We’re back with another campaign round up. This time we’re looking at the best so far for 2023, the ones that have caught our and the UK media’s attention for all the right reasons!
Bert’s Books’ viral display of the Prince Harry autobiography
It felt like Prince Harry’s autobiography was everywhere at the beginning of the year – and one independent bookstore in Swindon capitalised on its success in a very clever way.
Bert’s Books went viral after tweeting a photo of their window display with the caption ‘Anyway, we do have some spare copies of Spare if you want one’ – and showed the Prince’s autobiography alongside Bella Mackie’s bestseller, How to Kill Your Family – we see what you did there, and so did the UK media who quickly featured it in their coverage.
Spare was highly anticipated given the allegations Prince Harry has made against the royal family, and Bert’s Books took this one step further with a humorous display of his book against another about the protagonist offing her family for revenge. The tweet received almost 23k likes and retweets from big names such as Greg James – showing the power of social media in helping put small businesses on the grid! This is a great example of how simple but well done content can go viral.
Anyway, we do have some spare copies of Spare if you want one pic.twitter.com/uOFbiPdMaW
— Bert’s Books (@bertsbooks) January 10, 2023
Vimto ‘changing’ their name to Vimpto
We all know someone who pronounces Vimto like Vimpto – dare we say most people, guilty! – and the drinks brand came up with a clever OOH campaign that pokes fun at customers who do so.
People took to social media to post about the brands billboard that added a ‘p’ to the name with the tagline ‘Changing our name to Vimpto… seeing as you all pronounce it that way’. This led to online debate about how people pronounce it – with some people feeling called out for adding the ‘p’ and loyalists insisting that it’s pronounced without. While many thought they were actually changing the name, the brand confirmed it was just a stunt. But it got people online, on social media and the press, talking about the brand!
This was a great example of a campaign that taps into consumer debate around the product and using this to promote the campaign landed Vimto some excellent social and national press coverage – we were big fans of this one.
McDonald’s ‘Raise Your Arches’ campaign
Calling all Hot Fuzz and Sean of the Dead fans – Edgar Wright has directed McDonald’s new ad and it’s raising some eyebrows.
They’ve cleverly created an ad that doesn’t depict any restaurant shots or brand mentions, instead showing people in an office raising their eyebrows to each other, apparently signalling that it’s time for a McDonald’s. By the end, almost every person in the office and every other innocent bystander has been sucked into the hoard marching down to maccies for lunch. The ad aims to start a new trend of people simply raising their eyebrows in a telling look that says they want a Big Mac.
It’s shot in Wright’s distinctive snappy style and is an interesting move away from the traditional fast food ad that features busy restaurants and snippets of carefully curated food. The assumption that we can communicate the desire for a McDonald’s simply through a look is audacious – and brilliant! It’s a creative way to show the power of a strong brand.
ITV’s melting billboard to promote A Year on Planet Earth
ITV have recently launched ITVX and to help promote the platform’s new natural history series, A Year on Planet Earth, they installed a billboard encased in ice at Westfield London.
The billboard gradually thawed over time to birth a beautiful spring scene, representing the natural change in seasons. The campaign comprised other OOH activations across varies cities in the UK, including the use of Met Office data to trigger location and weather-specific content on digital billboards.
This is a campaign that perfectly captures what ITV are trying to promote – having a billboard completely encase in ice that thawed naturally to show a transition to spring acts as its own teaser for what’s to come in the series. Brilliant work and a great stunt to grab attention!
Tommy Hilfiger launches Depop shop
A fashion brand joining a circular fashion site seems like a shot right through one’s own foot – but that’s exactly what Tommy Hilfiger have done.
The designer brand has created a Depop page, a site for people to buy and sell clothing which has become increasingly popular for unworn or second-hand clothes. The Tommy page will sell damaged pieces from their retail stores that are unsellable, as well as ‘pre-loved’ garments sent back from customers – which will be repaired, cleaned and restyled.
The increasing demand for sustainable practices and decreasing tolerance for fast fashion makes this a smart move from Tommy Hilfiger. By making this commitment to becoming more eco-conscious, and by partnering up with Depop in the process, they’re tapping into the Gen Z market and modernising the brand for 2023. Clever and good for the planet – we can’t ask for much more!
At Prohibition, we work with various brands across all sectors, B2B and B2C, to create innovative PR and social media campaigns that deliver real ROI and help meet business goals. Get in touch with us today to find out how we could support you with your Public Relations. Drop us an email: hello@prohibitionpr.co.uk or give us a bell on 0113 430 4160.
For more interesting blogs from us, check out these posts:
