Channel 4’s ‘Considering What?’
Since 2012, Channel 4 has had success with its ‘Superhumans’ brand platform for the Paralympic games. It won plaudits, but more importantly, it contributed to a step change in disability representation and helped the broadcaster break records for audiences engaging with the tournament.
Many brands with such a solid long-term platform would be apprehensive to change, however, that’s exactly what Channel 4 did for this year’s Paralympics. It dropped the “superhuman” narrative and instead created a campaign as confronting as it was powerful.
‘Considering What?’, created by Channel 4’s in-house agency 4creative, asked viewers to reconsider their “preconceptions of Paralympic greatness”. It took a data-led approach, basing the campaign on its own research, which showed 59% of people said they watch the Paralympic Games to “see athletes overcoming their disabilities”, while just 37% said they watch the Paralympics for “exciting sporting competition”.
It played on well-meaning reactions to Paralympic sport, where viewers might comment on how well an athlete performs, “considering” their disability. Instead, Channel 4 held a mirror up and asked viewers to see Paralympians for what they are: world-class athletes at the top of their game.
The campaign helped Channel 4 clinch its strongest audience share (33%) since London 2012, with 20 million people watching across linear and streaming. On social media, Channel 4 garnered more than 41 million views across TikTok, YouTube and Instagram
The channel’s Paralympics campaign and subsequent viewing figures “underlines continued progress on our strategy to reach both new digital audiences while serving our existing linear viewers,” CEO Alex Mahon said in September. MI
The best marketing campaigns of 2024: Part 2
Charli XCX’s Brat
If summer 2023 was Barbie pink, then summer 2024 was Brat green.
The release of electro-popstar Charli XCX’s sixth studio album ‘Brat’ was highly anticipated by her fans, yet the record’s release campaign would have a cultural impact far beyond that.
Brat is more than just an album title; it became a way of life. It is Collins Dictionary’s word of the year, where it is defined as being “characterised by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude”.
In Charli’s own words: “You’re just like that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes… But it’s Brat. You’re Brat. That’s Brat.”
Being Brat was clearly something brands aspired to, with many rushing to social media to hop on the trend. Even US Presidential candidate Kamala Harris leaned into Brat Summer after Charli herself declared that the Democrat contender was Brat.
Whether it was worthwhile for every brand to jump onto the Brat trend is up for debate, but what shouldn’t be ignored is the marketing prowess underpinning Charli’s success this year.
Charli XCX has owned that shade of green these past six months, splashing across touchpoints. She has also taken ownership of the font on the album cover. She has remained consistent with these assets throughout different collaborations, releases and public appearances.
Many brands could take a leaf out of the Brat book when it comes to embedding distinctive assets, but what was crucial to Brat’s success was the all-important product.
Brat is a great album. It was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize and is the highest-rated album of the year, according to Metacritic, which compiles scores from music critics. It got to number one of the album charts in the UK and debuted at number three on the US Billboard charts.
For Charli XCX herself, Brat has undoubtedly significantly boosted her profile as a star. Today, few cultural phenomena happen by accident, and Brat is no exception. She has proved that consistency and product focus are Brat. NC
The best marketing campaigns of 2024: Part 2
Salesforce – Candy Shop
Salesforce has set the standard for brand building in B2B at a time when brand building is getting more attention, but B2B marketers are still under pressure to deliver marketing-qualified leads regardless of quality.
Marketing Week’s exclusive State of B2B Marketing data shows that while there has been a shift towards long-term marketing goals in B2B, it is still an industry that looks to short-term measures first.
However, Salesforce has been at the front of this shift to long-termism. Peter Weinberg and Jon Lombardo, formerly of LinkedIn’s B2B Institute and founders of Evidenza, go as far as saying the CRM platform has “perfected” effective B2B brand building, pointing to its campaign, ‘The Candy Shop’.
