Specsavers; Should’ve 2.0: The anatomy of a campaign

Specsavers' recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of enduring tagline “Should’ve gone to Specsavers” with an ad campaign that showed how the leading optical brand’s deft use of humour always creates masses of engagement.

Sookio Bootcamper Michiko explains why it’s such an effective approach - with additional contributions from Seb Blake.

What are the key messages in Specsavers’ “Should’ve” campaign?

The campaign highlights the importance of vision through a storyline about a delivery man who has misread the address of an individual’s parcel and delivered it to the wrong person. Let’s say he got his steps that day!

The relatable yet witty campaign was extremely successful in reaching over 35 million views on YouTube with comments about how it was “relatable” and “hilarious”.

By casting a diverse set of characters and locations, the audience can feel included and a part of a community which creates loyalty between Specsavers and their customers.

Why “Should’ve” is so effective and such a success for Specsavers?

Specsavers’ tagline “Should’ve gone to Specsavers” has been engraved into British culture for over 20 years. Their trademark humorously crops up in daily conversations; for example, in the UK Parliament. Even those who have never stepped into a Specsavers have heard of it.

Due to this, Specsavers’s in-house marketing agency can leverage this memorable and witty saying and can utilise it on a range of marketing channels and formats from radio, and OOH (Out Of House) to advertisements.

According to the Drum in 2021 Specsavers’ Brand Sentiment Score was 20.1%. This analysis helps to accurately reflect on the emotional depth of their work and campaigns.

Such humour like this and their range of marketing channels; like Social Media, Digital and OOH marketing, ensures that all demographics can be reached. There is no age cap when it comes to this type of humour!

Richard James, the creative director at The Agency said: “'Should’ve’s' real strength isn’t in the joke, it’s in the friendly nudge it gives people towards better sight and hearing while putting a smile on their face”.

How does “Should’ve” compare to Specsavers’ past campaigns?

In 2016, Specsavers had 38.7% of the market share with competitors like Boots and Vision Express having 15.1% and 12.9% respectively. This validates the market power Specsavers has and the customer loyalty they hold.

Since ‘Should’ve’ was created, it’s believed that there are now twice as many stores in the UK and Ireland (950). Hence, the effectiveness of their tagline is statistically proven by their business growth and customer sales.

Specsavers’ Euros reactive campaign organically reached 9.5 million people, which is a 21% increase from their monthly average. Engagement in the campaign was a whopping 127,000 which is a 45% increase.

If any brand at the same magnitude as Specsavers paid for their results, it is estimated that it would cost a firm £95,000 for 9.5 million reach and £143,000 for 127,000 engagements.

Their other campaigns were less realistic and mostly done for humour, like the vet checking the pulse of a hat instead of a cat, a lifeguard saving a seal, or a man entering a restaurant kitchen thinking it was a sauna. I don’t even want to imagine that last one!

By Specsavers creating this campaign, it strengthens the emotional relationship between them and their customers. Brand Sentiment is vital to enhance customer loyalty which is significant to this necessary service.

How has Specsavers used a multichannel approach to build trust?

Trust continues to play major importance especially within times of change, and for brands this has ‘never been more critical’.

The Agency had perfect vision when it came to how to achieve this by reaching out on Specsavers social accounts to ask for their own ‘Should’ve’ moments. Of course, what is a better way of appealing to customers than have the content originate from your customers themselves. Strategically placing Specsavers within these scenarios demonstrates that the brand is still carefully going about their business and knowing exactly how to reach audiences 20 years on from when the tagline began.

This demonstration of creative expertise doesn’t come without its risks, however, as such huge amounts of earned media generated from the campaign lacks the control other brands may prefer through more regulated advertisement such as display or SEO. Indeed, the irony of their own tagline being used against them affords Specsavers little room for creative failure - perhaps Specsavers decision to execute a new ‘Should’ve’ campaign outside the height of the pandemic, and its cultural volatility, reflected this.

How will Specsavers’ “Should’ve” campaign influence their future campaigns?

The anatomy of this campaign has set a stepping stone for Specsavers’ reputation. The evolution of their Ad campaigns has become more relatable and realistic which may be the reason for their 20.1% Brand sentiment score. Marketing and consumer behaviour are evolving. Although price still plays a huge role in many consumer decisions, customer relations and building trust play a significant role in customer behaviour, particularly in the Healthcare industry.

Like Richard James said: “'Should’ve’s' real strength isn’t in the joke, it’s in the friendly nudge it gives people towards better sight and hearing while putting a smile on their face”.

Why increased brand sentiment drives brand awareness

Nonetheless, articles generated from outlets such as ITV, The Mirror and The Drum as well as countless amounts of conversations on social media and through word-of-mouth continue to authentically build the discussion around the brand without the need of paid influence.

The beauty within this creative can be to an extent due to the difficulty in measuring its success across quantifiable campaign metrics like CTR or CPC. With brand awareness already at an industry high, Specsavers challenge was not to just to drive these existing KPIs but also allow stimulation of brand conversations within a most up-to-date culture.

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Read more to get strategic insight into campaigns from Nike, Dove, BBC and more with more posts written by our Bootcamp work experience attendees. Thank you to Seb Blake for contributing some fantastic insights to this campaign analysis.