With ChatGPT being the talk of the town, I asked it to write me a short paragraph about what's been happening in the UK marketing industry during February.
It told us that there were "a number of developments in the UK marketing industry", including AI-based marketing tools gaining traction, and businesses leveraging data to better understand their customer needs. "Overall," it concluded, "the UK marketing industry experienced further shifts towards digital marketing and automation in February 2023" - how insightful.
We thought we'd try our luck and see if it could write the full round-up of the most impactful Creative, Digital, and OOH advertising campaigns released in February 2023, but it told us that only a pro could do such a thing - so it looks like you're stuck with us.
January - Campaigns #1 - 8
February - Campaigns #9 - 16
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January
Campaign #1: McDonald's – Raise your Arches
Brand: McDonald's
Category: Food & Drink
Agency: Leo Burnett
Medium: TV
You don’t expect to see big red “50% off” stickers on the windows at McDonald's – and you won’t – but nevertheless, the fast-food giant has jumped on the discount-January train with their new ‘Raise your Arches’ campaign from Leo Burnett.
Directed by Edgar Wright, whose credits include Simon Pegg’s Cornetto Trilogy and Baby Driver, the advert perfectly encapsulates the feeling we all have when the McDonald's cravings kick in.
Set in an office block, the advert is the first for the company to not show any of its products or restaurants.
Take a look at our full campaign round-up of 2022.
Campaign #2: La Vie – Painting the UK Pink
Brand: La Vie
Category: Food & Drink
Agency: Buzzman
Medium: OOH
Alongside big discounts, the month of January is also known for resolutions, new habits, and attempts at healthier ways of living. For some of you, this might have included participating in 'Veganuary' – an initiative to ditch meat and dairy in favour of plant-based alternatives.
It's no surprise, therefore, that plant-based brands up the ante when it comes to their advertising at this time of year. French brand La Vie, for example, took up a large triple-decker billboard in Shoreditch to promote their meat-substitute bacon.
La Vie worked with creative agency Buzzman on the provocative campaign.
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Campaign #3: Asahi – Beyond Expected
Brand: Asahi
Category: Food & Drink
Agency: Trouble Maker
Medium: TV
Another initiative you might have been taking part in is ‘Dry January,’ and just like La Vie, many companies are striking while the iron’s hot to promote their no/lo-alcohol offerings. One such company is Asahi.
The Japanese beer brand enlisted the talents of Trouble Maker and FAMILIA director Fausto Becatti to create ‘Super Dry,’ a campaign to promote its 0.0% beer. The vibrant ad takes us on a trip through modern day Japan, zooming through different scenes to show Asahi Super Dry being enjoyed in a variety of different settings.
With trends showing alcohol consumption on the downturn, especially amongst the younger generation, Fausto opted to show the 0.0% alternative in a bar and other social situations to highlight the switch from traditional booze.
Campaign #4: Jordan’s Cereals – Tasty by Nature
Brand: Jordan’s Cereals
Category: Food & Drink
Agency: the7stars
Medium: TV
I’m more a fan of toast than cereal in the morning, but I can’t let my bias get in the way of this incredibly important and impartial round up of campaigns. Next on the list is Jordan’s Cereals. Their new campaign ‘Tasty by Nature’ marks the company’s return to Linear TV for the first time since 2013.
The TV and video campaign was created by the7stars, and is running nationwide across Channel 4, Sky, and ITV Digital through to the end of February.
Produced by Lobster Creative and put together in-house, the advert shows a golden, cartoon oat field, with the grains all swirling together to transform into ‘delicious light and crispy golden clusters.’ The return to television comes after a product-wide packaging redesign by Bloom, to help create a rich and cohesive identity across Jordan’s portfolio of products.
View our recent Round-up: Investing in Growth - Maximising your Channels in 2023
Campaign #5: British Airways – Out of Office
Brand: British Airways
Category: Travel & Tourism
Agency: Uncommon
Medium: OOH
Be honest, how many ‘Out of Offices’ have you received in January? Despite coming immediately after Christmas, it seems like a popular time for people to take some time away from their desk and jet off to seek some winter sun.
British Airways Holiday’s new campaign ‘Take Your Holiday Seriously’ plays on the ‘Out of Office’ response, replacing the usual ‘if you need to get hold of me’ blurb with blunter suggestions such as ‘0% chance of work’ and simply ‘No.’ The emails are overlaid across beautiful beach scenes (think more Sicily than Skegness).
