What do 52 of the world’s top 100 brands have in common? Besides growth, awareness and a clear sense of meaning and differentiation, they have succeeded in breaking a Guinness World Record in the past year.
If you ask me, this is no coincidence. A world record attempt is a unique kind of brand-building opportunity, and it’s exactly the kind of opportunity that appeals to forward-thinking marketers. It’s also a unique form of partnership: with a true pioneer of content marketing that knows just how powerful its particular form of content can be.
Recording a special episode of The Sophisticated Marketer’s Podcast with Guinness World Records’ SVP Global Brand Strategy, Sam Fay, was one of my highlights of the Festival of Marketing earlier this month. And one of the most interesting elements of our conversation was the way that Guinness World Records has evolved. It’s gone from a astonishing tale of content marketing (launched to settle an argument at a 1951 shooting party about the world’s fastest game bird and designed to sit behind bars and provide the last word on pub discussions), to history’s biggest-selling copyrighted book, to a brand content platform in its own right. Talking to Sam about the records that brands have attempted, the value that marketers have leveraged from them, and the scope for creativity involved left me thinking: if you really believe that you have a unique proposition and product, why wouldn’t you want to become a record-breaking brand?
Click on the link below to hear the Guinness World Records Podcast episode in full, including how a brewery brand came to launch one of the most enduring and valuable content brands in history – and why record-breaking represents such an intriguing opportunity for marketers today.
Then scroll down for our unique guide to building a record-breaking brand:
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First choose your record
The creative opportunity in becoming a record-breaking brand starts with choosing the right record. As Sam explained in our interview, there are three essential criteria: the record must be specific, it must be verifiable and it must be breakable. Beyond that, anything is possible. Guinness World Records doesn’t limit the records that can be attempted. It’s up to businesses or individuals to come to them with valid suggestions – so the scope for creativity is immense.
That creativity can involve brands both large and small – and it can fit a range of different objectives. FMCG manufacturers are particularly drawn to challenges such as creating the world’s largest soap (broken by Unilever in 2005 and then broken again by a Chinese FMCG brand in December 2015). Jaguar marked its 80th anniversary the world’s largest hot wheels-style loop the loop performed by an actual vehicle. Both of those record attempts have been used to launch new products: a new performance SUV for Jaguar, and a new Vaseline soap bar for Unilever. However, world records can launch brands as well. Sam tells the story of a fancy dress shop in Cumbria, Escapade, which unlocked massive awareness levels when it broke the record for the most people dressed as superman.
Then, set up the attempt
Technically, all you need to attempt a world record is two witnesses and verifiable evidence that you can submit to Guinness World Records. However, if you’re looking to leverage record-breaking as a marketing opportunity, it makes sense to increase the level of drama by bringing in an official adjudicator. Requesting an official representative from Guinness World Records means your record can be verified on the spot, unlocking the PR opportunity instantly. It’s also a key part of turning your record attempt into an event-marketing occasion.
When its comes to planning the record attempt, it’s worth remembering that Guinness World Records is a genuine global brand – and that this has the potential to be a global marketing opportunity. Sam told me that most record attempts come from the US, which isn’t that surprising. Second and third place on the list though, are held by India and Nigeria. If you’re working for a global brand, it’s worth staying open-minded about where to locate your record attempt to unlock maximum value from it.
Build awareness – and build in interactivity
The brand opportunity involved in a record attempt starts long before the attempt itself – especially when the record itself is designed to encompass interactivity. The Body Coach, Joe Wicks, demonstrated just what was possible when he set a record for the largest high-intensity interval training class in Hyde Park this summer, and made this the focus for a long-running social media campaign aimed at boosting participation. The results: more than 3,800 people taking part on the day, and huge social and mainstream media buzz.
Social sharing has been a big part of the evolution of the Guinness World Records content model. It’s simply not possible to feature every record set during a year in the Guinness World Records book. However, the brand works closely with those attempting records to help promote them on social media. That’s why an imaginative content strategy should be an important part of any world record event: capture assets such as video, interviews and high-quality photography and plan a distribution strategy to maximise the impact that you generate. Frame the event itself to draw crowds and build awareness. It’s all likely to boost your bid for inclusion in the book as well.
Plan for success – and for failure
There’s an obvious risk with world records as a marketing opportunity – what if your bid fails? As Sam explains though, this doesn't have to be a disaster. In fact, with an imaginative storytelling approach, it might lead to an even bigger opportunity.
Panasonic holds the world record for the longest-lasting AA Alkaline battery – and it planned to build on this by breaking the 10km record for a flight by a fixed-wing battery-powered aircraft. Unfortunately, the plane didn't make it, ditching in the sea off Japan instead. Nobody was hurt, but the record attempt had gone down in flames – or had it?
Panasonic chose to embrace their failure, creating an uplifting film about the attempt, the students who worked with the company on it, and the impact the project had in helping them towards careers in science and engineering. It became a story about the human spirit’s instinct to keep pushing itself – arguably even more inspiring than if the plane had made it.
Of course, it’s not only failure that leads to an on-going story. Making an imaginative plan for success has a big role to play too. Vaseline’s record-breaking bar of soap had a future mapped out helping to promote hand hygiene in rural areas around South Africa, where the bar was produced. Jaguar generated 20 million views in 24 hours for its record-breaking loop-the-loop, but it didn’t settle for one record-breaking attempt launching one new model. The brand has broken several records since, working with Guinness World Records to track impact, measure effectiveness and build a new form of content strategy.
Combining authority and imagination
That’s what I find most inspiring about the whole Guinness World Records story. It started off, more than half a century ago, with a whimsical idea that could easily have turned into a gimmick. However, the world records brand has never allowed that to happen, either to itself or the brands that are drawn to the opportunity. There’s real credibility to the thoroughness of its research and the objectivity with which it adjudicates its records. The authority that comes from that has created a global content opportunity like no other. And when you combine that with the creativity of brands and their agencies, anything’s possible.
If you’re just discovering us, you can catch up on all the previous episodes of the Sophisticated Marketer’s Podcast here.
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