It’s been a very, veeery busy month in the UK, from the general election to the Euros, there’s been a whole lot going on, and that means a whole lot for marketers to sink their teeth into. In this month’s Water Cooler Conversations, we take a closer look at some of our favourite campaigns you will have definitely seen, and some hidden gems you might have missed.
Ben
Senior Search Executive
I’ve always loved Paddy Power’s marketing campaigns, two classics that stand out to me are:
- When they sponsored Floyd Mayweather during the record-breaking fight with Conor McGregor, and during the weigh-ins, he removed his trousers to reveal bright green, Paddy Power branded pants.
- To promote their new loyalty program, they created various promotional materials featuring their latest brand ambassador – Rhodri Giggs – Ryan Giggs’ brother.
Why did they choose the brother of an ex-footballer? Well, Ryan Giggs was found to be having an affair with Rhodri’s wife for many years which was a huge scandal within the sporting world.
Paddy Power’s decision to use Rhodri to promote a loyalty scheme was an incredible piece of marketing which garnered a lot of attention.
However, my favourite campaign of theirs came only recently. Before the final of the 2024 Euros, they released a hilarious video of three prominent football pundits, who’re all Scottish, pretending to be Spanish.
This played on the idea that all Scottish football fans are ‘anyone but England’ and they tapped into this rhetoric perfectly. The ad was pure Paddy Power through and through – funny, well-done, and highly shareable!
Caitlin
Social Media & Content Marketing Assistant
I loved the simplicity of this out-of-home campaign by The Ordinary. They stripped back the complexity of the copy and came up with something straightforward but powerful.
“Someone said working with celebrities would be good for our brand. But we couldn’t find one with a degree in Biochemistry”.
It was fascinating to see what could be the start of a new movement in skincare, with well-known brands turning away from celebrity/influencer marketing in favour of scientists. It feels like The Ordinary have listened and understood their audience and kept the campaign minimal and to the point, validating consumer desire for high-quality skincare. The campaign was also effective in terms of visuals with the brand’s creative being impactful and recognisable at a glance.
Jemma
Director
With skin cancer on the rise (especially among younger people), I really liked this campaign from the Melanoma Fund to spotlight the risk of taking part in outdoor sports without the use of proper sun protection- something everyone will be guilty of at one point.
The hard-hitting creative was used across various OOH placements and social channels, depicting unprotected moles morphing into melanomas that echo the familiar shapes of a footballer, swimmer and cyclist. The campaign’s visuals were shot by award-winning photographer James Day and designed in collaboration with skin cancer surgeon Mr Siva Kumar to ensure authenticity.
Although I think there is still a long way to go in educating people on the importance of sun cream and what to look for on their face & body, this is certainly a positive step in the right direction!
Josh
Senior Digital Marketing Executive
It’s been interesting to see how political parties have engaged with alternative promotional methods this time, particularly with social media. Unsurprisingly, this has been the most social savvy election of all time. Whether this is a good thing for politics or not, it was obvious how much more money and time was being put into social media – you can tell some parties are starting to really understand the value of it. Interestingly enough, those were the parties that also performed the best overall.
The Labour Party/Green Party
For these parties, it was all about the memes, and they both nailed it, showing a clear understanding of how their voters choose to communicate. It wasn’t some bland piece to camera about policy, it was buying into current trends, TikTok sounds and some genuinely amusing content.
Nigel Farage/Reform
This is a very interesting one. While it’s probably quite hard to sell a lot of Reform’s actual policies to socially conscious young people, Farage has essentially done what Boris Johnson and (slightly less deliberately) Donald Trump did to gain success, by coming across as a figure of fun and he’s done it primarily via Cameo. Fully embracing a sort of out-of-touch uncle persona, people can hire him to say whatever they want on Cameo (usually Gen-Z meme lingo) earning him plenty of reshares across Instagram and TikTok, using his arch-unrelatability with this audience to become relatable to a whole generation who would have otherwise had very little exposure to him.
Jeremy Corbyn/Independent
Jeremy Corbyn’s team pulled a very similar trick to Farage, albeit in a slightly different direction. Recognising him as a cult favourite and positioning him as an earnest, wholesome individual, including him in TikTok dances, and generally making a lot of humorous content alongside more serious points.
Louise
Digital Marketing Manager
Jellycat recently launched a ‘chippy’ pop-up shop in Selfridges, where customers were served up the latest additions to the Jellycat toy range.
This is an example of great PR with a well-thought-out omnichannel distribution. The experience itself feels relevant to the brand – it’s playful, eye-catching, and something that existing customers would love to be part of.
While this works as a standalone activation, they take another bite at the cherry by distributing it as a press piece and encouraging customers to film the experience. As a result, the pop-up has gone viral multiple times on platforms such as TikTok, building an immense amount of brand awareness.
To me, Jellycat have really demonstrated the importance of approaching every campaign with a multi-channel approach, making sure you grab every opportunity to widen your reach with each activity.
If you want to see what else we’ve loved in 2024, check out our other Water Cooler Conversations and more here.
