What creative inspires our creative team?
Eight of our favorite campaigns.
We are a few weeks into 2022, but we cannot forget all the great ads we saw in 2021! We asked our creative team what some of their favorite ads were, and this is what they said.
Our Art Director, KP’s, pick is Heinz. In January 2021, Heinz released an ad in which they asked random people to draw ketchup, and as you can see from the ad, Heinz was the first thing that came to mind. “Heinz has a longstanding history in the ad world and is an unstoppable force in the ketchup condiment market,” said KP. “They always keep themselves relevant while doing cool creative, and they have a ton of fun while doing it.”
Ads are not only for boosting brand awareness but also for bringing awareness to social issues and enacting change. In October 2021, WWF did just that. “I love when a simple but clever idea is used to bring awareness to a big issue, social or otherwise. In this case, the plastic pollution in our oceans. On a side note, I’ve always wanted to discover a new species and get to name it. I’m still holding out hope that that will happen someday.” A wise pick from our Chief Creative Officer, Sean Crane!
Several great gaming ideas surfaced last year, and in March 2021, Xbox transported gamers in a new way, leading them to be our Copywriter, Kolbe Fitzgerald’s top pick! “Xbox attracted new customers, reinvigorated their current customer base, and created an entirely new demographic that hadn’t existed before—all by simply shifting the customer experience focus from action to exploration.” Next time you want to go on vacation, you can do it right from your living room.
After watching this ad, we think you’ll agree that not only is the editing great, but the message is equally captivating. This pick comes from another of our Art Directors, Dani Battaglia, who says, “I picked this ad as my top of 2021 because of how clean and powerful the video is. If the craft is not there, the message can get lost.” Very well said!
Our Production Artist, Charles Spencer’s top pick highlights what can be done when we take something old and turn it into something new. Our environment is suffering due to the waste of clothing. H&M is leading the way in solving the issue. This ad from June 2021 not only advertises H&M but is also a call-to-action for change. Talk about advertising that doesn’t look like advertising.
Bringing creativity, marketing and tech together to do what medical science has yet to figure out. This top pick comes from our Motion Designer, Motti Zaretsky, who says, “I picked this campaign because it is just so powerful. They took some serious creative outside-of-the-box thinking and found a compelling and affordable solution to an expensive medical problem. And to be able to distill a complex issue into something easy to understand makes it all the more successful.”
Our next pick comes from Trevor Dobrowsky, Associate Creative Director. “This is an early 2022 pick, but it’s one of Apple’s latest of many great campaigns. No product in sight!” The ad was released on January 1st of this year, so it’s close enough and so compelling we’ll count it! In the same way you can count on technology to maybe even save your life.
2021 was a great year for podcasts, bringing us to our last pick, chosen by Associate Creative Director, Carla Gonzalez. She says, “Several brands have launched podcasts, but most come off feeling like long-form ads. Of the few that successfully hide marketing in plain sight, REI’s Camp Monsters does it the best.” After taking a look, we’re sure you’ll agree!
Our year-end top creative picks will be one of many inspirational sources to feed our creative juices in the year ahead. Here’s to 2022 and all we’ll do!
What were your favorites?
