’ll be happy to undertake a full evaluation of your current branding and marketing and put together a plan of action of how we can help you rebrand successfully, based on your revised targets for both the short-term and the long-term.
Expensive branding campaigns
When it comes to specific adverts designed to build the brand of a product or company, there are some incredible examples from recent years. We’ve listed below some of the most expensive branding campaigns for specific advertising, and some of the most innovative.
Guinness – One way to pour a beer
In 2007, $13million was spent by Guinness on a new advertising campaign aimed at pushing the brand forward. The television advert was well received around the world and became the standard of Guinness adverts that were to come over the coming years. The emphasis was not placed on the product itself, as Guinness (rightly so) understands that everyone knows the beauty of a pint of Guinness. This specific advert began with some dominoes toppling, progressing to ever-larger items, such as fridges, mattresses, television sets, and even cars.
Pepsi – Super Bowl Ad
The Super Bowl is the biggest sporting event in the US, and one of the biggest sporting events on the planet. There are usually well over 100 million people globally, watching the biggest game in American Football each year. The prime advertising real estate comes during the half-time show, where the game is put aside and there is a live musical performance from one of the biggest stars of the day. The competition around these advertising spots is fierce, and Pepsi back in 2002 is the prime example. They spent $7.3million on a 90-second advert featuring Britney Spears at the height of her fame.
CitiBank – LiveRichly
This was a massive advertising and branding campaign that included a range of adverts that didn’t explicitly mention the product or services, which was a first at the time. It was designed to gain the trust of the audience and paint a positive picture of the brand that would last for years to come. The amount of money spent on the campaign was huge – $1billion. It worked though, the branding campaign was a big success and built brand recognition and trust.
Bloomberg – Presidential campaign
When billionaire Michael Bloomberg decided to run for office in the 2020 US Presidential campaign, one thing was for sure, there would be big money behind the campaign. Back in 2001, Bloomberg had run for Mayor of New York City (and won!), spending an estimated $62million on personal branding and marketing campaigns. That was massive money back then, but in 2020 the numbers hit record heights. In a bid to prevent Donald Trump gaining a second term in office, Bloomberg spent a record $935million on the Presidential campaign, with $474million of that being spent during February alone! In the end, Bloomberg pulled out of the race in support of Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee. Thankfully, Trump lost the election, but the less said about the aftermath the better.
Chanel No. 5
An iconic fragrance, well known the world over, with branding and advertising campaigns that are aspirational. Back in 2004, the company decided to fork out $26million in total for a television commercial that lasted only 2-minutes. The advert included Nicole Kidman, and she reportedly charged $2.5million to appear in the commercial. It was an expensive branding campaign, but the branding worked, and Chanel No. 5 remains an iconic and instantly recognisable brand nearly two decades later.
Creative solutions for branding campaigns
We’ve looked at some of the most expensive branding and rebranding campaigns from the biggest and the best of multi-national organisations and advertising companies. It isn’t always necessary though to spend millions on advertising and branding campaigns.
Candy has an experienced team that are well-versed in all things digital marketing. You do have to spend money to make money in business, but it’s not just about throwing as much money against a wall and seeing what sticks. We know how to be clever with the advertising budget our clients bring to the table.
To find out more about how we can help you put together a branding or rebranding campaign that truly works for your business, speak to our friendly team today. You can contact us on 0161 826 0123 or hello@candymarketing.co.uk and we’ll arrange a good time for you to sit down and go through your plans, targets, and options for a winning branding campaign.
