From the glorious triumph of the Women's EURO to the sad death of Queen Elizabeth II, 2022 (like most of the 2020s) has had its ups and downs.
In the shadow of these historical factscontent marketingTeams and the marketing world have been working overtime to keep up with so much breaking news and so many hot topics.
We've looked at some of the best and worst marketing campaigns of 2022.
The Good: Some of the best examples of marketing in 2022
EE - "United Hope"
The mobile network EE launched itsunited hope campaignback in July. The campaign, launched in conjunction with the UEFA Women's Football Championship, was created to fight gender hate online and use visual imagery to convey powerful messages of perseverance and unity.
During the 90 seconds of the commercial above, several players from the UEFA Women's Championship soccer team are confronted with the line "This is going to be a problem" when confronted with obstacles such as horrific physical injuries, parenting and menstruation.
The campaign skilfully shows the less glamorous side of everyday life as a professional footballer and questions the social discourse on gender bias.
Premier League footballer Jordan Henderson closes the ad with the evocative phrase; "Women have problems every day, but sexist hatred, that's not their problem. It's ours." Before a final shot showing the men's and women's soccer teams united, the words "SEXIST HATE STOPS WITH MEN".
This was a large integrated campaign using ATL ads,digital public relationsand highly engaged influencers around the worldsocial marketingChannels Using hashtags #HopeUnited and #NotHerProblem, generated (September-October 22, measured by brand mentions):
- 925 mentions
- 45.7k interactions
- Chance of 55.4k
- 45.000 Likes
- 99% positive sentiment (909 positive mentions vs. 3 negative mentions)
What can we learn from this campaign?
Bringing the public together for the common good can be powerful. Was aHighly emotional campaign with strong values and a clear reference to current affairs - a real home run for EE, but above all for the great cause it is tackling.
CBP London - "Imagine"
CPB London used key data from UK national study to tackle unconscious bias for #BreakTheBias.
The study found that 39% of the children surveyed believed that women (or mothers) should do most of the housework, take the primary care of the children and men (or fathers) should go to work.
Creating posters and postcards that got people to imagine people based on their roles or behaviors and the gender associated with them. Eventually, this caused people to stop and address their own unconscious biases.
The billboards, activated around International Women's Day 2022, also went OOH in cinemas, billboards and social platforms.
CPB went even further to get to the root of the problem: the children. By creating a coloring book that encourages children to draw what they imagine, encouraging parents and carers to talk about gender roles, and making sure our children are aware of prejudice and believe in equality.
The campaign generated:
- More than 4.7 million impressions
- More than 250,000 interactions on social networks
- 10.28% organic engagement
International Women's Day Campaign | IntroducevonCrispin Porter Bogusky LondonInVimeo.
What can we learn from this campaign?
Leveraging data in your marketing is powerful, and when used right, it can drive compelling storytelling, lead brands into important conversations in the right ways, and compel people to stop and pay attention.
This campaign worked very well because we can all participate and learn from it. It is meaningful, bold and persuasive.
When brands are considering engaging in a sensitive conversation like bias and equality, or even an important cause, using data that might be useful or relevant to support that, and then anchoring your campaign to that data, will help them make it more meaningful, relevant and successful. Campaign.
Virgin Media - "We're Better Connected - Skater Girl"
In response to Women's Euro 2022, empowering young women has been a dominant theme in marketing over the summer. With so many brands jumping on the gender equality bandwagon, we've seen our share of lackluster, predictable ads with no real message. However, Virgin Media's 'We are better connected' campaign managed to avoid the latter.
The ad tells the story of Aamira, a young skater who befriends a group of skaters after a day at the park doesn't go as planned. The ad showcases how technology connects us all, giving viewers confidence and satisfaction with both the product and the campaign narrative.
Inclusion and connectivity are fundamental themes that bind us together, and the ability to use them tactfully and uniquely has proven to be a resounding success forvirgin media.
The Bad: The Marketing Mistakes of 2022
UberEats – „Uber no come“
Door-to-door delivery services have become a part of everyday life in the 21st century, with Just Eat, Deliveroo and UberEats being the most popular in the UK. "Uber Don't Eats" originally launched in February 2022 for the Superbowl. The campaign featured a number of A-list celebrities including Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Coolidge and Trevor Noah. With such an impressive cast of celebrities, we'd expect the announcement to have us laughing and crying. However, the announcement was perhaps a little too direct.
The premise of the campaign suggests that anything delivered by UberEats is, by definition, edible. Without hesitation, the featured celebrities consume various household items including aluminum foil, cat litter, dish soap, deodorant, sunscreen and more.
Twitter users expressed amusement and disgust with the campaign. The ad, which was intended to be light-hearted humor, was deemed by many to be pathetic nonsense and was even seen as promoting dangerous messages about harmful intake, prompting US authorities to urge viewers "not to eat soap". With a glittering cast of Hollywood celebrities devoting their time to the campaign, arguably so much more could have been done to increase brand awareness. This time, UberEats may have benefited from thinking beyond the obvious.
OVO Energy – “Hug Your Pet”
One of Britain's largest energy suppliers was forced to do soissue an apologyEarlier this year after launching a tactless campaign to combat the cost of living crisis.
In January 2022, OVO Energy advised customers to eat oatmeal, hug pets and star jump to stay warm and keep living expenses to a minimum. Of course, these "fixes" weren't entirely practical, for lack of a better word, and left many viewers wondering if the campaign was legit or not.
We don't need to tell you that letting your audience debate whether a media campaign is serious or a joke is an instant flop for the brand that created it. After overwhelming nationwide criticism, OVO Energy later publicly apologized for the insensitive and unrealistic proposals, with a spokesman claiming the supplier's advice was "embarrassed".
THE MISSED OPPORTUNITY
LinkedIn – “Follow in their footsteps”
LinkedIn's Follow Her Steps campaign promotes visibility messages for working women and role models. While the heart was in the right place and this definitely wasn't the worst marketing idea ever, the ad narrative feels like an endorsed afterthought.
The commercial follows Carol Thomas BEM, the first ever UEFA Women's EURO captain in 1984, on her historic 30-mile walk from Gresty Road, Crewe, to Old Trafford, Manchester.
Unfortunately, despite a 60-second airtime slot, the ad doesn't show any footage of Carol's outing.
Even stranger, the ad encourages viewers to "follow Carol's journey" but doesn't provide details on where or how interested football fans can do so. This feels like an outlandish concept for a campaign (especially for Carol Thomas, who ran 30 miles) to get virtually no screen time.
Showing the highlights of the journey would have served as a hook to pique viewers' interest and encourage them to explore Carol's journey further elsewhere. Instead, the campaign relies solely on viewers being interested enough to explore Carol's journey on their own without the catch pulling us in.
Given the incredibly powerful and emotional media campaigns focused on women's football and gender equality at the time, this LinkedIn campaign was a dud.
unser T-ShirtThoughts…
We've picked some of what we think are the worst and best marketing campaigns of 2022. Following the biggest sporting events of the year, the themes of gender equality, empowerment and unity have reigned supreme this summer.
These themes, when implemented correctly, can be fantastic marketing tools to run any media campaign as broadcasting to a more inclusive demographic will only broaden your audience and ultimately market your product or service to a variety of broader people.
As seen with UberEats, the most effective concept for a marketing campaign typically goes beyond the initial idea, and businesses would benefit by thinking beyond the obvious choice. Creating an out-of-the-box ad is more likely to leave a lasting impression on your audience. Any advertising campaign that could potentially offend or promote harmful ideas should be avoided at all costs.
If you would like to discuss your next marketing campaign, please contact us using the form below.