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When it comes to modern marketing, brands need to think big, and the sky really is the limit. Some brands have successfully stretched for the clouds to extend the reach of their brand messages through drone marketing.

Camisaria Colombo – Dronequins

Headless bodies floating around the city may sound like something out of a nightmare rather than a marketer’s dream, but in 2014, the Brazilian retailer Camisaria Colombo thought up this little marketing stunt as a way of selling more suits. The plan was simple: get ahead of the competition by directing marketing at head honchos stuck in their office buildings on Black Friday. They draped some finery on their mannequins and hovered them in front of office block windows in Sao Paulo’s business district. After all, the most important thing in marketing is being seen.

Wokker – Hungry Boys?

Camisaria Colombo was not the first company to employ drones and flying billboards. Earlier the same year, the Hungry Boys marketing agency promoted the noodle shop Wokker with some unique “drone-vertising.” The drones worked on the principle of being in the right place at the right time by flying past office windows just before lunchtime with advertisements for Wokker’s midday specials. Hungry Boys subsequently reported that orders for local Wokker restaurants increased by 40 percent, which represents a very tasty bite of the noon market.

Coca-Cola – Happiness from the Skies

Coca-Cola was on the money in 2014 when it used drones to create a shareable YouTube video to spread that feel-good factor everybody craves. The famous soda brand partnered with Singapore Kindness Movement and used drones to deliver drinks and thank-you notes to construction workers building city high-rises.

Red Bull – Gives You Wings

“Red Bull gives you wings,” and the brand is certainly flying high in its beautifully shot 2014 film, “The Ridge,” which features Scottish cyclist Danny MacAskill conquering a perilous mountain ridge. The swooping aerial photography, courtesy of drone-mounted cameras, makes it obvious why the video has accumulated over 43 million views on YouTube as of June 2016.

GE – #DroneWeek

Not surprisingly, one of the world’s leading technology companies is putting drones to good use in its marketing. In 2015, GE launched #DroneWeek, a livestreaming tour of testing sites and manufacturing plants that gave a fascinating insight into what goes on behind closed doors. GE also uses drones in commercials and even employs them to inspect company power grids.

TGI Friday’s – Whining and Dining

Gimmicks and gadgets are great ways to promote brand awareness; however, when you take risks, sometimes a scheme backfires. That’s what restaurant chain TGI Friday’s learned in 2014, when its drone-based stunt crashed out. The scheme involved hovering mistletoe over tables where couples were seated during the festive period, but the company stopped the campaign after one of the drones injured a diner in a Brooklyn restaurant.