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Jan 2024
We bring you a round-up of the biggest and best Creative, Digital, and OOH marketing and advertising campaigns each month in 2023.
As the festive season comes to an end and a new year commences, we round-up the last flurry of the most impactful Creative, Digital, and OOH advertising campaigns released in December 2023.
From a Walkers-themed sleigh driven by 'Father Crispmas' himself (aka Gary Lineker), to removing the ‘bull’ when selling your home courtesy of Purplebricks, to hijacking a Chanel fashion show with a series of brazen out-of-home activations – here’s our list of 8 of the best campaigns this month.
January to March - Campaigns #1 - 24
April to June - Campaigns #25 - 48
July to September - Campaigns #49 - 72
October - Campaigns #73 - 80
November - Campaigns #81 - 88
December - Campaigns #89 - 96
Take a look at our calendar of free virtual strategy workshops, designed to tackle the key challenges faced by our network of marketing leaders.
Brand: Kellogg’s Company - Kellanova
Category: Food
Medium: Brand Architecture
Industry giants Kellogg’s is now operating as two separate entities – WK Kellogg Co and Kellanova – following a split between its US-based cereal business and global snacking organisation.
Well known sub-brands such as Pringles, Pop-Tarts and Nutri-Grain sit under the Kellanova banner. Whilst WK Kellogg Co will house a variety of cereals, including Frosted Flakes, Special K, Rise Krispies and Corn Flakes.
Consumers will still be able to recognise Kellogg’s iconic branding on product packaging around the world – but it will be shared by both independently run companies.
To introduce their change in brand architecture, Kellogg’s took over screens across the globe with bold out-of-home and digital out-of-home activity.
View our Round-up: The Foundations of a Strong Brand Architecture for your Business
Brand: Trebor – Mondeléz International
Category: Confectionery
Agency: elvis
Medium: DOOH, Radio, Social
Trebor launches geo-targeted social campaign celebrating diverse accents across the UK in an aim to strengthen the brand’s purpose among consumers.
Developed in partnership with creative agency elvis, ‘Own it – Be proud of How You Sound’ encourages audiences from all regions to record a Trebor ad in their unique accent for a chance to star in the advert.
Running across radio, digital out-of-home and supported by a QR code to Instagram – the confectionary brand selected ten voices from thousands of entries that will feature in the radio spots across various networks.
Brand: Norwich City FC + Samaritans
Category: Mental Health Awareness
Medium: Social, TV
Norwich City FC in collaboration with the Samaritans released a heartbreaking film that rippled across the football community ahead of World Mental Health Day.
The powerful suicide prevention campaign urges fans to check in on each other no matter how things may look on the outside – because ‘sometimes the signs are harder to spot’.
The two-minute spot created in-house and viewed over 40 million times, shows two friends at a Norwich match – one visibly more excited and extroverted than the other – however in an impactful turn of events becomes the victim of suicide.
View: 8 of the Most Impactful Ad Campaigns of October 2022
Brand: British Gas
Category: Utilities
Agency: The&Partnership + OMD UK
Medium: TV, Cinema, Radio
British Gas sets athletes in peak form for household chores in tongue-in-cheek TV spot aimed to highlight its new energy-saving initiative.
Developed by The&Partnership and OMD UK, the campaign features three notable Team GB and Paralympics GB athletes; Tom Daley, Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Ellie Simmonds.
The 60-second spot places the contestants in a race against time as they compete to confine their electricity usage within daylight hours – for which British Gas rewards its customers with half-price electricity due to renewable sources being more readily available.
Brand: Girl vs Cancer
Category: Charity
Agency: BBH
Medium: TV, OOH
Community charity Girl vs Cancer partnered with creative agency BBH in a campaign to tackle the taboos around sex for those who are living with cancer.
Based around the findings that as many as 60% of women with cancer experience sexual dysfunction, the bold ad aims to confront stigmas around sexual health and pleasure within the cancer community.
Led by three candid films, the campaign is centred around the thought-stopping execution ‘Cancer won’t be the last thing that f*cks me’, discussing how female cancer patients have rediscovered their sexuality along the challenging journey.
Supported by social media and OOH activity, the creatives also intend to drive people to a dedicated section on the Girl vs Cancer website offering supportive advice and information.
