<div class="gn-article"><div class="gn-hero gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-hero__image"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6877701b88030d58f11ac053/6a3907779f4ed620c71aece7_13_03-cotm-banner.webp" alt=""></div> <div class="gn-hero__head"> <span class="gn-kicker"><span class="dot"></span>Expression · Top pick</span> <h1 class="gn-title">The Best Marketing Campaigns of 2026 – Monthly Review</h1> <div class="gn-meta"> <strong>The GO Network</strong> <span class="pip"></span> <span>3 July 2026</span> <span class="pip"></span> <span>43 min read</span> </div> </div> </div> <div class="gn-body"> <div class="gn-reveal" data-rt-embed-type='true'><style> .go-month-nav{ position:sticky; top:20px; z-index:5; margin:30px 0; } .go-month-track{ display:flex; gap:10px; overflow-x:auto; padding:10px; background:#ffffff; border-radius:40px; border:1px solid #e6e6e6; box-shadow:0 6px 20px rgba(0,0,0,0.08); } .go-month-track::-webkit-scrollbar{ display:none; } .go-month-link{ white-space:nowrap; padding:8px 14px; border-radius:20px; font-size:14px; font-weight:500; text-decoration:none; color:#222; background:#f6f6f6; transition:all .2s ease; } .go-month-link:hover{ background:#45ac62; color:#fff; transform:translateY(-1px); } </style> <div class="go-month-nav"> <div class="go-month-track"> <a class="go-month-link" href="#january">January</a> <a class="go-month-link" href="#february">February</a> <a class="go-month-link" href="#march">March</a> <a class="go-month-link" href="#april">April</a> <a class="go-month-link" href="#may">May</a> <a class="go-month-link" href="#june">June</a> </div> </div></div> <p class="gn-lede gn-reveal">Each month, a handful of campaigns manage to rise above the noise, not through bigger budgets or louder messaging, but through clarity of idea and confidence in execution. From bold experiments to emotionally grounded brand platforms, these are the campaigns that captured attention for the right reasons, reflecting where culture, creativity, and commercial thinking are aligning right now. <strong>This monthly review</strong> breaks down the work that mattered, why it worked, and what it signals for the year ahead.</p> <div class="gn-reveal" data-rt-embed-type='true'><hr style=" border:0; height:1px; margin:22px 0; background:linear-gradient( 90deg, rgba(69,172,98,0), rgba(69,172,98,0.8), rgba(69,172,98,0) ); "></div> <h2 class="gn-reveal">Want help <strong>finding an agency </strong>that can deliver campaigns like these?</h2> <p class="gn-reveal">Download our free guide to choosing the right agency → <a href="https://www.thegonetwork.com/guide-for-brands"><strong>Download Guide</strong></a></p> <div class="gn-reveal" data-rt-embed-type='true'><hr style=" border:0; height:1px; margin:22px 0; background:linear-gradient( 90deg, rgba(69,172,98,0), rgba(69,172,98,0.8), rgba(69,172,98,0) ); "></div> <div class="gn-reveal" data-rt-embed-type='true'><div id="january" style="scroll-margin-top:120px;"></div></div> <h2 class="gn-reveal">January</h2> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#01</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Moju: "Bring on the Boom"</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Moju</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> Leo UK</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> TV, Social</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">Vitality, immunity and gut-health shots brand <strong>Moju</strong> sets the tone for the day in this sharp 30-second film, turning a simple morning ritual into something far bigger.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The spot opens with Paul taking a shot of Moju's Fresh Root Ginger before being instantly transported onto a stage in front of a roaring crowd, reframing his everyday routine as a headline moment. A presenter emerges to hype both Paul and the audience, building momentum as the crowd chants "Bring on the boom," positioning energy and readiness as a mindset rather than a product benefit.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The film was directed by <strong>Max Barden</strong> through <strong>Anonymous</strong>, with creative by <strong>Conrad Swanston</strong> and <strong>Alex Bingham</strong>, delivering a confident, performance-led take on how brands can dramatise functional products without over-explaining them.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eQWRbEEyzH8" title="Moju &quot;Bring on the boom&quot; by Leo UK" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>Moju "Bring on the Boom" by Leo UK.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#02</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Tesco: For The Love Of It</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Tesco</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> BBH London</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> TV, OOH, Radio, Print and Social</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal"><em>For the Love of It</em> sees <strong>Tesco</strong> tackling a familiar truth: when money is tight, the hardest thing to give up is not quantity, but the brands people feel emotionally attached to.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Rather than leaning on rational price comparison alone, the campaign reframes value through devotion. It recognises that branded favourites are deeply embedded in everyday life, and that asking shoppers to compromise on them creates real tension. By anchoring the work to Tesco's Everyday Low Prices commitment, the campaign turns consistency and reassurance into the emotional payoff.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Developed by <strong>BBH London</strong>, the film uses heightened drama and humour to mirror those moments of internal negotiation, playing out small but recognisable standoffs between loyalty and restraint. Familiar brand cues and cultural references are used not as gimmicks, but as emotional shorthand, reminding viewers that these products mean something beyond their price tag.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Running across TV, radio, out-of-home and press, the campaign elevates a value message into a brand statement. It proves that price-led communications do not have to feel transactional, and that when insight leads, even the most functional propositions can land with warmth, humanity, and cultural relevance.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tCMBQCZplQ0" title="Tesco 'For the love of itʼ" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>Tesco "For the Love of It" by BBH London.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#03</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Flat White or F*ck Off</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Flat White Or F*Ck Off</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> Ask The Impossible</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> OOH, Social, Experiential</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">Inspired by marketing provocateur <strong>Rory Sutherland,</strong> Flat White Or F*ck Off is a one-day experimental London pop-up designed to challenge over-customisation, decision fatigue, and slow coffee culture by serving just one thing: the perfect flat white.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Launched by <strong>Charlie Hurst, Tom Noble, Lucia Sudlow and Will Sudlow,</strong> the concept originated as a tongue-in-cheek thought experiment discussed on a podcast before being brought to life as a real-world activation outside Outernet, Tottenham Court Road. Open for a single day from 7am to 7pm, the pop-up removed menus, modifiers, and upsells entirely, offering commuters a radically simplified experience rooted in speed, clarity, and craft.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Working with creative production agency <strong>Ask The Impossible, </strong>the team transformed an abstract marketing idea into a live cultural test. From bean selection and brewing precision to customer flow and tone of voice, every detail was designed around a single-product mindset. London roasters Fireheart Coffee supplied the Palace Blend, reinforcing the focus on quality over choice.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The activation struck a nerve online ahead of launch, generating over two million Instagram impressions and sparking debate around modern consumer behaviour. By turning restriction into the creative hook, <strong>Flat White Or F*ck Off </strong>demonstrates how clarity, confidence, and disciplined execution can outperform infinite options in an attention-overloaded world.</p> <blockquote class="gn-blockquote gn-reveal">"When we started this journey we never dreamed of it taking off like it did. Each person on our team has elevated it to become something truly wonderful and hopefully this is just the beginning of things to come. We are now looking for investment to grow this brand and take it to the next level"<cite>Charlie Hurst</cite></blockquote> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6877701b88030d58f11ac053/6a16d05a064351313c9cfdeb_05_screenshot-2026-01-30-at-13-52-05.webp" alt="Flat White or F*ck Off pop-up activation outside Outernet, Tottenham Court Road"></div> <figcaption>Credit to Flat White or F*ck Off</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#04</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Absolut Vodka and Tabasco: ABSOLUT® TABASCO™</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Absolut Vodka and Tabasco</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> Wieden + Kennedy London</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> Video, Social, Digital</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">Absolut Vodka and Tabasco have teamed up to launch <strong>ABSOLUT® TABASCO™</strong>, a chili-pepper-infused vodka supported by a cinematic campaign that brings the drink's fiery personality to life. Created by<strong> Wieden + Kennedy London</strong>, the film reframes the product through dramatic, volcanic imagery where fiery Bloody Marys erupt instead of lava, anchoring the launch in sensory storytelling rather than traditional product messaging.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The campaign's striking visuals lean on the heritage of both brands while positioning the collaboration across YouTube and global digital channels as a cultural moment for bold flavour in spirits.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oKnWnKZeAPw" title="ABSOLUT® TABASCO™ | Two Icons Bringing the Heat" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>ABSOLUT® TABASCO™ — Two Icons Bringing the Heat, by Wieden + Kennedy London.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#05</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Lloyds: Bank On Lloyds</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Lloyds Bank</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> Publicis Go (Publicis Groupe Power of One)</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> OOH, AV, BVOD, Online Video, Audio, Digital, Social, Influencer</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">Lloyds unveils a major new brand strategy for 2026 with <strong><em>Bank on Lloyds</em></strong>, positioning itself as the trusted enabler of the nation's ambitions at a time when 75% of UK adults hope the year ahead will be one of progress. Built to inspire confidence and momentum, the platform reframes Lloyds' role from financial provider to partner in everyday aspiration, whether that's buying a first home, building savings, growing a business, or achieving greater financial security.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The campaign is anchored in two core principles, capability and possibility, brought to life through proof points that highlight Lloyds' scale, safety, and breadth of products, from its <strong>21.3 million digital app users</strong> to its position as the UK's leading lender for first-time buyers and a trusted partner to over one million businesses. A bold creative reset introduces a new design system and modern storytelling approach, ensuring consistency and emotional connection across every customer touchpoint.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Rolled out across national and iconic OOH locations including Piccadilly Lights and IMAX, alongside audio, digital, and AV executions across broadcast, BVOD, and online video, the campaign marks a confident reassertion of Lloyds' leadership. Developed with <strong>Publicis Groupe's bespoke Power of One team</strong>, Publicis Go, <em>Bank on Lloyds</em> signals the next chapter in the bank's experience-led brand evolution, reinforcing trust while inviting the nation to move forward with confidence.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6877701b88030d58f11ac053/6a16d062bdb198ef2f9e9455_22_lloyds-front-runner.webp" alt="Lloyds Bank on Lloyds campaign visual"></div> <figcaption>Credit to Pablo London</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#06</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Deliveroo: Unexpected Guest</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Deliveroo</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> Pablo London</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> TVC, BVOD, OOH, Radio, Digital, Social, Online Video</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong>Deliveroo</strong> continues its global brand platform <strong><em>Now Just Got Even Better</em></strong> with a playful second chapter that reflects the brand's evolution from a restaurant delivery startup into a multi-category, on-demand platform embedded in everyday life. Developed with <strong>Pablo London,</strong> the campaign expands Deliveroo's role beyond food, showcasing its growing grocery and retail offer across moments both expected and unexpected.