These 2024 campaigns showcase how top brands excelled by creatively aligning with their target audiences, leveraging cultural relevance, and innovating across tactics. Below is a summary of the top campaigns and the strategies that drove their success:
1. Liquid Death: Casket Cooler Collaboration with Yeti
Award: Best Challenger Brand Marketing
- Tactics:
- Outlandish brand collaborations (e.g., corpse paint with E.l.f. Cosmetics, hot fudge sundae with Van Leeuwen, casket cooler with Yeti).
- Reliance on organic buzz, skipping paid media.
- Leveraging humor and unpredictability to drive engagement.
- Impact:
- $68,000 Yeti casket sold at auction.
- E.l.f. collaboration generated 250M social impressions.
- Van Leeuwen LTO sold out in 7 hours.
2. Chili’s: Big Smasher BurgerTime Game
Award: Best Use of Nostalgia
- Tactics:
- Leveraged the ’80s arcade game BurgerTime to promote its menu.
- Highlighted value positioning while poking fun at fast-food chains.
- Tied nostalgia with cultural relevance via an intuitive gaming experience.
- Impact:
- 8,184 gameplay hours in 20 days.
- Enhanced consumer connection to Chili’s menu offerings.
3. Calvin Klein: Jeremy Allen White Campaign
Award: Best Celebrity Tie-In
- Tactics:
- Tapped into Jeremy Allen White’s rising stardom from The Bear.
- Two-phase campaign: rooftop workout visuals for spring, poolside vibe for fall.
- Focused on “cultural velocity” to amplify authenticity.
- Impact:
- $74M in media value, including $12M within 48 hours of the campaign debut.
- Broadened reach with TikTok virality and cross-platform appeal.
4. E.l.f. Cosmetics: Purpose-Driven Campaigns
Award: Best Purpose-Driven Marketing
- Tactics:
- Launched provocative campaigns addressing diversity in corporate leadership.
- Used attention-grabbing visuals in high-profile locations.
- Encouraged other brands to follow its purpose-driven model.
- Impact:
- “So Many Dicks” campaign highlighted board diversity issues with 99% positive sentiment.
- Elevated the brand ethos and long-term consumer loyalty.
5. Gap: Music-Centric TikTok Campaigns
Award: Best Use of Music in Marketing
- Tactics:
- Partnered with pop stars (e.g., Troye Sivan, Tyla) and choreographers for music-driven ads.
- TikTok-inspired dance routines and interactive social campaigns.
- Multi-platform media rollout, including curated playlists.
- Impact:
- Engagement rates of 8.72%, exceeding benchmarks.
- Strengthened Gen Z connections and supported Gap’s comeback narrative.
6. Lay’s: “Groundhog Lay’s” TV Campaign
Award: Best Media Strategy
- Tactics:
- Ran 75 TV spots on Groundhog Day, leveraging the time-loop theme from Groundhog Day.
- Used linear TV to hack the pre-Super Bowl cultural conversation at a fraction of the cost.
- Emphasized simplicity and speed to market (two-week production timeline).
- Impact:
- 1.4B earned media impressions.
- Won Clio Gold for brand promotion.
7. Heineken: “Boring Mode” App Campaign
Award: Best Mobile Campaign
- Tactics:
- Developed a “boring phone” app that disables notifications and apps during social events.
- Designed limited-edition nostalgic phones in partnership with Bodega.
- Tied campaign to research highlighting smartphone fatigue at social gatherings.
- Impact:
- 70K+ people competed for 5,000 nostalgic phones.
- Reimagined event experiences with digital disconnection.
Key Takeaways for 2025:
- Embrace Cultural Moments: Align with trends or holidays to amplify relevance (e.g., Lay’s and Groundhog Day).
- Drive Conversations: Unconventional partnerships and provocations (Liquid Death, E.l.f.) resonate across media.
- Leverage Nostalgia: Simplified, retro experiences (Chili’s, Heineken) can evoke strong emotional connections.
- Prioritize Authenticity: Celebrity collaborations (Calvin Klein) or purpose-driven marketing (E.l.f.) yield long-term brand affinity.
Would you like an expanded analysis of any particular campaign or lessons on how these tactics can be applied across industries?