Brand: Not On The High Street
Category: Online Retail
Agency: Uncommon London + Hearts & Science + Grand Visual + Talon
Medium: OOH
Online marketplace Not On The High Street calls out the devastating landfill impact of bad gifting with spectacular 3D out-of-home campaign.
The creatives inspired by the findings that over 3 million Christmas gifts were thrown away last year, aims to raise awareness of the impact bad gifting has on the planet, as well as a reminder to consumers to not be wasteful during a cost-of-living crisis.
Developed in collaboration with Uncommon London, Hearts & Science, Grand Visual and Talon, the 3D special builds titled ‘Don’t’ Gift Landfill’, ‘Don’t Gift Big Biz’ and ‘Don’t Gift Boring’ are located on London’s Westfield Shepherd’s Bush and Vinegar Yard and Manchester’s Salford Chapel Street.
Category: Online food delivery service
Agency: Mother
Medium: TV, VOD, OOH
Uber enlists celebrities Robert De Niro and Asa Butterfield in their latest integrated ad campaign for its ‘Uber One’ service.
The touching ad sees the stars become unlikeliest of friends, bonding over their love of ‘eating food’ and ‘going places’ - activities Uber One can facilitate for.
Developed by London-based creative agency Mother, the hero spot will run across TV, broadcaster video-on-demand, and digital in a wide range of different cut-down formats.
Out-of-home assets have also been produced to support the lead film and highlight the benefits of Uber One membership.
View our Round-up: 5 Common Mistakes to Building your Brand’s Online Reputation – and How to Tackle them
Brand: Meta
Category: Charity
Medium: OOH
Meta’s Reality Labs embraces the spooky season with the introduction of fully immersive ‘Halloween Thrillboards’, marking the launch of Meta Quest 3.
Developed in partnership with AMV BBDO and Unit 9, the activation flips the script on traditional 2D content, instead featuring immersive mixed reality.
The disruptive billboards offer people the chance to step inside it, and experience two huge entertainment franchises available on the headset – Ghostbusters and The Walking Dead – intended to demonstrate Meta Quest 3’s immersive technology.
AMV BBDO creative directors, Michael Jones and Thomas Hazledine says, “unlike most Halloween launches, games on the new Meta Quest 3 are a world-expanding experience that blurs the lines between gaming and reality.”
Brand: Duracell
Category: Battery Manufacture
Agency: Wunderman Thompson UK
Medium: TV, OOH, Social
Duracell sparks this year’s Christmas ads to life with a new integrated campaign in collaboration with international agency Wunderman Thompson UK.
The ad marks the return of the Duracell Bunny in the brand’s first festive outing for 5 years to help save Santa from a blackout this Christmas – with back-up batteries on hand.
The campaign will be led with a hero TV spot as well as extending across out-of-home, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and in-store activations.
Wunderman Thompson's Executive Creative Director, Tom Drew said the ad was a “joy to play with”, adding that “toys without batteries are like a creative department without a Christmas brief.”
View our 2022 Christmas Ads Tracker
Brand: Aldi UK
Category: Supermarket Chain
Agency: McCann
Medium: TV
Kevin the Carrot makes a welcome return this festive season in Aldi’s Willy Wonka themed Christmas ad.
Developed by the supermarket’s long-serving creative partner McCann, this will be the eighth year that Kevin and gang have starred in Aldi’s much-anticipated festive campaigns.
The ad opens with five lucky winners – including Kevin, of course – excitedly waiting to enter William Conker’s Magical Christmas Factory.
Other visitors to the factory include – Greedy Gluttonous Grape and Naughty Green Kiwi – who, one by one, fall at various hurdles until Kevin is the last carrot standing.
Brand: Amazon
Category: eCommerce
Agency: Hungry Man + DLMDD
Medium: TV, VOD, Social Media
Ecommerce giant Amazon unveils ode to friendship in 2023 Christmas ad, developed by the brand’s internal creative team in collaboration with production agency Hungry Man.
The festive campaign centred around a 60-second ad - ‘Joy Ride’ tells the story of three older women reviving their lifelong friendship by reliving youthful escapades sledging down a snow-covered hill.
