Best and Worst Marketing Ideas ... Ever

By Gwen Moran of Entrepreneur.com



Some marketing efforts manage to hit the ball out of the park. They resonate with the consumer, generate tremendous buzz and even permeate pop culture, becoming part of our lives and linguistics.

In a rather unscientific manner, we've gathered more than a dozen of these iconic campaigns and consulted a variety of experts to explain why they were so great. Here's a recap along with the lessons that can benefit you and your business.

Best making the best of a bad image: Las Vegas' "What Happens Here, Stays Here" campaign

After a failed attempt to promote itself as a family destination, Las Vegas finally embraced its Sin City image with its "What happens here, stays here" advertising campaign, launched in 2003. It's still going strong: 2007 marked the city's fourth consecutive year of busting tourism records.

"It resonated because it's what people already believe," says Laura Ries, president of marketing strategy firm Ries & Ries.

Lesson: Try to turn negatives into positives.

Best product placement: Reese's Pieces in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial

Some marketing missteps make you kick yourself. Take Mars' failure to take the opportunity to include M&Ms in E.T. After Mars passed, director Steven Spielberg went to Hershey's (HSY Quote), which took the offer. It paid off.

Time magazine reported in 1982 that Reese's Pieces sales rose 65% in the months after the movie's release. Even though the movie never mentioned the name of the product, showing the distinctive orange package was enough, and the placement enjoyed heavy promotional support from the manufacturer.