The campaign delivers a single compelling message – that AI will turn every worker into a genius. The ad is distinctive, with the Salesforce logo flashing in the first second. It is co-presented with one of its iconic characters, a cartoon version of Einsteen himself. The product is being marketed across all major mediums in key global markets.
The ad has been viewed more than 3.8 million times on YouTube, while Salesforce’s broader brand building push is also paying off. Its most recent financial results for the quarter ended July 31 show an 8% year-on-year revenue growth.
This campaign is part of a longer-term mission. Former CMO Sarah Franklin told Marketing Week back in 2021: My employees are like our customers too. And we have to create that connection.” GG
The best marketing campaigns of 2024: Part 2
Coca-Cola’s ‘New Guy’
The Coca-Cola Company is much more than just its namesake brand and red logo.
As well as Coca-Cola Zero Sugar and Diet Coke, the company owns dozens of brands, including big fizzy drinks brands like Sprite and Fanta, as well as the likes of Innocent smoothies, Smart Water and sports drink Powerade.
While the Coca-Cola Company utilises its enviable marketing capabilities across its brands, a campaign released in the US in January marked the first time it had brought different brands together in one advertising campaign.
‘New Guy’, which launched in North America at the beginning of the year, follows the story of a man being introduced to his girlfriend’s family on a game day, with different products – Coca-Cola, Coke Zero, Sprite, Fanta, Smart Water and juice brand Honest Kids – popping up at different points of the story.
Consumers trust The Coca-Cola Company to deliver a great beverage, meaning any association the business can build between its brand is a positive thing, Alex Ames, senior director of content and creative excellence told Marketing Week at the time.
If a portfolio business can get it right, then having multiple brands in one ad also makes for a more efficient spend in terms of media and creative costs.
The use of multiple trademarks in New Guy did not appear to dilute recognition of the brands involved.
New Guy performs exceptionally well on ‘fast fluency’ among US consumers, which measures the strength and speed of brand recognition in ads, according to System1’s Test Your Ad platform. It scores 83 out of a possible 100 (the category average for carbonated drinks is 65). The ad also scores “exceptionally” well on short-term sales driving potential.
According to Coca-Cola itself, New Guy exceeded its own benchmarks and “revealed an overall positive consumer response to portfolio-focused marketing”. The success of the ad leaves the door open for the business to do more of this type of work going forward. NC
The best marketing campaigns of 2024: Part 2
Currys’ TikTok presence
High street staple Currys has dusted off its image, using TikTok and a heavy dose of humour to transform itself into a Gen Z-friendly brand.
Its ‘Gen Z writes our marketing script’ video has generated more than 2.5 million views on TikTok since it was posted in August, and started a trend with other companies such as UN Climate Change and Thorpe Park following suit. Meanwhile, its most recent ‘Black Friday marketing for millennials’ video, where a colleague goes around the store describing items and deals in ‘millennial slang’, has reached 129.5k views in just a few weeks.
The brand launched its first viral TikTok two years ago, where a video of the team making pancakes in an air fryer reached 10 million views on the app.
Social media manager Ryan Todd told Marketing Week the aim of its increased social presence is to “throw the brand into the 21st century” and “engage the Gen Z and millennial audience renting and buying their own homes”.
The success of its viral videos, mostly created in-house, has lived on. Over the past six months, the brand has gained 100 million organic views on its TikTok videos. In this sense, Todd sees it as “competing with the big guns of social”, such as Ryanair, Duolingo, Aldi and KFC.
All this contributed to Currys increasing sales by 5% in the 17 weeks to 24 August 2024.
Currys use of TikTok has helped it make waves in the tech retail category, especially given its competitors such as Amazon have yet to venture into this humorous space. Its store focus also solidifies its position as a high street retailer, adding another layer of differentiation from its online-only rivals. AV
The best marketing campaigns of 2024: Part 2
RSPB’s ‘Bird of the Week’
The RSPB has been working this year to be seen as “more than a bird charity”, launching a youth mobilisation drive with social media at its heart to help engage a new audience.