Set to The Beatles’ ‘In My Life’, the ad features a specially recorded rendition of the classic song produced by sonic branding agency DLMDD, and will run across TV, video-on-demand as well as social media through to the end of December.
View: 8 of the Most Impactful Ad Campaigns of November 2022
Brand: KFC UK
Category: Fast Food Restaurant Chain
Agency: Mother
Medium: TV, OOH
KFC put an end to the rumours that it would be launching a limited-edition Kentucky Fried Turkey for the festive season with its no-nonsense 2023 Christmas ad.
Developed by creative agency Mother, the ad is essentially the world’s first anti user-generated content campaign, as it tells audiences they heard their suggestions but ultimately will ignore them and ‘stick to chicken’ this Christmas.
The 40-second ad will be supported by a variety of OOH promoting KFC’s festive offering, the ‘Stuffing Stacker’ – with not a hint of turkey in sight.
Brand: Charlie’s Bar
Category: Pub
Medium: Social Media
Northern Ireland pub, Charlie’s Bar releases £700 Christmas ad shot on an iPhone yet dubbed ‘better’ than John Lewis’ effort.
The short film has captured the hearts of social media users, by showing an elderly man heading out to lay flowers on a grave, before strolling around town appearing to be lonely, with failed attempts to greet various passers-by.
Once he reaches the pub, he sits alone until a young couple invite him over to their table and a friendship begins.
The video finishes with a quote from WB Yeats: “There are no strangers here, only friends you haven’t yet met.”
Workshop Playback: Investing in Long-Term Audience Engagement with Creative Storytelling
Brand: Royal Mail
Category: Postal Services
Agency: AMV BBDO
Medium: Digital, VOD, Social Media
The Royal Mail unveils a new campaign honouring the hands-on work of posties during the busy festive period.
Developed by AMV BBDO, the campaign launches at one of the most intense times of years for the brand, with double the number of parcels and stamped letters sent than usual.
Set to a specifically commissioned poem by TS Eliot prize winning poet Roger Robinson and Read by actor Soppe Dirisu, the video aims to highlight the warmth and humanity showed by posties to their customers.
Directed by Stink Films’ Tom Green the 30 and 60 second versions will run across digital, social, and video-on-demand platforms.
Brand: Burger King UK
Category: Fast Food Restaurant Chain
Agency: BBH
Medium: OOH, Radio
Restaurant chain Burger King has prioritised out-of-home media in a cheekily subversive TV-free Christmas campaign.
Developed in partnership with London agency BBH, the creative is centred around an image of Santa tucking into the famous ‘Whopper’ burger – with an obvious play on Santa’s status as being perhaps the biggest lie ever sold to children.
Burger King has deliberately opted to run the creative after the key festive advertising rush to maximise impact.
View our Round-up: 6 Ways to Drive Differentiation Through your Marketing Strategy
Brand: Audible
Category: Podcast Service
Agency: Fold7
Medium: OOH
Audiobook and podcast service Audible harnesses the power of storytelling with innovative out-of-home campaign.
Created by London agency Fold7, the creative revolves around special-build outdoor ads that highlight three of the most popular genres featured on the Audible platform: sci-fi, true crime and fantasy.
Each separate execution leverages lighting, 3D artwork and FX to best communicate the key themes of each genre, featuring a bespoke strapline that aims to draw the viewer in.
Brand: Columbia Sportswear
Category: Apparel
Agency: Rapport (IMPACT team)
Medium: DOOH
Columbia Sportswear’s latest campaign ‘Go out anyway’ uses real-time weather data to provide personalised DOOH ads which plays on the nation’s favourite topic – the unpredictable weather.
Developed in partnership with Rapport agency’s IMPACT team, the innovative campaign features irreverent copy that pokes fun on stereotypes associated with the British weather.
The billboards are rolled out across high footfall locations in London and Manchester, including a hero execution at Waterloo station.
Workshop Playback: Telling Stronger Brand Stories with Emotive and Behavioural Marketing
Brand: Walkers
Category: Food
Medium: Public Stunt
Gary Lineker poses as Father Crispmas with a Walkers-themed sleigh around Battersea power station, marking the football icon’s 30th year with the brand.