The outdoor campaign has been devised by Uncommon.
Campaign #6: Gymbox – Cut through the bulls**t
Brand: Gymbox
Category: Health & Fitness
Agency: AMV BBDO
Medium: OOH
Struggling to get on the equipment you’re after? Are all the classes booked up that are usually only half-full? It’s the post-Christmas gym season, where everyone has decided they’re on a health-kick that will last for a month or two at best. To capitalise on these new year’s resolutions, unconventional London-based Gymbox have launched a new OOH campaign around the capital.
The campaign was created by AMV BBDO, a regular in these roundups, following a brief to disrupt the category and reinforce its brand position as the "antidote to boring gyms.” It builds on Gymbox’s existing ‘Anything goes’ campaign.
In one execution, the phrase “Sweat is your fat crying” is crossed over with the words “Or maybe you forgot to delete your browser history” scribbled underneath. Thanks for the reminder, Gym Box.
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Campaign #7: Woodland Trust – Plant More Trees
Brand: Woodland Trust
Category: Charities
Agency: Creature London
Medium: Brand positioning
I love a good walk in nature. There’s nothing better than leaving the city for a nice Sunday-stroll through some woodlands up in the Peaks. Many of them are looked after by the Woodland Trust, who have recently launched the campaign ‘Plant More Trees.’
The campaign has been launched alongside the organisation’s re-brand and repositioning, all done in partnership with Creature London.
The initial brief was to help the Woodland Trust develop a new brand positioning that allowed them to shift perception from a conservation organisation for the traditional and conservative, to one that represents the wide variety of voices that want to tackle the climate crisis. The new positioning, ‘Fighting for the health of people and planet with every tree,’ is aimed at placing Woodland Trust as a mass brand, speaking to a mass audience about a mass cause.
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View our comprehensive guide for rebranding: The (Re)Brand Workbook
Campaign #8: TotallyMoney – You’ll Totally Get There
Brand: TotallyMoney
Category: Financial Services
Agency: St Luke’s
Medium: TV
It’s apt that we finish January’s roundup with TotallyMoney’s campaign ‘You’ll Totally Get There,’ but to where exactly?
Independent creative agency St Luke’s have worked with the credit app to devise a TV and online campaign that demonstrates how, with the right guidance and support, people can climb higher and reach their goals.
The three-month campaign will run across TV, VOD, and YouTube until the end of March, with the media planning and buying conducted by Electric Glue.
Looking for your next agency partner? GO! offer cost-free support on marketing agency search, recommendation, and qualification. For an initial conversation with the team, get in touch.
February
Campaign #9: Paddy Power: Cheltenham 2023
Brand: Paddy Power
Category: Betting
Agency: BBH London
Medium: TV
It’s ‘the best rivalry you’ve never heard of,’ – Ireland verses Great Britain at the Cheltenham Festival. Having recently returned from a short trip to Ireland, I was a little curious as to why the hotel I was staying in was holding a ‘Cheltenham preview night,’ but after seeing Paddy Power’s latest advert and doing a little research – it all makes sense.
After having featured in two previous ads for the brand, actor Colm Meaney returns to settle things ‘once and for all.’ The ad begins with the Irishman coming face-to-face with Paddy Power Football Ambassador Peter Crouch after stepping off a bus full of fellow racegoers. In the English contingent is also, for some reason, Barry from EastEnders.
It’s Paddy Power’s first campaign since BBH was appointed to handle the brand’s integrated advertising business back in January.
Campaign #10: BBC - Eurovision 2023
Brand: BBC / The Eurovision Song Contest
Category: Live Event
Agency: Superunion / Starlight Creative
Medium: Branding
Coming to you live from Liverpool, it’s the 67th Eurovision Song Contest. Ok, it’s not quite live yet, but we’ve only got 74 days (at the time of writing) until the grand finale of television’s most spectacular event.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll have heard that the United Kingdom is hosting this years’ contest on behalf of Ukraine. Kalush Orchestra won back in 2022 with their pop-folk hit ‘Stefania,’ with the UK’s Sam Ryder coming in second place singing the equally catchy ‘Spaceman.’
Designed in partnership with UK-based creative company Superunion and Ukranian creative studios Starlight Creative, the look is much more vibrant than previous years, with the flags of both countries being used as inspiration for the blue, yellow, and hot pink colour pallet.
The studios chose a sans serif typeface called Penny Lane for the ‘United by Music’ slogan, inspired by 20th-century cast iron signs displaying Liverpool street names.
