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There is no better way to engage your target market and get people talking than a clever advertising campaign. One company that has excelled at this in recent years is Specsavers. The UK optical retail chain has one of the most well-known slogans in the country - “should have gone to SpecSavers”, which has become a saying that has entered the UK vernacular. In 2024, Specsavers flexed their advertising creativity with a humorous stunt that went viral. Keep reading to find out more.
The Stunt
Specsavers’ clever guerrilla marketing campaign involved setting up a scene where one of their branded vans appeared to have crashed into a bollard on the High Street in Edinburgh with the back of the van clearly displaying their famous slogan - “should have gone to Specsavers”.
Of course, Brits absolutely loved the irony of this with onlookers believing that this was a genuine accident implying the driver’s poor eyesight. Of course, it was all staged, but it created an organic buzz that got everyone talking about the brand.
Why It Was Effective
One of the reasons why this advertising campaign was so effective was the amount of user-generated content (UGC) that was created. As a busy street in London, there were hundreds of passers-by, many of which took photos and videos that were uploaded to social media and circulated - it quickly went viral and everyone was talking about Specsavers - it even featured in 20 online news articles and on ITV’s ‘This Morning”, which has an average of 800 thousand daily viewers.
The truth emerged that it was all staged, but even this got people talking as it highlighted the brand’s good sense of humor (humor can be an incredibly powerful tool in advertising when used correctly). The stunt also felt different from typical advertising campaigns. This is what is known as “out-of-home” (OOH) advertising, which is a form of advertising that is found outside of the consumer’s home. The stunt proved that even in a digital era, clever OOH advertising can catch people’s attention and get people talking.
Director of marketing services at Specsavers, Victoria Clarke, commented on the stunt:
“We’re in a fortunate position with our ‘Should’ve gone to Specsavers’ tagline being part of the cultural vernacular, and given the public don’t miss a trick… we were hopeful they’d see the irony in this mishap and want to share what they’d witnessed.
We’re surprised and delighted [by] how quickly the pick-up came in on social channels and in media articles – even as the van was in the final stages of being placed on Saturday night. It’s been brilliant to see how people have engaged with it, taking photos, telling us our driver needs an eye test, and questioning how someone could miss the big red warning sign”.
This clever advertising campaign from Specsavers is a great example of how creativity, thinking outside the box, and a sprinkling of humor can be incredibly effective in the marketing world. Brands should always consider ways to stand out from the crowd in a hyper-competitive marketplace and not be afraid to be daring.
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