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The flagship TVC uses surreal, off-beat storytelling to dramatise a relatable scenario: hosting unexpected guests. In a fantastical twist, two stranded hikers find shelter in a bear's cave, only for Deliveroo to save the day with a perfectly timed delivery of sushi, honey, and even a Bluetooth speaker. Set to a remix of the Vengaboys' <em>We Like To Party</em>, the film reinforces the idea that whatever the moment calls for, Deliveroo can deliver.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Rolling out across the UK, Ireland, France, Italy and the UAE, the campaign spans TV, BVOD, OOH, radio, social and digital, with further executions planned throughout the year. By leaning into humour, unpredictability and cultural familiarity, Deliveroo positions itself as a flexible, always-on companion that makes life better in the now, no matter what turns up at your door.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Oi6Wd5z2MLk" title="Deliveroo Unexpected Guest (Deliveroo advert Jan. 2025)" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>Deliveroo "Unexpected Guest" by Pablo London.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#07</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">John Frieda: 'Salon Attitude. Every Day.'</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> John Frieda</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> VCCP</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> TV, Online Video, Social, Digital, Retail</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong>John Frieda </strong>returns with a global relaunch and a new long-term brand platform, <strong><em>Salon Attitude. Every Day.</em></strong>, repositioning the iconic haircare brand around confidence rather than complexity. Developed by <strong>VCCP</strong>, the campaign marks a deliberate departure from category conventions, shifting focus away from scientific jargon and formula-led demonstrations in favour of the emotional payoff of a great hair day.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The hero film visualises this confidence through a striking metaphor, transforming an everyday street into<strong> 'John Frieda Street', </strong>where mirrored buildings and surfaces reflect women catching glimpses of their hair as they move through daily life. The work celebrates the specific, recognisable feeling of salon-fresh hair, amplified by the empowerment that comes from achieving it yourself. It reframes salon quality not as something exclusive or technical, but as a personal, everyday achievement.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Running globally throughout 2026 across TV, online video, social, digital and retail channels, the campaign establishes a modern visual system and tone designed to cut through a saturated beauty market. By centring transformation, self-belief and attitude over ingredients and claims, John Frieda positions itself as a brand that understands what great hair really gives people, not just how it's made.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qeOfz2JE3uA" title="john frieda ´salon attitude every day´" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>John Frieda "Salon Attitude. Every Day." by VCCP.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#08</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">PureGym: Glows Post-Workout</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> PureGym</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> McCann Manchester</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> TV, Cinema, OOH, Radio, Social</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong>PureGym</strong> signals a clear shift in brand direction with a campaign that focuses less on workouts and more on how exercise makes people feel long after they leave the gym. Moving beyond the category's familiar imagery of intensity and transformation, the work centres on the emotional lift that comes from movement and the quiet confidence that follows a good session.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">At the heart of the campaign is a distinctive visual character, <strong>Glow</strong>, a physical manifestation of post-workout energy that spills into the outside world. As Glow moves through everyday settings, their presence subtly improves the atmosphere around them, turning an internal feeling into something relatable. The idea reframes the gym experience as something human and accessible, rather than intimidating or performative.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">By leaning into wellbeing rather than price or performance, the campaign marks a strategic evolution for PureGym, positioning the brand as a daily source of feel-good momentum rather than simply a place to train. Rolled out across TV, cinema, out-of-home, radio and social, the work sets a new emotional tone for the category and broadens the appeal of fitness to those who may not yet see the gym as a space for them.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JXfixNsyzBk" title="PureGym Glow" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>PureGym "Glow" by McCann Manchester.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#09</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Perk</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Perk</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> Talon, Evolve OOH, Goodstuff</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> OOH</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">Perk takes one of the most universally avoided workplace tasks and turns it into a striking piece of real-world storytelling, using out-of-home to visualise the quiet chaos of expense management. Rather than explaining the product through features or dashboards, the campaign starts where the frustration actually lives: the growing pile of receipts everyone swears they will deal with later.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The centrepiece is a tactile special-build billboard featuring a drawer bursting with crumpled paper receipts, physically protruding into public space. Set against a bold yellow backdrop, the execution transforms a mundane admin headache into something instantly recognisable, uncomfortable, and oddly satisfying to look at. It captures the emotional truth of expense claims not as a process problem, but as mental clutter.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Devised by Talon, Evolve OOH and Goodstuff, the work deliberately avoids the category's usual visual language of clean interfaces and corporate reassurance. Instead, it uses humour and physical craft to earn attention, trusting that the audience already understands the pain point without being over-explained to.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6877701b88030d58f11ac053/6a16d05bfe9d21ff1c733926_08_1769509858137.webp" alt="Perk OOH special-build billboard with drawer of crumpled receipts"></div> <figcaption>Perk OOH special-build billboard by Talon, Evolve OOH and Goodstuff.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-divider gn-reveal" aria-hidden="true"></div> <div class="gn-reveal" data-rt-embed-type='true'><div id="february" style="scroll-margin-top:120px;"></div></div> <h2 class="gn-reveal">February</h2> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#10</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Hargreaves Lansdown: 'Invest Through It All'</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Hargreaves Lansdown</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> Wonderhood Studios</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> TV, OOH, Digital, Social</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong>Hargreaves Lansdown</strong> tackles one of the biggest psychological barriers to investing: uncertainty. In a market often dominated by complex messaging and financial jargon, the campaign reframes investing as something people can navigate through life's ups and downs, rather than something that requires perfect timing or expertise.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Created by <strong>Wonderhood Studios, </strong>the work centres on the idea of helping Britain "invest through it all", recognising that financial decisions rarely happen in stable, predictable conditions. Instead, the campaign leans into the reality that markets fluctuate, life changes quickly, and confidence can waver, positioning Hargreaves Lansdown as a steady guide through that volatility.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">By focusing on reassurance and long-term perspective rather than short-term performance, the campaign shifts the tone of investment advertising away from urgency and speculation. It reframes investing as an ongoing relationship with the future, reinforcing the brand's role as a trusted partner for people navigating financial ambition in an uncertain world.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1166355865" title="Hargreaves Lansdown 'Helping Britain Invest Through It All'" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>Hargreaves Lansdown "Invest Through It All" by Wonderhood Studios.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#11</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Tesco Mobile</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Tesco Mobile</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> BBH London</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> OOH, Radio and Social Media</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong>Tesco Mobile </strong>taps into a familiar moment of anxiety in modern life: the quiet dread of letters landing on the doormat, often signalling unexpected bills or unwelcome financial surprises. Rather than positioning its offering through technical specifications or price comparisons alone, the campaign reframes mobile billing as something that should feel predictable and reassuring.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Created by <strong>BBH London, </strong>the work dramatises that everyday tension before flipping the emotional payoff, showing how Tesco Mobile's transparent pricing and absence of mid-contract price hikes removes a small but persistent worry from customers' lives. The campaign leans on relatable domestic insight rather than telecoms jargon, turning a routine household moment into a powerful storytelling device.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">By grounding the message in everyday behaviour, the campaign stands apart from category conventions that focus heavily on network performance or device upgrades. Instead, it highlights peace of mind as the real value exchange, positioning Tesco Mobile as the network that removes uncertainty rather than adding to it.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6877701b88030d58f11ac053/6a16d05c4d7e43772dde81aa_12_tesco-mobile-ad.webp" alt="Tesco Mobile campaign visual by BBH London"></div> <figcaption>Tesco Mobile campaign by BBH London.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#12</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">adidas Originals: Superstar</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> adidas Originals</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> Johannes Leonardo</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> Film, Digital, Social</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong>adidas Originals</strong> continues its Superstar platform with a cinematic film led by Samuel L. Jackson, framed as a surreal search through "Hotel Superstar", where each door reveals a different cultural figure and world. The work leans into dreamlike visuals and time-bending transitions rather than traditional product selling, using atmosphere and storytelling to keep the Superstar positioned as an icon that travels across eras and disciplines.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The cast extends beyond Jackson to a cross-category lineup, including Kendall Jenner, Lamine Yamal, Jennie, James Harden, Tyshawn Jones, Olivia Dean, and Baby Keem, reinforcing the idea of the Superstar as a cultural connector rather than a single-scene fashion item.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Created by <strong>Johannes Leonardo</strong> and directed by Thibaut Grevet (through DIVISION), the campaign prioritises cultural signalling and cinematic craft, using a strong central metaphor to refresh a heritage silhouette without leaning on nostalgia alone.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/I6AxpJHSiY0" title="Superstar | adidas Originals" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>adidas Originals Superstar by Johannes Leonardo, directed by Thibaut Grevet.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#13</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Department of Health and Social Care: 'The Power To Quit Is In Your Hands'</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Department of Health and Social Care / NHS</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> AMV BBDO</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> TV, Online Video, OOH, Radio, Digital Audio, Social</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong>The Department of Health and Social Care </strong>launches a new national campaign designed to encourage smokers to take the first step towards quitting, highlighting that support is always within reach through NHS digital tools. Instead of focusing solely on the long-term harms of smoking, the work reframes quitting as something achievable with the right help and guidance.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Created by <strong>AMV BBDO,</strong> the campaign uses humour and visual exaggeration to dramatise the moment when temptation strikes. In the hero film, a man on day 11 of his quitting journey is about to join colleagues for a cigarette when his phone suddenly bursts into life, projecting a beam of light that reminds him of the progress he has already made. The moment acts as a playful metaphor for the power of the NHS Quit Smoking app and Personal Quit Plan, positioning them as practical support systems rather than passive information tools.