With every new year comes a flurry of new initiatives and awareness days to tap into – Dry January, Veganuary, new year – new me, the list goes on. As such, January has become a key month for brands operating in these sectors, as they look to utilise these dates to profile their brands and products to target audiences.
We’ve rounded up some of our favourite campaigns from January 2023, that have creatively tapped into new year initiatives and awareness days – looking at what they did and why it worked.
Veganuary
Wagamama X The Bread and Butter Thing
Building on their already extensive plant-based menu, the Japanese restaurant chain Wagamama’s launched a Vegan alternative of their highly popular Chicken Kare Lomen this month.
The Veganuary dish will be served up alongside a campaign of support initiatives to bring low-cost food to low-income households, with their partners The Bread and Butter Thing. The campaign will see over one million meals being donated to those in low-income communities.
This was a great way for the brand to make a meaningful entrance into the new year supporting a great cause, whilst also highlighting the Vegan options available to consumers at their restaurants – great work Wagamama!
Beyond Meat X Peter Andre
Plant-based meat brand Beyond Meat teamed up with Peter Andre to inspire people to take steps towards a more plant-based diet.
Targeted towards ‘flexitarians’ and ‘ardent’ carnivores, the ‘Take the First Step Beyond’ campaign encourages meat eaters to fully convert to eating plant-based foods with Beyond Meat products. As part of the initiative, the brand also ran a cooking contest via social media, which saw Andre demonstrate how to swap animal meat for Beyond Meat products, and highlight how easily they can be integrated into your everyday diet.
Placing a household name at the forefront of the campaign to champion plant-based products was a brilliant way to get people listening – and talking. A nice way to include the awareness day into comms.
Dry January
Lucky Saint’s OOH Campaign
Alcohol-free beer brand Lucky Saint launched a creative OOH initiative, which saw their ads plastered across the London Underground with hopes of targeting commuters. The brand playfully leaned into their religious name, to encourage people to ditch the alcohol and opt for one of their alcohol-free beers, through messaging such as ‘Thou shalt not, not drink’ and ‘lead me not into temptation’.
This was a playful and creative way to position their products at the centre of the Dry January conversations – good work Lucky Saint!
New Year, New Me
Gymbox’s OOH Campaign
London-based fitness chain Gymbox, launched a creative OOH campaign aimed at disrupting the fitness industry and discarding common cliches by quite literally crossing them out.
The campaign was launched following findings that nearly 50% of Londoners believed motivational fitness quotes were a turn off. This was a great way for Gymbox to break through the cliched ‘new year, new me’ noise and position themselves as a playful, inclusive and welcoming gym where people can reach their fitness goals.
Bulk – You vs You
Tapping into the ‘New Year, New me’ motto, Bulk launched ‘You vs You’, an integrated brand campaign that encourages fitness fanatics, athletes and amateurs to embrace individuality over perfectionism.
Backed by extensive influencer activity, from the likes of Alex Crockford, Ella-Mae Rayner and Maymah Lifts, the candid YouTube series follows the trials and tribulations of their sporting and fitness journeys, to demonstrate that striving for individual progress, instead of outright perfection, is the best way to achieve your goals.
This was a brilliant way to place their product offering at the centre of people’s new year fitness resolutions, whilst also acknowledging the pressures associated with this time of year, and the impacts striving for perfection can have on people’s mental health – great work Bulk!
For more interesting articles from us check out these posts:
- Why it’s important to secure coverage for your product
- Top five Food and Drink PR Campaigns of 2022
- Best and Worst PR Campaigns of 2022
At Prohibition, we work with various brands across all sectors, B2B and B2C, to create innovative PR 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.
