After every Game of Thrones episode, social media platforms are abuzz with spoilers and memes. This time, on the release of the latest episode – ‘The Last of the Starks’, the discussion moved from key characters such as Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen to an accidentally placed coffee cup.

Social media users were quick to point out an item that was out of place in one scene. Something that closely resembled a Starbucks paper cup appeared to be sitting on the table during the celebratory feast at Winterfell. What may have gone unnoticed by the show’s vast production team, did not by its millions of fans.

While fans were busy mocking the show’s editors, the Seattle-based coffee giant sat back and enjoyed all the attention. Not only was the item quickly spotted but its cameo was as good as dissected, overanalyzed, and ultimately made into memes. It was only on screen for two seconds, but that was long enough.

Was it intentional product placement or just a silly error from the maker’s end? Well, whatever it is, the damage had been done and Starbucks earned a billion-dollar shot of free advertising (maybe).

Everyone noticed it and everyone talked about it.

Who won here? Of course, Starbucks!

This is apparently the last Games of Thrones season; hence, the online viewership is estimated to be 17.6 million worldwide. Besides being the most talked about show on social media, it’s shattering records season after season.

Starbucks received $11.6 million worth of free embedded marketing. Social media analytics, television and radio, and digital coverage counted more than 193,000 mentions within 48 hours that cited both Starbucks and Game of Thrones.

Traditionally, brands pay big for product placements and even bigger for shows like these. In today’s modern environment, it is quickly becoming a way for brands to reach their target audience in a ‘subtle’ way.

For example, Audi partnered with Marvel Studio’ ‘Avengers: Endgame’ in a deal that cost millions. Similarly, Daniel Craig swapped a Vodka Martini for a bottle of Heineken in Skyfall in a deal that cost $45 million.

This proves that product placements are pretty darn expensive.

Though the coffee cup had been edited out of the episode, the chatter around the brand continued. The main takeaway from this is how a brand can resort to subtle advertising to gain traction. Just by imprinting the logo of a brand on a paper cup, millions of people could see it and read it!

Paper cup advertising runs on the same concept. GingerCup imprints your brand’s logo on paper cups and places them at high-traffic locations to garner attention. Your brand not just subtly interacts with the target group but also urges them to take some kind of action.

What are your thoughts on this if the branding activity in GOT was intentional? Starbucks was definitely able to hit a sweet spot with this as it was a branding victory for them.

Would you resort to this breakthrough advertising medium in your marketing mix?

We would love to hear your thoughts.

The post Misplaced Coffee Cup Brews Buzz for Starbucks first appeared on Ginger Media Group.

Combining personalized paper cups with personalised services

By adding a personalised, magical touch to birthdays, personalised birthday party businesses make sure to make it one of the most memorable days in the life of an individual. Book My Balloons, Ferns and Petals, Gift Cart and Birthday Song with Names are a few of the players ruling the personalised birthday gift market.

Despite being the most visible brands, they are always on the lookout for strategies that would help them stay ahead of the curve in the overcrowded marketplace. Today, brands are using a large array of advertising vehicles to communicate their messages.

Keeping this in mind, Birthday Songs with Names approached GingerCup to advertise their offerings through the powerful medium–cup branding.

As the company name implies, the portal specialises in personalising birthday songs with the name of the person.

Advertising the birthday party business with a cool personalized cups design

To advertise their service, GingerCup came up with a vibrant paper cup design. The tagline read ‘Make birthdays memorable with personalised birthday songs. The portal allows users to choose from over 5000 names across 5 songs for their loved ones. Considering today’s personalised birthday gift market, this is definitely a unique, original and affordable gift. The branded paper cup also featured a coupon code ‘FLAT20’ (Valid till 31/01/2019). By using this code, users would be able to avail of Rs. 20 off on the purchase of a birthday song.

The personalised paper cups were distributed in corporate offices all over Bangalore city. Corporate offices are the ideal target location to create buzz about services like these. This is one place where employers make it a point to make the birthday of their employees special.

Besides making them feel special, it also makes them feel recognised and motivates them. For one day, it is their day and they are in the limelight. Colleagues are often looking for affordable but sweet ways to make it special for their co-workers. Thus, by taking such ideas into corporate offices via paper cup ads, they are bound to react and succumb to a call to action. The chances of an employee visiting the website during a tea break while sipping their beverage are very high. They may do so to understand the concept at that moment and may decide to use it at an appropriate time when their friend, co-worker or family member’s birthday is approaching.

While the cost incurred with paper cup branding is low, the return on investment is high. To take your personalised service into corporate offices in Bangalore with bespoke paper cups, send an email to contact@www.gingercup.com or call us at +91-8884442846/47.

The post Best Ways to do Promotions using Personalized Cups first appeared on Ginger Media Group.