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Running nationwide across TV, online video, social, radio, digital audio and out-of-home, the campaign aims to replace discouragement with optimism. By emphasising encouragement and practical support over fear-based messaging, it highlights a simple truth: quitting smoking becomes far more achievable when people do not have to do it alone.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/08axUGbSl1I" title="NHS ad" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>Department of Health and Social Care "The Power To Quit Is In Your Hands" by AMV BBDO.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#14</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Morrisons: 'Steak &amp; Date'</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Morrisons</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> Leo UK</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> Social, Digital Video, DOOH, Print, Digital Audio</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">Morrisons leans into the cultural overlap between food and romance with a Valentine's campaign that places steak at the centre of compatibility. Rather than relying on traditional romantic tropes, the campaign reframes dating through a more relatable lens: how someone likes their steak.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Created by Leo UK in partnership with Capital, the campaign introduces <em>Steak &amp; Date</em>, a playful dating-show-style format featuring creators AngryGinge and Grime Gran. Across a series of short films, the pair coach participants through awkward first dates over Morrisons steak, reacting in real time from a monitoring room. The format mirrors familiar reality TV conventions while swapping small talk for questions that reveal culinary preferences and potential dealbreakers.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The work builds on a simple behavioural insight: food is often how people express care and affection, and personal eating habits can be surprisingly revealing. By putting British steak and its Market Street butchers at the heart of the storytelling, Morrisons connects cultural entertainment with a genuine product strength. Rolled out across social, digital out-of-home, print and digital audio, the campaign turns Valentine's dinner planning into something more playful, positioning Morrisons as the place where great ingredients can help set the tone for the night.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6877701b88030d58f11ac053/6a16d05db36dacd780f17d37_14_morrisons-steak-date-leo-uk-copy.webp" alt="Morrisons Steak and Date Valentine's campaign by Leo UK"></div> <figcaption>Morrisons "Steak &amp; Date" Valentine's campaign by Leo UK.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#15</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Birkenstock: 'A Journey Through Tradition'</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Birkenstock</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> Havas Creative, Havas Red &amp; Good Stills</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> Film, Digital, Social, Photography</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong>Birkenstock </strong>approaches Ramadan through cultural storytelling rather than traditional seasonal advertising, positioning the brand as part of the everyday rhythms and rituals of the month. The campaign, titled <em>A Journey Through Tradition</em>, focuses on the lived experiences that define Ramadan, aligning the brand's long-standing values of comfort, craft and durability with moments of reflection, movement and connection.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Developed in collaboration with <strong>Havas Creative, Havas Red</strong> and production house <strong>Good Stills</strong>, the campaign adopts a film-led, digital-first strategy built around a documentary-style hero film supported by shorter narrative chapters and still photography. Rather than relying on celebrity endorsements, the work centres on regional photographer Moz, whose perspective shapes the storytelling and grounds the campaign in authentic cultural context.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Running across key Middle Eastern markets including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar, the campaign aims to build deeper cultural relevance for Birkenstock during a period often saturated with seasonal advertising. By focusing on personal stories and lived tradition, the work positions the brand as a natural companion to daily life during Ramadan, reinforcing its identity as a product built for both comfort and longevity.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6877701b88030d58f11ac053/6a16d05d814c7e616cf8c161_16_havana-red.webp" alt="Birkenstock A Journey Through Tradition Ramadan campaign"></div> <figcaption>Birkenstock "A Journey Through Tradition" by Havas Creative, Havas Red and Good Stills.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#16</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">LNER: 'Freedom All The Way'</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> LNER</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> McCann London</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> TV, OOH, Radio, Online Video, Cinema, Social</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong>LNER</strong> continues to build its 'Freedom All The Way' brand platform with a campaign that contrasts the frustration of motorway traffic with the ease of long-distance rail travel. Rather than focusing purely on speed or price, the work reframes train journeys as a more enjoyable and freeing alternative to being stuck behind the wheel.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Created by <strong>McCann London,</strong> the campaign brings back LNER's distinctive red-haired mascot Eleanor, this time giving the character a voice for the first time. In the hero film, Eleanor leads travellers away from gridlocked traffic while performing a playful reworking of Jon Batiste's 'Freedom', highlighting the small but meaningful moments train travel makes possible, from relaxing with a coffee to watching the countryside roll by.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The campaign positions rail not simply as transport, but as time regained. Running across TV, out-of-home, radio, cinema, online video and social, the work uses humour, music and character-led storytelling to reinforce LNER's proposition that travelling by train offers more than just getting from A to B. It offers the freedom to enjoy the journey itself.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bXFgy5C8MhE" title="LNER McCann London" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>LNER "Freedom All The Way" by McCann London.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#17</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Pizza Hut UK: 'The World's First Vertical Pizza Box'</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Pizza Hut UK</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> Iris Worldwide</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> Social, Influencer, Experiential, Digital</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong>Pizza Hut UK</strong> leans into curiosity and cultural conversation with a social-first stunt built around a seemingly impossible concept: the world's first vertical pizza box. Rather than launching a traditional product announcement, the campaign introduces the mysterious prototype into the real world, with people spotted carrying the unusual box through the streets of London.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Created by <strong>Iris</strong>, the idea deliberately avoids explaining itself upfront. Instead, the campaign relies on intrigue and speculation, encouraging passers-by and social audiences to question how the design could even work. Early sightings were seeded through popular social accounts and food creators, allowing the internet to do what it does best: spot it, share it and debate it.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The stunt taps into Pizza Hut's long history of playful innovation, from inventing the stuffed crust to famously sending pizza into space. By embracing a format designed to live "in the wild" across social media, the campaign shifts the focus from product demonstration to participation, turning a simple prototype into a cultural talking point that repositions the brand as playful, inventive and willing to surprise audiences again.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6877701b88030d58f11ac053/6a16d0619ee68bd154198ea4_20_pizza-hut-vertical-box.webp" alt="Pizza Hut UK vertical pizza box stunt by Iris Worldwide"></div> <figcaption>Pizza Hut UK "The World's First Vertical Pizza Box" by Iris Worldwide.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#18</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">CERCA</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> CERCA</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> Saint-Urbain</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> Branding, Digital, OOH, Experiential</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong>CERCA</strong> is positioning itself as a quieter, more intentional alternative in a dating landscape dominated by anonymous swiping and algorithm-driven matches. Built around the idea of introductions through mutual friends rather than strangers, the platform reframes online dating as something closer to community than chance encounter.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">To help articulate that difference, design studio <strong>Saint-Urbain</strong> developed a new identity system designed to work across the app itself, public spaces and real-world gatherings. The visual language centres on confident typography and a restrained black-and-white palette, deliberately avoiding the pastel-heavy aesthetics commonly associated with dating apps. The result is a brand presence that feels more assured and grounded in real relationships.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Supporting the typography is a looser layer of hand-drawn illustrations and candid photography that introduces warmth and vulnerability, reflecting the emotional nuance of meeting someone through shared social circles. The identity also extends beyond the screen through out-of-home placements and events such as 'Join Our Circle', positioning CERCA not simply as a digital platform but as a social ecosystem built around trust, proximity and connection.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6877701b88030d58f11ac053/6a16d05c066d003d7679086d_13_cerca2.webp" alt="CERCA brand identity by Saint-Urbain"></div> <figcaption>CERCA brand identity by Saint-Urbain.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-divider gn-reveal" aria-hidden="true"></div> <div class="gn-reveal" data-rt-embed-type='true'><div id="march" style="scroll-margin-top:120px;"></div></div> <div class="gn-reveal" data-rt-embed-type='true'><hr style=" border:0; height:1px; margin:22px 0; background:linear-gradient( 90deg, rgba(69,172,98,0), rgba(69,172,98,0.8), rgba(69,172,98,0) ); "></div> <h2 class="gn-reveal">Not sure how to achieve results like this?</h2> <p class="gn-reveal">See how brands are finding the right agency partners → <a href="https://www.thegonetwork.com/book-a-call?tab=1"><strong>Book a Call</strong></a></p> <div class="gn-reveal" data-rt-embed-type='true'><hr style=" border:0; height:1px; margin:22px 0; background:linear-gradient( 90deg, rgba(69,172,98,0), rgba(69,172,98,0.8), rgba(69,172,98,0) ); "></div> <h2 class="gn-reveal">March</h2> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#19</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Coinbase: 'Your Way Out of Their System'</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Coinbase</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> Isle of Any</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> TV, Film</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">For its spot during the 98th Academy Awards in March 2026, <strong>Coinbase</strong> and independent creative agency <strong>Isle of Any</strong> delivered one of the most talked-about pieces of advertising of the year. The film, titled 'Your Way Out', uses the language of video games to frame a pointed argument about financial systems, positioning Coinbase not as a product, <em>but as an escape route.</em></p> <p class="gn-reveal">The film follows an NPC (non-player character), a figure familiar to anyone who has played a video game, going through a pre-programmed existence inside a pixelated world. Set to the individualist anthem 'I've Gotta Be Me', the protagonist breaks from his routine, sprints away from his scripted surroundings, and crosses into a world that is fully human, leaving what the film calls "their system" behind. Director Oscar Hudson, working through production company MJZ, shot the film entirely using in-camera techniques: suits were 2D-printed rather than rendered, sets were pixelated through print rather than CGI, and actors were trained in the rigid movement logic of game characters to sell the world from the inside out.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The strategic foundation is simple but deliberately provocative. By framing the existing financial system as a game designed by someone else, Isle of Any and Coinbase tap into a cultural undercurrent, the sense that the rules were written for other people.</p> <blockquote class="gn-blockquote gn-reveal">"Life's a game; sometimes it feels like someone else has the controller. We loved the thought of using that starting place as a way to tell a story about taking back financial control, leaving one world to find another with Coinbase."<cite>Laurie Howell · Co-founder, Isle of Any</cite></blockquote> <p class="gn-reveal">The Oscars placement was not incidental; the broadcast's emphasis on storytelling and craft made it a credible home for a film that prioritised both.