Being a marketing student means that I will never look at an advertising or marketing campaign the same way again. In a world saturated with more online content than ever before, companies and brands strive to stand out from the crowd. I’ve decided to share some of my favorite campaigns and ads, and why they have stood out to me.
This is one of those ads that I still think about to this day, and it aired 5 years ago. This ad is powerful, inspiring, and remarkably well executed. This ad not only celebrated the US women’s national soccer team victory in the 2019 World Cup, but highlighted the ongoing pay gap between the Women’s and Men’s National teams and the gender discrimination seen in all women’s sports. To this day, I think Nike hit the nail on this ad and I have not seen another one that has elicited that same chilling emotion from me. Nike targeted this ad beautifully and highlighted important issues, while also empowering the younger generation of girls.
The Harris-Walz creative team dominated this election. No matter your political affiliation, the Harris-Walz campaign had innovative, creative, and relatable advertising, something not seen before in the political atmosphere. In Tim Walz’s Playbook ad, he broke down Trump’s Project 2025 in football terms. This ad did so many things correctly, including a relatable metaphor, a focus on unity, and visual and emotional appeal. These factors allowed the ad to appeal to a wide audience, establish credibility, and bridge the gap between Walz’s large voter demographic, making this a highly effective campaign ad.
This ad struck a more personal nerve for me. It is emotional and brings up an important issue: the pay gap around the world. This campaign does a wonderful job at highlighting this national issue and the misogyny integrated in our societies around the world. This ad campaign was distributed to over 800 digital poster sites across the UK. With its powerful message, this most definitely elicited the emotional response sought after through its graphics.
Although not an official ad or graphic, Lizzie (@lizzieletson on TikTok) created an ad for a school project that was so good it deserves to be mentioned. She was asked to create an ad for cigarettes targeted towards women. With the captivating and suggestive slogan, “Something Actually Worth Blowing” it uses effective messaging and eye-catching graphics, such as lipstick prints, to further target it towards women.
Often in food advertising the products are made to look pristine and appetizing, but Joe and the Juice broke this barrier. In an ad to announce new smoothie flavor drops, they show smoothies that are split on the ground, counter, and in the car. This creative take on breaking advertising norms creates a sense of understanding between the brand and the consumer with a literal take on their saying: new smoothies dropped. Interrupting this norm creates a unique, unexpected, yet effective ad.
Advertisements and campaigns continue to innovate and break creative barriers. With so many creative products and brands striving to stand out, advertising continues to pave the way for creativity, digital storytelling, and connection amongst communities.