Brand loyalty, authenticity, and more; we asked over 150 marketing leaders to share the Marketing Communications trends, opportunities, and challenges they’re predicting for 2023. Download the “Pulse Check: 2023.”
Campaign #11 - First Direct: Skint Stinks
Brand: First Direct Bank
Category: Financial Services
Agency: Wunderman Thompson UK
Medium: TV
Are you a fan of a tenuous link? Leeds was in the bidding to host Eurovision 2023 and their largest arena is sponsored by First Direct. That brings us nicely to First Direct’s new campaign ‘Skint Stinks.’
Created by integrated marketing agency, Wunderman Thompson UK, the ad features an anthropomorphic skunk airing the frustrations of young people up and down the country when it comes to finances.
Launching on the 30th of January, the campaign is social-first, with activations across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Towards the middle of February, Xbox players will be met with an interactive landing page experience challenging them to complete a first direct branded minigame for Xbox vouchers.
Campaign #12- Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood: Shaping Us
Brand: Royal Foundation
Category: Charities
Agency: Wonderhood Studios
Medium: TV
At the end of January, Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales (not that one) launched a major new awareness raising campaign to increase public understanding of the crucial importance of the first five years of a child’s life.
Entitled ‘Shaping Us,’ the long-term campaign from The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood launched with the release of a short film, highlighting how babies and children develop in response to their earliest experiences.
The film, featuring the track “Breathe a Breath of Me” by Lokki, will appear on Piccadilly Lights at Piccadilly Circus and will be screened in cinemas around the UK.
View our Round-up: 5 Ways to Get More from your Marketing Data
Campaign #13 - EE Hope United: GayVAR
Brand: EE
Category: Telecoms
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi London
Medium: Online
If someone asked me what ‘GayVAR’ was, I’d probably say it was to help RuPaul decide, in her older age, who wins a lip-sync in Drag Race. Turns out it’s actually a new integrated campaign from EE to highlight and tackle the issue of online homophobia within football.
EE’s Hope United squad will be monitoring social media across three Premier League game weeks, with GayVAR content posted in response to specific moments that have been found to generate spikes in online homophonic abuse (bad goalkeeping, dives and losses etc.)
The short videos will highlight the ridiculous and archaic nature of homophobia, and will be shared across EE’s social media channels with the message that it isn’t just ‘banter.’
Hope United was formed by Saatchi & Saatchi London, with PR run by Pitch Marketing Group and media buying by Essence.
Campaign #14 - Hilton Hotels & Resorts: Happy Surprise Extras
Brand: Hilton Hotels & Resorts
Category: Travel & Tourism
Agency: TBWA London
Medium: TV
Admit it - we’ve all stayed in some dodgy hotels in our time. I don’t think, however, that I’ve had to pay extra for electricity or a kettle. These are some of the hidden extras a shocked traveller is told she’ll have to pay for in Hilton Hotels & Resorts' new ad.
Created by TBWA London, the new UK campaign builds off the global brand platform that puts the hotels back into hotel marketing.
The integrated campaign launches Hilton’s new 'Hilton. For The Stay' creative platform in the UK, and will cover TV, Social, Radio, and Digital Audio.
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View our Round-up: 4 PR Trends to Shape your 2023 Marketing Strategy
Campaign #15 – McDonald’s: Own Your McSpicy Face
Brand: McDonald’s
Category: Food & Drink
Agency: Leo Burnett
Medium: TV
Last month we highlighted McDonald’s ‘Raise your Arches’ campaign, the first not to feature any of the fast-food chain’s restaurants or products. Their latest campaign includes both, more specifically the McSpicy as it becomes a permanent feature on the McDonald’s menu.
The ad, again from Leo Burnett, calls on the UK to own their ‘McSpicy face,’ centred around the creative insight that everyone has a face they pull when they eat spicy food.
Campaign #16 - Kleenex: Save the Sleeve
Brand: Kleenex
Category: FMCG
Agency: FCB Inferno
Medium: TV
And so we come to the last of our campaign spotlights for February. I’m not crying, you are. If you are crying, a new campaign from Kleenex is urging you to ‘Save the sleeve,’ and use tissues to mop up the tears instead.
The campaign from FCB Inferno encourages people to ‘Grab a Kleenex’ instead, because only a Kleenex will do when someone needs a tissue.
Looking for your next agency partner? GO! offer cost-free support on marketing agency search, recommendation, and qualification. For an initial conversation with the team, get in touch.
