Top 5 Customer Service Marketing Campaigns of 2015

It’s no secret that some of the best marketing campaigns which have gone viral this year have used customer service as their focal point. Many follow a similar format: catch customers off guard, shock and awe them, and then make them feel special by offering a gift of appreciation.

The success of these campaigns hinge on understanding customers’ thoughts, values, hopes, wishes and fears, and then hitting them where it counts. In a good way, of course.

Here are a collection of the best customer service marketing campaigns of 2015. Feel free to add your own campaigns in the comments section below.

Related: 3 Customer service tips to turn return customers into repeat customers

1. WestJet – December 2015

Canadian airline WestJet takes the cake in 2015 with yet another tearjerker of a Christmas campaign intended to surprise and delight customers. The company encouraged customers to perform 12,000 mini miracles — defined as a random act of kindness — over a 24 hour period. Using the hashtag #WestJetChristmas, customers are told to share their deeds on social media, while the company also participates in the mini miracles by providing gifts (flight vouchers, family trips etc.) to their customers. This is the fourth successful Christmas campaign WestJet has launched with their 2013 video reeling in over 42 million YouTube hits.

2. TD Bank – July 2015

TD Bank hit their stride last year with the launch of their #TDThanksYou campaign, and this year they’ve nailed it again. The Canadian bank surprises customers at their branch by asking them who they value the most and then the bank creates a “memory wall” with photographs to honour that person. TD later surprises the honoured person by having them walk through the “memory wall”. The video might just prove that banks have hearts too.

Related: 5 things all customer feedback surveys should measure

3. JetBlue – July 2015

American airline JetBlue used humor in a brand activation on the streets of New York City this summer. The entire focus of the campaign is to highlight the airline’s award-winning customer service by asking people questions on the street related to airline service. The hilarious video, entitled “A Better Wingman”, shows an interactive storefront display where members of the public answer questions and are surprised by witty real-time answers coming from a computerized display. It’s good for a laugh, but most importantly, the campaign tries to gauge what potential customers value.

4. Tim Hortons – December 2015

The iconic Canadian coffee company Tim Hortons recently released their #WarmWishes campaign video which shows staff handing out surprise gifts to people in Grimsby, Ontario. The company polled customers asking them which of their family members and friends really need a gift and why. The staff then surprise those family members and friends with a gift at their front doorstep, like a washing machine for a new mother. Get out your tissues, you might shed a few tears.

Related: Rob Markey on the value of customer satisfaction surveys

5. Dove – April 2015

Beauty product company Dove did it again this year with another video intended to make women customers feel beautiful. The “Choose Beautiful” video shows women in San Francisco, Shanghai, Delhi, London and Sao Paulo going about their daily lives until they are given a choice to walk through an “average” door or a “beautiful” door. After they make that choice, the women are interviewed and some are asked why they chose “average”. It’s a powerful reminder that beauty is a choice.