Creativity is contagious, people pass it on.
This week is a bit of a mammoth one, but it has been a bit of a mammoth year.
I’ve been back through the archives and identified what I think are the top 10 campaigns from the year and why. There are some absolute gems in here, and if I were to do that thing where I try and identify a commonality, something that they have in common, I would say one thing. They all made me feel something.
And this hasn’t happened by chance, these have been built and designed to make you feel, they have been designed to trigger an emotional response as if you feel something you are more likely to remember something. And for brands, where 90% of people are not actively looking to buy the moment that they come into contact with you, you need to do something that is so memorable that you are the first thing that your target customer thinks of or searches for when they need the thing that you sell.
There are 27 types of emotions: Admiration, adoration, aesthetic appreciation, amusement, anger, anxiety, awe, awkwardness, boredom, calmness, confusion, craving, disgust, empathic pain, entrancement, excitement, fear, horror, interest, joy, nostalgia, relief, romance, sadness, satisfaction, sexual desire, surprise.
Which one you should lever is highly dependent on the brand, the job to done, and the action you want to take. Good marketing doesn’t happen by chance, it is designed
In each of these instances, I have outlined what is the emotion that the campaign has centered around.
Without further ado, here are what I think are the top brand campaigns of the year.
Derry Girls
The emotion evoked: nostalgia
Just Seventeen, Spice Girls, The GAP hoodie, CDroms, cargo pants, crop tops and Kangol hats.
The 90s, what a time to be a teen.
This campaign propels me straight back into the 90s. I could almost imagine gossiping about which Backstreet Boy would fall in love with me (Nick Carter, I'm still waiting) and how many times I could roll up my school skirt. To mark the launch of the Derry Girls third and final series (sob), Channel 4 have re-made the iconic 90s magazine, Smash hits. 28 pages of gold.
The campaign has also been extended to TikTok and a digital experience has been launched on Spotify in which users can create their own 'mixtapes' by selecting 90s tracks and loading them onto a virtual customisable cassette tape.
This campaign ties beautifully in with the 90s nostalgia that is having a resurgence.
Ace & Tate
The emotion evoked: amusement
Meet the customer where they are at emotionally and physically is one of my favourite sayings. I have it printed out on the wall in front of my desk.
Being able to meet the customer emotionally means that you need to understand how they are feeling, the context, the situation, what is their pain point and why and then join the jots for them that you are best placed to solve it.
This doesn't have to be serious, in fact, humour is one of the most powerful sticking points, and it's why I absolutely love the latest campaign from Ace & Tate.
You see this face- the one-eyed squint, and you know exactly what it is for. Sunglasses.
Interestingly, they have chosen not to put the product in the shot. It's a daring move as Ace & Tate are not a mass-market brand. But, I think this is bold and brilliant. It conveys luxury and authority; these are so good that they don't have to be on show.
A small build would have been to add a QR code at the bottom of the artwork so that it could bypass the need for a physical search and take people straight to the product.
What do you think? Is it a strong enough campaign without having to have the product in shot?
Random House
The emotion evoked: anger
“Because powerful words can never be extinguished”
These 6 words sent shivers down my spine.
In a bold move to protest book bans and censorship in American schools, author Margaret Atwood has created a special edition unburnable copy of her novel The Handmaid’s Tale- a book that has been marred with controversy in 1985.
The book will be auctioned at Sotheby's in New York on June 7, with all proceeds going to PEN America- a non for profit that works to support free expression.
The challenge I set to you is when thinking about your next campaign what is the story beyond the story. What can you weave into the narrative so that it gets people talking and sharing.
I love a good fact; who doesn’t?
Humans are innately curious beings, we have a thirst to know more.
Facts also provide excellent social currency in conversations- did you know that…. I learned the strangest thing today.... (or what happened in my house last night), "so you know that I am terrible at remembering to go to the petrol station, well, when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon that he only had 15 seconds of fuel left.... at least I'm not that bad".
Checkout.com have used mind-boggling facts as a way to draw people in and talk about conversion rates and the increase that their payment platform provides. Whereas most brands would likely lead with the ROI, the uplift, Checkout.com know that people buy on emotion and justify with logic. Yep this is B2B but B2C principles apply!
The second part of the campaign which I loved, is where the message was delivered, I saw this campaign peppered along the commuter route- from the suburbs of North London into the city—physically meeting their target consumer where they are at.
CALM
The emotion evoked: sadness
Sometimes you see something so emotionally powerful that it leaves you speechless and simultaneously compelled to talk to everyone about it.
This is what the campaign 'Suicidal doesn't always look suicidal' by CALM did for me.
This campaign demonstrates the power of building emotion into your work.
To reference a book that I inhaled recently by Geoff Hoffman, former CMO of Nike- we ‘need to to create work that has ‘emotion by design' built into it.
Great creativity makes people feel something and drives them towards some sort of action. As a brand, you are looking to stir the deepest emotions in an individual or your audience in a way that, goes beyond just a product.
After watching this I reached out to a number of people in my life and asked if they are ok, really ok.
OTO
The emotion evoked: nostalgia
"I can't get no sleep……"
These 5 words take me back, it's dark, the is tempo rising, the energy pulsating. For anyone who is still scratching their heads, these are the infamous words from Faithless's 90s Banger Insomnia. And it's get's me every time.
But, never did I ever expect them to become the soundtrack to me getting to sleep better. OTO the CBD supplement company has remastered the track in their latest campaign, into a 27-minute long sleep aid.
This experiential process, which has been remixed with the help of scientists to meet the tempo and frequencies for sleep allows the music to wash over them and take them to a different place.
This is unexpected and brilliant.
And number 1- the campaign that I have told the most people about is
Elvie:
The emotion evoked: depending on the side of the fence: disgust, interest, surprise
Made you look.
Made you think.
In my eyes the best type of creativity.
Elvie (the female wellbeing tech company) have launched a new installation that tackles the taboo of incontinence, via a 10ft tall peeing billboard.
The campaign is aiming to change the narrative when it comes to the perception of incontinence and who it affects. Spoiler 1 in 5 Women in the UK are affected at some point and for many there are products that can help.
What do you think? Is this unfit for public consumption or a conversation that needs to be had loudly and in public?