</p> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong>'Your Way Out of Their System' </strong>is conceived as a wider brand platform rather than a standalone spot, with Coinbase intending to extend it across the coming months as it rolls out a new suite of financial products through 2026.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0V4CCxskN_0" title="Your Way Out" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>Coinbase "Your Way Out of Their System" by Isle of Any, directed by Oscar Hudson through MJZ.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#20</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Merseyrail: 'Fast Track to Spring Smiles'</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Merseyrail</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> OneMay</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> Social</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">To mark the start of spring, <strong>Merseyrail</strong> partnered with Liverpool-based creative agency <strong>OneMay</strong> on a seasonal campaign built around a simple proposition: that the network is the easiest route to a day out. The campaign carries the line <em>"Fast Track to Spring Smiles" </em>and targets leisure travellers rather than commuters, shifting the tone away from utility and towards occasion.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The work centres on social assets tailored to different types of traveller and day-out moments, reflecting the variety of destinations and experiences accessible across the Merseyrail network. Rather than a single broad message, the approach segments by audience and reason to travel, matching creative to context.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The strategic logic is straightforward, spring is a natural moment to reframe a rail network as a leisure enabler, and social is the right channel to reach people who are already planning days out. The campaign keeps the brand close to the moments that motivate travel rather than the mechanics of getting there.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4NGRlVYv5O8" title="We're your Fast Track to Spring smiles" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>Merseyrail "Fast Track to Spring Smiles" by OneMay.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#21</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Warburtons: 'Baker Street'</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Warburtons</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> Joyful &amp; Triumphant (creative), McCann Manchester (social), Mindshare (media), Burson (PR)</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> TV, VOD, OOH, Radio, Social, Experiential</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">To mark its 150th anniversary, <strong>Warburtons</strong> launched <em>'150 Years in the Baking',</em> a campaign built around the brand's defining characteristic: that it has remained a family business, run by the same family, for six generations. The creative platform leans into that heritage not with reverence but with warmth and self-awareness, continuing Warburtons' long-standing tradition of pairing blockbuster production values with distinctly Northern humour. The hero film, developed by Joyful &amp; Triumphant and directed by Declan Lowney through Merman, features Morgan Freeman narrating the Warburton family's 150-year obsession with baking, following previous campaign appearances from Olivia Colman and Robert De Niro.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The film launched across TV, VOD, OOH, radio, social and online, with<strong> McCann Manchester</strong> handling social, <strong>Mindshare</strong> planning media, and <strong>Burson</strong> leading PR. In March, the campaign extended into an experiential activation that gave the broader platform its sharpest moment. For two days on March 18 and 19, Baker Street Underground station became 'Bakers Street', with Freeman's voice replacing standard platform announcements on the northbound Jubilee line. Passengers were told to "mind the bap" and to "stand behind the buttery yellow line," while the station's traditional roundel signage was redesigned as oversized crumpets and selected signs were renamed accordingly. The stunt drew directly from a moment in the TV ad in which Freeman questions Jonathan Warburton about what crumpets actually are, despite 71% of crumpet-eating Brits considering them a British staple.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The campaign's strategic strength lies in its consistency. Warburtons has spent years using high-profile talent not to glamourise the brand but to play against it, placing Hollywood names inside a resolutely domestic, family-run story. That tension is what generates the humour and the memorability.</p> <blockquote class="gn-blockquote gn-reveal">"We have a classic Northern sense of humour and wanted to share that fun with Londoners on their daily commute. We also love a good bread pun, so Baker Street was a match made in heaven."<cite>Jonathan Warburton</cite></blockquote> <p class="gn-reveal">The Baker Street activation landed as earned media as much as paid, with the stunt generating significant coverage across national and trade press and extending the campaign's reach well beyond its broadcast footprint.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T4vO_3ECa70" title="Warburtons Bakers Street" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>Warburtons "Baker Street" experiential activation and TV campaign.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#22</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Standard Life: 'New Grooves'</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Standard Life</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> McCann London</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> TV, Broadcast VOD, Radio, Print, Social</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong>Standard Life's</strong> <em>'For the Life We Live' </em>is the brand's most significant campaign in over a decade, and a deliberate departure from the straight-line logic that has long defined financial services advertising. Developed with <strong>McCann London</strong>, the platform is built on a single, honest observation: that life rarely follows the plan, and retirement planning should reflect that.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The campaign launches with two films. 'New Grooves' follows a man on the cusp of retirement, records, a cat, a quiet life, until his newly single daughter and grandchild arrive unannounced and reshape everything he had planned. 'Horizons Unleashed' takes a different route through the same territory, exploring another of the life events that force people to rethink their financial futures. Both films are grounded in the kind of moments the category rarely acknowledges: divorce, caring responsibilities, career changes, children returning home. The creative runs for three months across TV and broadcast VOD as its primary channels, extended by radio, print and social, and is aimed primarily at 45 to 65 year olds.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The strategic intent is to reframe retirement planning not as a fixed destination but as something that adapts to lived experience. Matt Crabtree, creative director at McCann London, described it as a platform built around "the twists, turns and unexpected detours that shape who we become, right up to and into retirement," adding that the campaign is "made up of honest, human stories." For Standard Life, the positioning move is significant. It repositions the brand as a tool for navigating real life rather than an instruction for an idealised one.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/i5Hy4kWgqr0" title="Standard Life - New Grooves" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>Standard Life "New Grooves" by McCann London.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#23</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Missing People: 'Based on a True Story'</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Missing People</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> BBH London</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> Film, OOH, Influencer, PR</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal"><em>'Based on a True Story'</em> is <strong>Missing People's</strong> response to a cultural contradiction: someone is reported missing in the UK every 90 seconds, yet the true crime genre, which trades almost entirely on those cases, has never been more popular, with 49% of Brits consuming it daily. Rather than appeal for empathy directly, <strong>BBH London</strong> and Missing People turned the genre's own mechanics against it, using satire to make the point that entertainment and reality are not the same thing.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The centrepiece is a long-form film directed by Rachel Stubbings and produced by Sharon Horgan's Merman. It is set inside a television writers' room, where characters played by Paterson Joseph, Anna Crilly and Rosie Cavaliero sift through missing persons cases, assessing each one for its narrative potential, its drama, its ratings value, its suitability for a series. The sting arrives gradually: every case being discussed is real. The film uses dark humour not to undercut the subject but to implicate the viewer in the same logic it is critiquing. Alongside the film, OOH executions were designed to resemble case files marked with flippant post-it notes from fictitious producers, placing the same dissonance in public spaces.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The campaign also included a piece of influencer seeding that demonstrated the strategy with unusual precision. BBH produced an "unmissable" boxset, branded as the Top Five Cases You Won't See On TV, and distributed it to press and influencers. When opened, the box was empty. The point being that these cases never make it to screen because the missing people in them do not fit the editorial criteria the genre demands. To accompany the campaign, Missing People launched a Responsible Narratives Charter, calling on content creators and producers to engage with these stories more carefully.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The campaign's strategic strength is in its fluency. By adopting the language and aesthetics of the industry it is challenging, BBH gave Missing People a way into a cultural conversation that a straightforward awareness campaign could not have reached.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ic7FBquYUEg" title="Based on a true story" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>Missing People "Based on a True Story" by BBH London, directed by Rachel Stubbings.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#24</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Forest: '£1 Rides'</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Forest</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> In-House</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> Social, OOH</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong>Forest</strong> leans into London culture with a playful campaign promoting £1 rides, designed to drive awareness and trial of its e-bike service. Rather than relying on traditional transport messaging, the brand taps into humour and recognisable city characters to create something more shareable and culturally relevant.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">At the centre of the campaign is the "£1 Fish Man", a familiar figure in London, used as the face of the activation. The idea plays on the £1 price point, bringing the concept to life through a character-led execution that feels native to the streets rather than staged advertising. By placing the campaign directly into real-world environments and amplifying it through social, Forest encourages organic interaction and conversation.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The campaign works by prioritising visibility and memorability over explanation. The simplicity of the £1 message, combined with a recognisable personality, creates an easy hook for audiences to engage with and share. In a category often focused on functionality, Forest instead builds relevance through culture, using humour and local context to make the brand feel embedded in everyday London life.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6877701b88030d58f11ac053/6a16d05abdf2718d8cee6e4a_04_forest-does-1-rides-billboard.webp" alt="Forest £1 Rides OOH billboard campaign"></div> <figcaption>Forest "£1 Rides" OOH campaign.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#25</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">McDonald's Netherlands: 'Shortcuts'</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> McDonald's Netherlands</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> TBWA\NEBOKO, OMD Netherlands</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> Print, OOH</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong>McDonald's</strong> Netherlands turns a familiar piece of human behaviour into a quietly clever outdoor campaign by focusing on the unofficial shortcuts people already create on their way through towns and cities. Rather than inventing a new route or forcing a branded stunt into public space, the campaign observes the desire lines that already exist and uses them as proof of where people naturally want to go.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Created with <strong>TBWA\NEBOKO and OMD Netherlands, </strong>the work combines open map data with McDonald's restaurant locations to identify informal paths that lead directly to nearby restaurants. Those routes were then photographed in their everyday surroundings and turned into a series of local print and outdoor executions.