Driving a red and gold Walkers branded sleigh wearing a ‘modern’ santa suit, Lineker shocked onlookers by finally sharing his crisps after years of refusing to in several adverts.
The stunt marked the launch of the brand’s Christmas ad as well as coinciding with the launch of a new range of limited-edition flavours ahead of the festive season – including Walkers Festive Turkey, Pigs in Blankets, and a Christmas Pudding flavour.
Brand: TikTok
Category: Social media network
Agency: Lucky Generals
Medium: TV, OOH, Radio
Social media network TikTok showcases the life-changing potential of its usage in an emotional, new ad spotlighting a father’s fitness journey.
Developed in partnership with UK agency Lucky Generals, the omnichannel campaign appeared across a range of high-impact, out-of-home sites across the nation from Waterloo Station to the Cromination.
The ad will also run across TV supported by additional radio, podcast and in-app executions featuring ‘home-grown’ TikTok creator talent.
The Ultimate Guide to Updating your Video Content Strategy – Advice from our Experts
Brand: Crisis
Category: Charity
Agency: Good Agency
Medium: OOH
Homeless charity Crisis hits back at Suella Braverman’s comments describing homelessness as a ‘lifestyle choice’ with a thought-provoking campaign.
Developed with Good agency, the creative focuses on the fact that sleepers must ‘always keep one eye open’ due to the fear of being out in the open, with the organisation highlighting that it’s never a choice!
Using real quotes from homeless people, it is set to run in large, immersive OOH formats across Birmingham and West Midlands, as well as digital and press channels in the run up to Christmas, in hope to raise awareness of the pressing issue.
Brand: Purplebricks
Category: Estate agent
Agency: Brothers & Sisters + MSix & Partners
Medium: TV
Purplebricks released its new relaunch campaign, promising to remove all the ‘Bull’ that consumers face when trying to sell their homes.
Created by Brothers & Sisters, the campaign celebrates Purplebricks new offer allowing customers to have their house sold for no charge at all.
Launched on Boxing Day, ‘Goodbye Bull, Hello Purplebricks’ marks the first piece of work from Brothers & Sisters who won the account the previous month, with media agency MSix & Partners.
The campaign will also be bolstered by radio, OOH, and digital iterations.
Brand: Amazon Prime
Category: Streaming service
Agency: Dark Horses
Medium: TV, VOD, Social Media
Harry Kane stars in a new Prime promotion, which shows him battling the festive blues, and being cheered up by Premier League fixtures on the streaming platform.
Spearheaded by Dark Horses and directed by Hunky Dory Films’ Tom Marshall, the film shows the Bayern Munich star carrying out Christmas various activities yet failing to get into the full spirit of the holiday.
Realising it’s just not Christmas without football, Kane settles in to watch the Boxing Day fixtures, and instantly feels more festive.
Brand: On the Beach
Category: Travel
Medium: OOH
Travel firm On the Beach hijacked a star-studded Chanel fashion show taking place in Manchester’s Northern Quarter with a series of brazen out-of-home activations.
Comparing the designer brand’s frankly eye-watering prices to its own cut-price holiday deals, On the Beach’s rapidly deployed tactical ads drove home its competitive pricing proposition.
One of the holiday operator’s ads for example featured an image of a Chanel handbag with the words – ‘This bag’s £5,093 cheaper in Turkey. (May as well get some sun while you’re there too).’
View: 8 of the Most Impactful Ad Campaigns of December 2022
Brand: Tesco
Category: Supermarket chain
Agency: BBH + Kinetic + N2O + EssenceMediacom
Medium: OOH
Tesco brought its festive TV advert to life last week in a showstopping OOH activation at London’s Kings Cross station in a bid to help commuters ‘become more Christmas’.
Created by BBH, Kinetic, N2O and EssenceMediacom, the initial digital billboard gradually filled up to show a banquet full of Tesco’s festive offerings – including giant baubles, stars, Christmas trees, and fairy lights.
The OOH experience culminated with a choir singing Christmas carols on the 15th of December.
“A poster that becomes more Christmas over time is a simple yet charming way that demonstrates just how big the idea of #BecomeMoreChristmas really is,” said BBH deputy executive creative director Felipe Serradourada Guimaraes.
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