Our Favourite Advertising Campaigns of 2023

It was an fascinating 12 months to be a marketer. Expectations had been excessive, budgets had been low, content material moved on the velocity of sunshine, and entrepreneurs needed to make magic occur by means of all of it.

As 2023 involves an in depth, I polled the HubSpot Media Staff to see what their favourite advertising campaigns of the 12 months had been. Take a look at the total run-down beneath.

HubSpot Media’s Favourite Advertising Campaigns of 2023

The Barbie Film

Let’s begin with the plain: Barbie owned the primary half of 2023.

To advertise the summer time blockbuster, Warner Bros. and Mattel teamed as much as execute probably the most sturdy, well-rounded advertising campaigns we’ve ever seen. The “Barbie” film’s advertising engine, from experiential activations to product collaborations, had all of it. A number of the highlights embody:

• Ken’s Malibu Dreamhouse that was listed on Airbnb
• Barbie-themed co-branded merchandise with manufacturers like Crocks, XBOX, BEIS, and Homesick Candles
• An experiential Barbie-themed boat cruise in Boston
• The Barbie meme generator

Nonetheless, Warner Bros. and Mattel can’t take all of the credit score — “Barbie” additionally had a ton of natural advertising help. Opening the identical weekend as “Oppenheimer” led film followers to create the “Barbenheimer” double characteristic development on social media, giving each movies a advertising increase. Additionally, anytime we noticed the colour pink this 12 months, we couldn’t assist however consider Barbie.

Snoop Dogg and Solo Range

Within the fall, Snoop Dogg shared a cryptic social media publish implying that he was giving up smoking. Naturally, the publish garnered lots of consideration, as Snoop Dogg’s marijuana use has been a giant a part of his model since day one.

It seems the publish was a teaser to advertise his collaboration with Solo Range, a model that sells smokeless hearth pits. The model introduced Snoop was its official “smokesman” and dropped an official advert days after his preliminary social media publish.

Walmart Black Friday

Walmart tapped into nostalgia advertising in a giant means with its “Imply Women” themed Black Friday marketing campaign.

The retailer rolled out a sequence of commercials starring the unique solid of the 2004 movie reprising their roles. This marketing campaign was well-produced and successfully focused the biggest demographic of vacation consumers: millennials.

Millennials are anticipated to spend extra than different generations this vacation season. The unique “Imply Women” was a generational movie that many millennials know and love, and the adverts instantly sparked nostalgia for this necessary group of customers.

Dunkin’ Donuts x Ben Affleck

In February, Dunkin’ Donuts aired its first-ever Tremendous Bowl business starring Ben Affleck. The Massachusetts-raised actor has been photographed having fun with Dunkin’ espresso a number of instances through the years, so it made sense for him to turn into an official spokesperson for the model.

The Superbowl business kicked off a sequence of Dunkin’ Donuts adverts starring Affleck, and the partnership is a good instance of brand name alignment and a celeb endorsement that simply is smart.

Nicki Minaj’s Gag Metropolis

Nicki Minaj has probably the most engaged fan bases on the planet. This 12 months Minaj followers, often known as the Barbz, rallied across the launch of her newest album Pink Friday 2 successfully making a viral advertising second for the rapper.

In September, Minaj shared the album cowl on social media. The duvet featured her set in a pink futuristic metropolis. Her followers shortly started utilizing the time period “Gag Metropolis” to explain the album cowl and used AI to generate their very own pink cityscape photographs to depict Gag Metropolis. Barbz basically created a web-based world and generated memes to assist promote the album.

Different manufacturers like Baskin Robbins and Microsoft Bing shortly bought in on the motion, creating their very own Gag Metropolis photographs and including gas to the development.

Whereas it’s unclear whether or not the Gag Metropolis marketing campaign was deliberate advertising from Minaj and her label or purely an natural motion created by her followers, it’s an fascinating case examine on the intersection of fan UGC and generative AI.

Dove Self-Esteem Venture

The Dove Self-Esteem Venture had a string of stellar campaigns supporting its impression work this 12 months.

Within the spring, Dove took on social media magnificence filters with the #TurnYourBack marketing campaign. The marketing campaign featured celebrities and influencers sharing unretouched content material warning their followers in regards to the risks of digital distortion and inspiring them to show their again on filters that change their pure options.

Quickly after, Dove launched an initiative with Lizzo referred to as the Dove Self-Esteem Venture Analysis for Youngsters On-line Security. The aim of the marketing campaign was to attract consideration to the Youngsters On-line Security Act, which promotes security on social media for younger customers. To help the invoice, Dove produced a movie referred to as “Price of Magnificence” to spotlight the impression social media magnificence requirements can have on younger folks’s psychological well being.

As we lined this fall, Dove additionally teamed up with Nike to launch the Physique Assured Sport initiative, which inspires women’ participation in youth sports activities throughout and after puberty. Along with an academic toolkit for coaches and caregivers, the Physique Assured Sport marketing campaign included a sequence of YouTube movies depicting the advantages of ladies’ participation in sports activities.

From cinema to social impression, 2023 had its justifiable share of efficient campaigns. We sit up for seeing what entrepreneurs have in retailer for 2024.