The charity’s ‘Bird of the Week’ campaign, which is based around bringing information on different species of birds to life on the app, has had huge success on TikTok, with a number of its videos attracting more than 1 million views.
Since the campaign began, RSPB’s TikTok page has had over 35 million views, its follower numbers have increased from 3,000 to 193,000 and its page has gained a total of 6.2 million likes.
Bird of the Week videos have reached people of all ages across several continents, with those in the target age group of 16 to 35 particularly engaged.
Alongside this, the charity has increased its presence and relevance through partnerships and celebrity tie-ups. It worked with fundraising firm Omaze, which saw Love Island stars and Peter Andre give shoutouts to the charity helping to raise £4.9m to deliver peatland restoration.
The charity also built upon its social media success by releasing merchandise in line with the Bird of the Week initiative, which generated 700 sales in under two weeks, with the ‘Birds of Slay’ T-shirt becoming a bestseller.
If the charity is on a mission to capture attention in unexpected channels, it’s certainly succeeding in doing so. AV
The best marketing campaigns of 2024: Part 2
Mastercard’s ‘Room for Everyone’
Much has been written about how B2B brands are embracing emotion to build stronger connections with the buying groups they serve. It is safe to say, however, that few will touch on such an important topic as Mastercard and its ‘Room for Everyone’ campaign.
An expansion of its ‘Where To Start’ activity – a data tool designed to help Polish and Ukrainian SME businesses discover the prime location to open a shop – the new campaign focuses more on refugees who have entered Poland in most cases due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
It is designed to help refugees find space in the country away from the densely populated cities and give them the best opportunity to rebuild their lives.
The campaign aligned Mastercard with modern social values and fostered an emotional connection to the brand – not only from those who were benefitting from it – but to the wider international community horrified by what is happening in Ukraine.
Data from its creative agency McCann shows that up to 40% of new businesses used the tool and it also saw a 10% uplift in positive sentiment towards Ukrainian refugees.
It was an industry success, too, winning the Grand Prix Lion for Creative Data and the Silver Lion for Creative B2B, while continuing the important work Mastercard began with Where To Start. Notable, significant and effective – a new template for creative campaigns in B2B. JS
The best marketing campaigns of 2024: Part 2
ITV’s ‘Mr Bates vs The Post Office’
ITV stayed true to its brand purpose of making “a real impact on society” with its decision to commission Mr Bates vs The Post Office, a drama series detailing the legal scandal that saw more than 700 innocent postmasters accused and convicted of fraud and theft based on faulty IT software.
As part of this, the broadcaster created a major TV advertising campaign for the series, which aired during some of its most popular shows. ITV generated such buzz, that Mr Bates vs The Post Office became one of the highest-rated TV dramas of the decade, with more than 10 million people tuning in to watch final episode. It is also ITV’s best-performing drama since Broadchurch in 2017.
The show itself generated hundreds of items of press coverage, including placing cast members and the real-life Sir Alan Bates on radio and TV shows to talk about the scandal.
By getting so many people to watch the show, the broadcaster connected millions of people to a vital story and pressured the government to act. As of 31 October, 111 convictions had been overturned by the Courts, and £59.56m had been paid in redress. Because of this, the broadcaster won the 2024 Marketing Week Award for brand purpose.
Since the show’s launch, ITV says it has seen a 500% increase in Google searches for ‘The Post Office’ and has achieved 1.43 billion impressions due to over 194,000 mentions of the scandal across social media, the news, and broadcasters.
In January, the month the show was released, total ITV viewing was up by 5% against its target for the month, as streaming hours rose 60% year on year and digital revenue increased by 14% year on year. GG
It’s now down to you to vote for your favourite to help us crown Marketing Week readers’ campaign of the year. Place your votes in the first round here.
