2022 Marketing Highlights

Ah, the first year we can breathe a sigh of relief after the pandemic.

Until war broke out. And Number 10 replaced its front door with a revolving one. And words like "recession" and "economic downturn" came into common parlance.

Anyone else yearning for those "uncertain times" in our PJs at home?

With so much turmoil going on in the world, brands have had to think twice about how to respond to this period of poly-crisis (yes, it's a real world and a new one we learnt this year). Perhaps best exemplified in the more recent Christmas campaigns; typically a time for unadulterated capitalism, the festive stalwarts including John Lewis, M&S, and Disney have reined things in this year...

But before we get to that, let's rewind the clock to January at the start of the year, to review the 2022's marketing highlights:

JANUARY

Widely known as the most depressing time of the year, the month of January was perfect timing for the NHS to bring out their 'Mental Health Matters' campaign.

Aptly citing the lyrics to the Beatles song, 'Help!' the celebrity line-up including Craig David, Nicola Roberts, and Laura Mvula aims to raise awareness of mental health issues such as anxiety or depression, and that England's public health service is here to help.

According to the NHS's press release:

Watch the ad below and read more about the campaign, including mini interviews with the stars, here.

FEBRUARY

Christmas for AdLand is of course Super Bowl!

With ad space at the all-important football game going for a whopping $5.5 million, it's more than just football fans' eyes on this huge annual event.

This year, our favourite was Fortune Favours the Brave by Crypto.com. Featuring Hollywood actor Matt Damon, the crypto heavyweight did not pull their punches for this mammoth campaign.

Focusing heavily on FOMO (as one would expect for cryptocurrency investing!) this high-production ad is strongly emotional, before ending on a cinematic high.

(Too bad the world's best acting, marketing, and production crews couldn't save crypto's more recent demise... )

MARCH

Created for International Women's Day, CPB London are credited with this fantastic poster series - aiming to tackle gender biases for Campaign Magazine.

With researched stats backing up deeply-entrenched views on gender stereotypes, the simple yet powerful creative challenges our biases on roles and sexes.

For example, one ad reads "Imagine a CEO. Is it a man?"

According to a nationwide survey, 39% of children surveyed believed that females (or 'mummies') should do most of the housework and take care of babies, while males (or 'daddies') should go out to work. Other stats included 45% of surveyed children believing nurses were always women, and 66% believing that being a plumber or electrician is a job for a man.

Cast your eyes and have your biases challenged in the selection below:

Special mention:

We cannot get enough of Bloom & Wild's brilliant marketing, citing the flower brand in previous years' highlights round-ups (including 2021's Valentine's Day "Not for sale" campaign).

This year, we want to recognise the genius Mother’s Day campaign that included giving customers the option to opt-out of comms during a potentially triggering or upsetting time (resulting in a 500% increase in positive customer feedback), and a press ad that doubled up as a colouring sheet for kids to give their mums - instead of a bouquet of flowers. It’s caring, realistic, inclusive, and confident - resulting in longer-term sales instead of flash-in-the-pan quick wins done by others.

Stay tuned for Q2, 3 and 4.

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