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">What makes it work is its restraint. The campaign does not try to over-explain the idea or interrupt behaviour. It simply reflects it back, showing that the quickest route often says more about intent than any headline could. McDonald's also made clear that the campaign is observational rather than instructional, keeping the focus on insight rather than encouraging rule-breaking.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Yb2C0zKnYx0" title="McDonalds Shortcuts OOH campaign" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>McDonald's Netherlands "Shortcuts" by TBWA\NEBOKO and OMD Netherlands.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#26</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">IRN-BRU: 'Tat-BRU'</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> IRN-BRU</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> Lucky Generals, John Doe</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> PR, Influencer, Experiential</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong>IRN-BRU</strong> is celebrating its <em>125th anniversary </em>and wider pack refresh with a fan-led activation that turns its new can artwork into free tattoos. The brand took over a Glasgow tattoo studio for a pop-up called Tat-BRU, inviting loyal drinkers to get the updated designs inked, from first-timers to existing fans ready to add another tribute.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The activation ties directly to the wider packaging update, which brings back the "Made in Scotland from Girders" line, puts the girder emblem front and centre, and revives the molten man insignia first seen in 1988. It also coincides with naming changes across the range, with Sugar Free returning to Diet and XTRA becoming Zero, while the liquid remains unchanged.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">What makes it work is the brand truth at the centre of it. IRN-BRU is not trying to manufacture fandom here, it is responding to a level of loyalty that already exists in the real world. By turning packaging into participation, the campaign gives that devotion a new outlet while making the rebrand feel culturally alive rather than simply cosmetic.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6877701b88030d58f11ac053/6a16d05ca49a6b77a9380c77_11_irn-bru-tattoo5263.webp" alt="IRN-BRU Tat-BRU Glasgow tattoo pop-up activation"></div> <figcaption>IRN-BRU "Tat-BRU" fan activation by Lucky Generals and John Doe.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#27</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">IKEA Denmark: 'Collect Points with IKEA Family'</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> IKEA Denmark</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> Marketsquare</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> Film, Digital, Owned Channels</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong>IKEA Denmark</strong> has launched <em>"Collect Points with IKEA Family",</em> a campaign that reimagines its updated membership benefits as a more tangible and engaging experience. Built around a new points-based system for more than 1.5 million Danish members, the campaign shows how rewards can be earned through everyday interactions such as shopping, attending events or simply logging into a profile.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Created by <strong>Marketsquare</strong>, the work frames the new mechanics through the language of gaming. A series of short films presents in-store actions as missions and levels, helping make the system easier to understand while giving it a more playful identity. Points can then be redeemed for rewards including discounts, delivery and in-store food.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The campaign works because it solves a familiar loyalty problem: benefits often exist, but they rarely feel vivid or motivating. By translating the programme into something more intuitive and game-like, IKEA turns a functional membership update into a clearer and more compelling customer proposition.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ycl8pY7hsp0" title="IKEA Rewards - Discount" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>IKEA Denmark "Collect Points with IKEA Family" by Marketsquare.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-divider gn-reveal" aria-hidden="true"></div> <div class="gn-reveal" data-rt-embed-type='true'><div id="april" style="scroll-margin-top:120px;"></div></div> <h2 class="gn-reveal">April</h2> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#28</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Autoglass: 'Hidden Dangers'</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Autoglass</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> McCann Birmingham</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> OOH</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">Autoglass takes one of the UK's most recognised advertising lines and reloads it with a far more serious purpose. Built on the insight that a significant number of drivers continue using their vehicles despite cracked windscreens, the campaign shifts the conversation from convenience to consequence.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Created by McCann Birmingham, each execution places the viewer directly behind a damaged windscreen. The cracks don't frame the shot, they obscure it. A child stepping out. A cyclist passing close. A parent crossing with a pushchair. The damage is the story.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The familiar slogan is reframed with a single line: "Some things you can't replace." What was once an assurance becomes a challenge. Executive Creative Director Adam Bodfish described it as turning reassurance into responsibility, and it lands exactly that way. A brand that could easily rest on recall has chosen to use it for something worth saying.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6877701b88030d58f11ac053/6a16d05fddcf8666bf7f0ea6_18_autoglass-campaign.webp" alt="Autoglass Hidden Dangers OOH campaign by McCann Birmingham"></div> <figcaption>Autoglass "Hidden Dangers" by McCann Birmingham.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#29</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Tesco: 'Free Fruit &amp; Veg Campaign'</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Tesco</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> BBH London</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> TVC, OOH, Social, Print, Radio</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">Tesco launched a new brand platform in March with a deceptively simple question: "Need anything from Tesco?" Set to New Order's Blue Monday, the campaign uses a relatable family and a wry sense of humour to show that the answer to that question stretches a lot further than milk and bread.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">April extended the platform with a new film built around Tesco's expanded free fruit and veg schools scheme. A giant made entirely from fruit and vegetables travels across the UK with a young boy called Theo, gradually shrinking as he gives pieces of himself away to schools. Set to Roger Hodgson's Give a Little Bit, the film turns a commercial programme into something that genuinely feels like it matters.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">BBH have given Tesco a platform wide enough to carry both tones (warmth and wit) without one undermining the other. The schools extension is the more ambitious bet: connecting a brand known for competitive pricing to something with a longer emotional frame.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1187855653" title="Tesco: Free Fruit & Veg Campaign - BBH London" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>Tesco "Free Fruit &amp; Veg Campaign" by BBH London.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#30</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Speedo: London Marathon Campaign</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Speedo</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> In-House</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> Guerrilla / OOH</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">On the day of the 2026 London Marathon, Speedo showed up at London Bridge with a very different kind of race-day message. Placards and posters carrying lines like "Swimmer's knee? Never heard of it", "Running, without the shin splints" and "You can keep your toenails" gave spectators an unexpected moment of poolside calm in the middle of 40,000 runners.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The campaign positions swimming not as an alternative to running but as the smarter, kinder cousin. No injury risk, no toenail casualties, no pavement pounding. The timing was precise, the tone pitch-perfect, and the production budget almost certainly negligible.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">What makes this work is its confidence. Speedo didn't need to reach everyone at the Marathon. They needed to make enough people smile that it spread. Guerrilla done well is about choosing your moment exactly right, and this was exactly right.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6877701b88030d58f11ac053/6a16d05b066d003d767907bd_09_speedo-campaign.webp" alt="Speedo London Marathon guerrilla campaign placards at London Bridge"></div> <figcaption>Speedo London Marathon guerrilla campaign at London Bridge, 2026.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#31</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">IKEA: Meatball Flavour</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> IKEA</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> In-House (with Chupa Chups)</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> Social, PR, In-Store</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">IKEA announced on April 1st that it had partnered with Chupa Chups to create a meatball-flavoured lollipop. Nobody believed it. Then they made it real.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The campaign turned a one-day joke into a multi-chapter story. The April Fools' tease was designed to test demand and build anticipation. It worked. A million units are being produced for distribution across IKEA stores globally from June, timed to coincide with the meatball's 40th anniversary.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The insight is simple but well-executed: IKEA's meatballs are more than a product, they're a cultural shorthand. Leaning into the absurdity rather than protecting the brand's dignity was the right call. The Chupa Chups partnership adds a second brand's audience and gives the joke structural credibility.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Not every brand can do this. IKEA can, because decades of genuine affection for the meatball means the audience is always in on it.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6877701b88030d58f11ac053/6a16d06297a42b0a20114a6a_23_ikea-chupa-chups-campaign.webp" alt="IKEA meatball-flavoured Chupa Chups lollipop campaign"></div> <figcaption>IKEA meatball-flavoured lollipop campaign in partnership with Chupa Chups.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#32</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">We Are Mobilise: Youth Homelessness Matters Day</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> We Are Mobilise</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> Droga5 (pro bono)</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> Street Art / OOH</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">For Youth Homelessness Matters Day, We Are Mobilise and Droga5 placed children's height charts across walls in Sydney and Melbourne. Each one was based on the average height of Australian children aged four to twelve. Each one carried the line: "No child should grow up on the streets."</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The idea works because the height chart is a loaded object. It belongs inside, on a wall at home, tracking years of growth. On the street, it points to exactly what's missing.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The campaign grew out of Droga5's London office and was brought to life across multiple Accenture Song teams globally, alongside artist Simon Harsent and muralist Shaun Devenney. 28,948 children and parents are currently living without stable housing in Australia. The work makes that number feel specific and human rather than statistical.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Cause campaigns often try to shock. This one chose to remind. It's more durable.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6877701b88030d58f11ac053/6a16d05ebdf2718d8cee723a_17_we-are-mobilise-height-markings.webp" alt="We Are Mobilise children's height chart installations in Sydney and Melbourne by Droga5"></div> <figcaption>We Are Mobilise youth homelessness height chart installations by Droga5, with artist Simon Harsent and muralist Shaun Devenney.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#33</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Spotify: 'Ad-free music listening'</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Spotify</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> Machine_</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> Print, OOH</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">Spotify's campaign for ad-free listening doesn't show music. It shows what music does to you.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Extreme close-ups of skin (tears, goosebumps, the fine hairs standing up on an arm) capture the physical reality of being completely absorbed in a song. The line is simply: "Ad-free music listening." The implication is obvious. The ad break is the thing that ends this. Spotify Premium is the thing that stops it from ending.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">What's notable is how the campaign was made. No AI generation. Every reaction was captured physically, using ice-cold water, feathers, eye drops, and freezers to produce real bodily responses on camera. The craft decision reinforces the argument: there is nothing artificial about this.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Machine_ have made a Premium conversion argument feel emotional rather than transactional. That's the harder and more valuable brief to have solved.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6877701b88030d58f11ac053/6a16d05dfe9d21ff1c733c5d_15_spotify-campaign.webp" alt="Spotify ad-free music listening print campaign by Machine_"></div> <figcaption>Spotify "Ad-free music listening" by Machine_.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-reveal" data-rt-embed-type='true'><hr style=" border:0; height:1px; margin:22px 0; background:linear-gradient( 90deg, rgba(69,172,98,0), rgba(69,172,98,0.8), rgba(69,172,98,0) ); "></div> <h2 class="gn-reveal">Not sure how to achieve results like this?</h2> <p class="gn-reveal">With 1000+ Brand–Agency partnerships formed and supported, we can help your brand to find the right agency partner → <a href="https://www.thegonetwork.com/book-a-call?tab=1"><strong>Book a Call</strong></a></p> <div class="gn-reveal" data-rt-embed-type='true'><hr style=" border:0; height:1px; margin:22px 0; background:linear-gradient( 90deg, rgba(69,172,98,0), rgba(69,172,98,0.8), rgba(69,172,98,0) ); "></div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#34</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">The OddBalls Foundation: 'Crown Jewels'</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> The OddBalls Foundation</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> Taylor Herring</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> PR / Installation / OOH</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">The OddBalls Foundation used Testicular Cancer Awareness Month to turn Westminster Bridge into something people had to look twice at. A design quirk in the bridge's 162-year-old trefoil cut-outs produces phallic shadows on the pavement when the sun shines through them. Taylor Herring found it, framed it, and built a campaign around it.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The installation, created by mixed media artist Quentin Devine over two months using more than 500 hand-set crystal stones, carries a QR code directing pedestrians to the foundation's self-check page. The campaign ran with national PR support throughout April.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The creative decision to use something already there, rather than build something new, is what makes it land. The bridge did the work. The campaign just made sure people looked.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6877701b88030d58f11ac053/6a16d05c6d7d12d21aca317d_10_the-odd-balls-foundation-campaign.webp" alt="The OddBalls Foundation Crown Jewels installation on Westminster Bridge by Taylor Herring"></div> <figcaption>The OddBalls Foundation "Crown Jewels" installation on Westminster Bridge by Taylor Herring, artist Quentin Devine.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#35</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">CeraVe: 'Demanded by Hardworking Skin'</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> CeraVe</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> DEPT</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> Digital, Paid Social, Video</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">CeraVe's April campaign is a deadpan rebuke to the overcrowded, overpromising world of skincare. "Demanded by Hardworking Skin" is built around a faux laboratory in which influencers are subjected to a series of product tests, the lab setting nodding to CeraVe's dermatologist-backed credentials, the tone firmly internet-native.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Created by DEPT (appointed CeraVe's lead creative agency for 2026), the work was engineered from the six-second format up. Scripts built for skippable placements first, expanded to a 20-second hero film, with a shared British voiceover and consistent visual language across all executions. Media amplification was handled by Publicis.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The campaign recognises that the most credible position available to CeraVe isn't to join the skincare noise but to stand apart from it. Dry, funny, and clinically confident. It's a brand that knows what it is, and an agency that knew how to say it.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6877701b88030d58f11ac053/6a16d059d181a352b5a16d1a_02_cerave-campaign.webp" alt="CeraVe Demanded by Hardworking Skin campaign by DEPT"></div> <figcaption>CeraVe "Demanded by Hardworking Skin" by DEPT.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#36</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Nivea Sun: 'Protection is Human'</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Nivea Sun</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> Jung von Matt</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> Print, OOH, Social</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">On a sunny beach, parents step forward and cast a shadow over their children. It's an instinctive, wordless act. Nivea Sun and Jung von Matt made it into a campaign.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Each image shows a young child playing in the sand, a large shadow falling across them. The shadow takes on adult proportions, becoming a visual stand-in for parental protection. The line sits quietly alongside it: "Protection is human."</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Photographed by Ale Burset and running across print, OOH, and NIVEA's global Instagram channels, the campaign does what the best sun care advertising rarely manages: it connects a functional product to a feeling that already exists. The parent isn't being told to use sunscreen. They're being shown something they already do.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Jung von Matt have found the emotional register that most category work misses entirely. Simple, universal, and hard to argue with.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6877701b88030d58f11ac053/6a16d0614d7e43772dde84d0_19_nivea-sun-campaign.webp" alt="Nivea Sun Protection is Human campaign by Jung von Matt, photographed by Ale Burset"></div> <figcaption>Nivea Sun "Protection is Human" by Jung von Matt, photographed by Ale Burset.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-reveal" data-rt-embed-type='true'><div id="may" style="scroll-margin-top:120px;"></div></div> <h2 class="gn-reveal">May</h2> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#37</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">IKEA: &quot;Point-Of-You&quot;</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> IKEA</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> Åkestam Holst NoA</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> OOH, DOOH, Print</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">The FRAKTA bag is one of the most recognisable objects in modern retail. Åkestam Holst NoA found a way to make it a lens. The Point-Of-You campaign places the camera inside the open top of the bag and shoots everyday life from there: a child being lifted at a playground, a kitchen counter mid-cook, a high street pavement seen from ground level.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The effect is immediate and slightly disorienting. The bag's shape becomes a frame. What you're looking at is ordinary. How you're looking at it isn't. IKEA has been here before with the FRAKTA, most famously in the response to Balenciaga, but this is something different. This is the bag as a point of view rather than a punchline.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The campaign runs across OOH, DOOH, and print, which suits it. These are formats that reward a second glance, and this is work that earns one. Åkestam Holst NoA have found something genuinely new to say about an object that has been culturally saturated for years. That is harder than it looks.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6877701b88030d58f11ac053/6a39077a256cdc520a540ec2_25_ikea-bag.webp" alt="A frame from IKEA Point-Of-You, shot through the open top of a FRAKTA bag"></div> <figcaption>IKEA &quot;Point-Of-You&quot; by Åkestam Holst NoA.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#38</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Adidas: &quot;Backyard Legends&quot;</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Adidas</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> In-House (with production partners)</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> TVC, Social, Digital, OOH</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">For the 2026 World Cup, Adidas made the case that football doesn't start in the stadium. It starts in the garden. Backyard Legends brings together Timothée Chalamet, Lionel Messi, and David Beckham for a campaign built on the mythology of informal play: keepy-uppies on a driveway, tap-ins off a garden wall, goals that nobody filmed but everyone remembers.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The spend is significant. At £50m, this is one of the largest campaign investments of the year. But the creative direction works against its own scale. The production is deliberately lo-fi in places. The talent is enormous but the framing is intimate. The argument being made is that the roots of elite football are indistinguishable from the game played in back gardens everywhere.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The World Cup is a crowded advertising environment and Adidas is not the only brand spending at this level. The Backyard Legends angle earns its budget by anchoring a global campaign in something personal rather than spectacular. Chalamet is a genuinely interesting choice. He is not a footballer. That is part of the point.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1197697660" title="Adidas: &quot;Backyard Legends&quot;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>Adidas &quot;Backyard Legends&quot; by Adidas in-house with production partners.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#39</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Air Transat: &quot;Flights vs Tickets&quot;</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Air Transat</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> Courage (Montreal)</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> OOH, Social</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">Air Transat found an elegant way into the World Cup conversation without spending on rights or sponsorship. Courage Montreal built the campaign around a single, undeniable consumer truth: for many fans, a return flight to a country playing in the tournament costs less than a ticket to see them play.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The execution uses live data. It pulls real-time ticket pricing for specific matches and compares it to Air Transat's flights to those destinations. The implication is obvious and the tone is playful rather than combative. There is no attack on FIFA or the tournament. Just a straightforward, factual alternative on offer.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">What makes this land is that it meets fans exactly where their frustration is. The pain point is specific and the solution is specific. The comparison does the persuasion without the campaign having to make much of an argument at all. Courage have made an efficiency of means look like a creative choice, which is exactly what it is.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6877701b88030d58f11ac053/6a3907726d13fa9fe9e28581_01_air-transat.webp" alt="Air Transat World Cup ticket-vs-flight price comparison"></div> <figcaption>Air Transat by Courage Montreal.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#40</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">McDonald's France: &quot;Office Delivery&quot;</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> McDonald's France</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> TBWA\Paris</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> Email, Digital</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">McDonald's France has offered office delivery for a while. The insight TBWA\Paris found was simpler than the mechanics: over 30% of lunches are eaten at work, and no major player in the category has ever really spoken to that directly. Office Delivery fixes that.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The creative execution is the campaign's best detail. McDonald's products were placed directly onto scanner glass, scanned, and the resulting images were sent as email attachments to more than 235,000 workers. The medium is the message. The campaign was made for the office, with office tools, in office language. The scanner as a studio. The email as media.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The work earns its attention because it doesn't feel like an ad that arrived in someone's workplace. It feels like something that belongs there. TBWA\Paris have used the most mundane possible production process and turned it into something actually memorable. The ambition was small enough to be funny and precise enough to be effective.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1197689227" title="McDonald's France: &quot;Office Delivery&quot;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>McDonald's France &quot;Office Delivery&quot; by TBWA\Paris.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#41</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">SharkNinja: &quot;Summer of Hosting&quot;</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> SharkNinja / The Very Group</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> GATE (with Very Media Group and HelloStudio)</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> Social, Video, Retail Media</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">The Summer of Hosting campaign follows a simple and accurate observation: summer in Britain is chaotic, and the chaos is mostly happening in the garden. The Very Group and SharkNinja co-created a series of five content moments built around the specific texture of that chaos. Dad vs. The Wait. Dad vs. The Hungry Mob. Dad vs. The Penalties. Mum vs. The Heat. Mum vs. The Playdate. Each one is a scenario. Each one has a product answer.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">What makes this more than a standard retail media activation is the thinking underneath it. SharkNinja has spent the past year building a more connected ecosystem between the Shark and Ninja brands, which have historically been seen as separate. Summer of Hosting brings that logic into a retail context: rather than pushing individual products in individual categories, the campaign builds a household narrative across occasions. The Ninja FlexFlame in the garden. The Shark FlexBreeze keeping everyone cool. The Ninja Crispi for the snacks. The Ninja Slushi for the kids and, frankly, the adults. One platform, multiple products, one coherent picture of what summer hosting actually looks like.</p> <p class="gn-reveal"> GATE, Very Media Group, and HelloStudio collaborated on the execution, which is a lot of parties to align. That it reads as a single campaign rather than a committee product is the real achievement. The World Cup timing is a bonus. The platform was always going to be relevant to summer regardless. Work that earns its moment rather than borrowing it.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1197699990" title="SharkNinja: &quot;Summer of Hosting&quot;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>SharkNinja &quot;Summer of Hosting&quot; by The Gate London with Very Media Group and HelloStudio.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#42</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Paddy Power: &quot;Nobody Does Football Better&quot;</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Paddy Power</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> BBH London</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> TVC, Digital, Social</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">Paddy Power's arrival into the World Cup conversation was built around a face-off nobody asked for and everyone engaged with. Danny Dyer versus Rob Lowe, the question of who does football better, and a campaign line that was never going to be modest: "Nobody Does Football Better Than Us."</p> <p class="gn-reveal">BBH London cast it as a transatlantic football debate. Dyer represents the British end of the sport. Lowe, an American actor more associated with prestige drama than penalty shootouts, represents the American version. The campaign launches Paddy Power's expanded football coverage ahead of the World Cup. The debate is the vehicle, not the destination.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Paddy Power has been doing this long enough that the format is familiar. What keeps it working is the casting specificity. Dyer is not a generic British football voice and Lowe is not a generic American voice. Putting them in the same room about the same subject produces something with texture beyond the central joke. BBH understand this brand's tone well enough to keep pushing it without exhausting it.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pKbCKAo_pqw" title="Paddy Power: &quot;Nobody Does Football Better&quot;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>Paddy Power &quot;Nobody Does Football Better Than Us&quot; by BBH London.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#43</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Snickers: &quot;The Reese's Play&quot;</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Snickers</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> BBDO New York</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> Social, Video, Digital</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">Snickers has always done best when the campaign is a commitment rather than a concept. The Reese's play is exactly that. BBDO New York found people actually named Reese, hired them to endorse Snickers' peanut butter range, and had the whole thing directed by Eric André, who is the right person to direct this kind of controlled chaos.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The campaign runs directly at the category leader. Reese's Pieces and Snickers are both peanut butter adjacent. The tactic of recruiting real people with the competitor's name as endorsers is a stunt with a legitimate strategic point underneath it: Snickers is here, it works, and the peanut butter is worth talking about.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">André's direction gives the work a register that a more conventional director would have sanitised. The endorsers are deadpan. The situations are slightly wrong. The comedy lands because it doesn't announce itself. BBDO have made a competitive claim feel like a cultural moment, which is harder than most brand campaigns manage.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1197701731" title="Snickers: &quot;The Reese's Play&quot;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>Snickers Reese's-endorsers play by BBDO New York.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#44</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Tesco: &quot;Now We're Cooking&quot;</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Tesco</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> BBH London, EssenceMediacom UK, Channel 4, Cedar Communications, With Not For, The Diversity Standards Collective</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> TVC, Social, Digital, Print, Product</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">"Now We're Cooking" won the Channel 4 Diversity in Advertising Award, which comes with £1m of media. Tesco, BBH London, EssenceMediacom UK, and Channel 4 used it to build something more substantial than a film. The campaign reworked 100 of the nation's favourite recipes to meet inclusive design standards: measurements written in full for e-reader legibility, specific timings instead of visual cues, and versions available as accessible ebooks, audio downloads, and Braille on request. BSL recipe content sits on the Tesco Kitchen YouTube channel. Adaptive cooking tools are available through Tesco Marketplace in partnership with Parkinson's UK.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The TV film earns its place but the recipes are the campaign. What this group of partners built together is a turn from an advertising brief into a product decision. The accessible formats are genuinely useful to the people they are designed for. That is a different ambition from most diversity-led advertising, which tends to stop at the film and call it done.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The collaboration depth reflects the seriousness of the brief. Cedar Communications handled the recipe content. With Not For, a disability-founded talent and production agency, ensured the film was built to be inclusive from the ground up. The Diversity Standards Collective provided consultancy throughout. A campaign produced with that level of structural rigour tends to feel different from one that is produced about it. This one does.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6877701b88030d58f11ac053/6a3907753ba706406e33f971_06_tesco.webp" alt="Tesco Now We're Cooking inclusive recipe campaign"></div> <figcaption>Tesco &quot;Now We're Cooking&quot; by BBH London, EssenceMediacom UK, and Channel 4.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#45</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">4Creative: Rebrand</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> 4Creative</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> In-House</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> Brand Identity</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">4Creative's rebrand is one of those pieces of work that shouldn't be on this list but is. An internal creative team rebranding itself is not usually a campaign. This one functions like one.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The new identity is built around more than 130 unique 4C monograms, each designed by a member of the 4Creative team. The logo is, by design, never finished. Different versions appear across different contexts. The iconography is drawn from Channel 4 shows and 4Creative's own archive. It is a brand identity that announces it was made by a particular group of people, at a particular moment, with a particular history.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The practical argument for it is real. A creative team's brand should feel like the output of a creative team rather than a brand consultancy. The 4C mark becomes the device for communicating range rather than a single graphic signifying sameness. What they have built is an identity system with genuine creative integrity, which puts it in better company than most.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1197699581" title="4Creative: Rebrand" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>4Creative rebrand by 4Creative.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-reveal" data-rt-embed-type='true'><div id="june" style="scroll-margin-top:120px;"></div></div> <h2 class="gn-reveal">June</h2> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#46</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Heinz + Heineken: &quot;The Match We've All Been Waiting For&quot;</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Heinz + Heineken</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> In-House (brand collaboration)</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> Social</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">The campaign is a six-pack with a ketchup bottle in it. Five Heineken. One Heinz. The line writes itself: &quot;The match we've all been waiting for.&quot; What makes it worth including is how little was needed to make it land. No complex mechanics. No new product development. Just a visual pun, a synchronised post across both brand Instagram grids, and 150 years of brand equity doing the heavy lifting.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The insight is simple and accurate. Heinz and Heineken have been showing up at the same parties for as long as anyone can remember. The World Cup is the occasion that finally makes the obvious joke official. A DIY version, where fans assemble the six-pack themselves, extends the idea without overcomplicating it.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">What this demonstrates is not creativity so much as restraint. A lot of brands would have added more. An event activation, a limited-edition flavour, a celebrity. Heinz and Heineken chose to do less and trust the idea. In a month dominated by enormous World Cup budgets, it is one of the most memorable things in this list.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6877701b88030d58f11ac053/6a4797f54cb99695aa4a9647_Heineken.webp" alt="Heinz + Heineken six-pack World Cup collaboration"></div> <figcaption>Heinz + Heineken &quot;The Match We've All Been Waiting For&quot;.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#47</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Uber Eats: &quot;Who Could Cook At A Time Like This?&quot;</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Uber Eats</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> Mother</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> TVC, OOH, Social, Digital</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">Uber Eats' first-ever global advertising campaign runs in 17 markets across five weeks. The brief is clean: the World Cup is on, and cooking is the enemy. Mother wrote it. Gordon Ramsay delivered it. The campaign is called &quot;Who Could Cook At A Time Like This?&quot; and Ramsay goes door to door interrupting people mid-cook, demanding they put down the pans, turn on the football, and order instead.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Jeff Low directed it through Biscuit Filmworks, and the casting of Dario G's &quot;Carnival de Paris&quot; underneath the action is the creative decision that elevates it. The track has been synonymous with tournament football for nearly 30 years. Putting it under Ramsay's interventions makes the film feel like it belongs to the moment rather than commenting on it from the outside.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Ramsay is the right choice for a specific reason. He is the world's most famous argument for cooking. Using him to argue against it is structurally funny in a way that does not require much explanation. Mother have made a large-scale global campaign feel like a simple idea, which is the hardest thing to do at this budget level.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1206631189" title="Uber Eats: &quot;Who Could Cook At A Time Like This?&quot;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>Uber Eats &quot;Who Could Cook At A Time Like This?&quot; by Mother.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#48</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Wimbledon: &quot;Where Beauty Meets the Battle&quot;</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Wimbledon</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> VCCP</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> TVC, OOH, Social, Digital</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">&quot;Where Beauty Meets the Battle&quot; is the second chapter of Wimbledon's &quot;There Is Only One Wimbledon&quot; platform. The film is told from the point of view of a Holly Blue butterfly moving through the grounds, from the manicured calm of the gardens to the intensity of Centre Court. The inspiration comes from a real moment: Henri Leconte, during a 1986 match, picked up a butterfly that landed near him and carried it to the crowd on his racket rather than chasing it away.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Directed by Sanjay de Silva and narrated by Annabel Croft, the film captures what makes Wimbledon different from every other Grand Slam without having to say so directly. The contrast between the butterfly's fragility and the ferocity of play on Centre Court does the work. VCCP have found an image that holds both things at once without forcing the comparison.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The campaign runs globally across BBC, ESPN, Eurosport, Amazon Prime, and Channel Nine in Australia. What it does not do is explain Wimbledon. It does not need to. The platform is building something that works across years, not just this fortnight.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1206632044" title="Wimbledon: &quot;Where Beauty Meets the Battle&quot;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>Wimbledon &quot;Where Beauty Meets the Battle&quot; by VCCP.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#49</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Tesco Whoosh: &quot;Serious Delivery&quot;</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Tesco Whoosh</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> BBH London (with EssenceMediacom UK)</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> TVC, OOH, Digital</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">Tesco Whoosh launched its major campaign on June 11th, timed to the opening of the World Cup. The insight driving &quot;Serious Delivery&quot; is that when you need something fast, the stakes feel enormous even when the thing itself is small. Missing the football because you ran out of snacks is not a crisis. It does not feel that way in the moment.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">BBH London took that feeling and gave it the production language of a thriller. Deserted multi-storey car parks. Helmet visors snapping shut. Moped throttles revving. Bradley and Pablo directed it through Prettybird. The drivers are not delivering an afternoon snack. They are on a world-saving mission. Three films cover nappies, medicine, and match-day snacks, each one treating the delivery as if everything depends on it.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">EssenceMediacom UK extended the campaign into a World Cup activation with Reach, building a paper-craft wallchart folded into a miniature football pitch. The creative and the activation work in the same register: everything about Whoosh is serious, even when it is not. That consistency is what makes a campaign rather than just an ad.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1206632655" title="Tesco Whoosh: &quot;Serious Delivery&quot;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>Tesco Whoosh &quot;Serious Delivery&quot; by BBH London.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#50</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">HBO Max: House of the Dragon Takes Flight</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> HBO Max</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> Electric Sheep Events (with Airstage)</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> Experiential, PR</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">To launch House of the Dragon Season 3, HBO Max flew an eight-metre dragon over the Tower of London. Not a projection. Not a CGI overlay on a social post. An actual flying model of Syrax, the dragon character, built from production scans taken directly from the series, with 23 moving parts engineered to replicate the way the creature moves on screen.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Airstage built it over three months and 3,000 hours. Vacuum-formed foam, carbon fibre, aluminium, airbrushed finishing. Thirteen kilograms. Built-in impellers in the legs to create lifelike flight. Seven test flights before it went over London. The COO of Airstage described it as one of the company's most intricate flying models. The Tower of London as the location is not incidental: it is exactly the kind of setting where a medieval dragon belongs, which is the kind of location decision that makes a stunt feel inevitable rather than arbitrary.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The activation was supported by an evening reception with cast members hosted at the site. The campaign exists to generate coverage and it does, but the reason it earns its place here is the level of craft committed to a piece of work that most brands would have executed digitally for a fraction of the cost. HBO Max chose to make the thing real. That decision is the campaign.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1206631303" title="HBO Max: House of the Dragon Takes Flight" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>HBO Max &quot;House of the Dragon&quot; Tower of London flyover by Electric Sheep Events with Airstage.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#51</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Etsy: &quot;Shop Other Jeffs&quot;</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Etsy</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> Orchard</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> TVC, OOH, Paid Social, Digital, In-App</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">Etsy launched &quot;Shop Other Jeffs&quot; timed to Amazon Prime Day. The idea: there are more than 5,000 sellers named Jeff on Etsy. They are woodworkers, ceramicists, lighting designers, and potters. They are not billionaires. They know your name when you place an order. Orchard built the campaign around them, putting real Jeffs front and centre in broadcast, OOH in New York, Seattle, and DC, paid social on YouTube and TikTok, and a full site and app takeover.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The targeting is precise. Prime Day is the moment when Amazon's commercial gravity is at its strongest. Running a campaign about buying from non-billionaire Jeffs on that exact day is the kind of media planning decision that makes the creative land harder than it would otherwise. The idea is funny in isolation. In context, it is sharper.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">A limited-edition merchandise range from Etsy sellers named Jeff extended the campaign into product: hats, t-shirts, keychains. The campaign does not attack Amazon. It does not need to. The comparison is already in the room the moment you ask whether you would rather give your money to a billionaire Jeff or one of these ones.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1206632478" title="Etsy: &quot;Shop Other Jeffs&quot;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>Etsy &quot;Shop Other Jeffs&quot; by Orchard.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#52</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">Department for Education: &quot;Get Out of the Everyday. Get Into Teaching.&quot;</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> Department for Education</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> M+C Saatchi UK</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> TVC, OOH, Social, Digital</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">&quot;Get Out of the Everyday. Get Into Teaching&quot; is a recruitment campaign aimed at Gen Z and built around a genuinely different argument for the profession. M+C Saatchi UK did not lead with altruism or nostalgia. They led with the idea that ordinary is the enemy. Teaching is positioned not as a fallback option or a calling, but as the antidote to careers that are repetitive, mundane, and going nowhere. The brand identity has been refreshed to match.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The hero film was directed by Gary Freedman at MJZ and follows a teacher on a Monday morning commute that shifts from grey to electric as she enters school. Ewen Spencer shot the OOH and social executions using real Gen Z teachers, which matters because the campaign is explicitly trying to show prospective recruits themselves, not an idealised version of what a teacher looks like.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The challenge with Government recruitment campaigns is that the audience already has a view of the profession, and that view is usually fixed. This campaign does not argue with it. It changes the frame. Teaching is not what you think it is, which is a more interesting brief than teaching is more important than you think. M+C Saatchi have answered the right brief.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1206630990" title="Department for Education: &quot;Get Out of the Everyday. Get Into Teaching.&quot;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div> <figcaption>Department for Education &quot;Get Out of the Everyday. Get Into Teaching.&quot; by M+C Saatchi UK.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#53</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">IKEA Canada: &quot;Assemble the World&quot;</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> IKEA Canada</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> Dentsu Creative</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> Social, Digital, OOH</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">Dentsu Creative built 18 national flag designs made entirely from IKEA products. Furniture, lighting, plush toys, home accessories, décor items assembled into the colours and shapes of the flags of competing nations. The interactive mechanic is the campaign: viewers identify the products hidden within each flag, then click through to buy them. IKEA calls it &quot;Assemble the World.&quot; The name does what it needs to.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The World Cup is being held in North America for the first time, which gives Canada a particular stake in the tournament. IKEA's positioning here is not about football. It is about home. Whichever country you are rooting for, IKEA has a way to bring that into your living room. The campaign sits cleanly inside the brand's &quot;bring home to life&quot; platform without the World Cup tie feeling forced.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">What makes it more than a social media stunt is the shoppable mechanic. The flags are not just decorative. They are product catalogues with a puzzle built in. Spotting a BILLY bookcase in the Swedish flag or a KALLAX in another rewards the viewer and converts the attention into a purchase journey. Dentsu Creative have found a way to make a retail campaign feel like a game.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6877701b88030d58f11ac053/6a4797f656212c5f96be5ea8_Ikea.webp" alt="IKEA Canada &quot;Assemble the World&quot; flag made from IKEA products"></div> <figcaption>IKEA Canada &quot;Assemble the World&quot; by Dentsu Creative.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="gn-list-item gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-list-item__head"> <span class="gn-list-item__num">#54</span> <h3 class="gn-list-item__title">KFC Sweden: &quot;Bucket For One&quot;</h3> </div> <div class="gn-list-item__meta"> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Brand:</strong> KFC Sweden</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Agency:</strong> Uncommon Stockholm</span> <span class="gn-list-item__pill"><strong>Medium:</strong> OOH, Social, Digital, Video</span> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">The Bucket For One is a solo-sized KFC bucket, and Uncommon Stockholm built the launch around a statistic that most people recognise but few admit: seven in ten Swedes resent sharing their fast food. Only nine percent would say so out loud. The campaign gives them permission to stop pretending.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The visual treatment is the most distinctive thing about it. Shot by Pål Allan, the photography leans into macro-lens, Renaissance-inspired imagery of visceral food-claiming behaviour: licking, poking, coughing on chicken. The styling is deliberately disturbing and deliberately delicious at the same time. Traditional food advertising makes everything look aspirational. This makes it look territorial, which is more honest about what eating something you do not want to share actually feels like.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">&quot;Protect Your Bucket For One, By Any Means Necessary&quot; is the rallying cry. It is Uncommon Stockholm's first work for KFC and it shows. The campaign does not feel like a new agency trying to understand an inherited brand. It feels like a team that found the right brief and committed to it fully. The work is confident without being loud, which is harder to pull off than it looks.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6877701b88030d58f11ac053/6a4797f6c1532781c6a80577_KFC.webp" alt="KFC Sweden &quot;Bucket For One&quot; Renaissance-style photography by Pål Allan"></div> <figcaption>KFC Sweden &quot;Bucket For One&quot; by Uncommon Stockholm.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong><em>Looking for the right agency partner? </em></strong><em>The GO Network offer cost-free support on marketing agency search, recommendation, and qualification. For an initial conversation with the team, </em><a href="https://www.thegonetwork.com/get-in-touch?utm_source=Article&utm_medium=Get+in+touch&utm_campaign=Most+Impactful+Ads+of+2023&utm_term=Article+-+Get+in+touch+-+Most+Impactful+Ads+of+2023" target="_blank"><strong><em>get in touch.</em></strong></a></p> </div></div> <aside class="gn-related gn-reveal" data-auto="related-reading"> <div class="gn-related__label">Related reading</div> <ul class="gn-related__list"> <li class="gn-related__item"> <a href="/articles/the-best-marketing-campaigns-of-2024---monthly-review" class="gn-related__link"> <span class="gn-related__category">Expression</span> <span class="gn-related__title">The Best Marketing Campaigns of 2024 – Monthly Review </span> <span class="gn-related__excerpt">97 campaigns reviewed across Creative, Digital, and OOH. 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