Top 13 Creative Agency Ad Campaigns: Masterpieces of Advertising

Interestingly though, the initial reaction wasn’t all that positive. A number of Apple’s directors didn’t want to run the campaign as revealed in the Steve Jobs biography written by Walter Isaacson. In fact, according to John Sculley, the CEO at the time, most thought it was the worst commercial.

If you’re working with one of the reputable creative agencies in your niche, let this example serve as a reminder to trust them. They have enough experience to see what the future holds in store.

As Fast Company explains, the agency took an innovative approach by using deprivation marketing. Rather than focus on selling the actual product – milk – to potential customers, it sold the idea of not having milk and that basically everything else tasted better with milk. The product they were selling was also only revealed till the last few seconds of the ads.

It won numerous awards. It was parodied. All signs that you’ve created a memorable ad.

Who knew that black comedy would go down so well with milk?

What’s more, the slogan, which was later licensed, got used in the equally famous “milk mustache” campaign run by the Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP). This separate campaign featured a long list of celebs including the likes of Britney Spears, Kate Moss, and Jennifer Aniston (all icons in their own right during the 90s). Not only did they manage to get A-listers to pose for them, but they also attracted a star behind the lens — Annie Leibovitz.

Hate it or love it, but the “Whassup” phrase stuck. Follow-up ads with a new angle emerged, making this campaign one of the best examples of how it’s possible to launch ad sequels successfully.

Aside from the phrase gaining widespread popularity, it also did loads for sales. According to The New York Times, the campaign helped Anheuser-Bush to increase sales by over 2 million barrels.

While Anheuser-Busch was rewarded with sales, the creative team of DDB Worldwide raked in the rewards and made it into the Clio Hall of Fame. It walked away with virtually every award, including the international Cannes Grand Prix.

All in all, it’s a great example of how you can use an advertising campaign to take on your main competitors. In an interview with Campaign US, Mike Refuerzo, the campaign’s executive producer, looks back at the history of “Get a Mac” and reveals that Jobs wanted to expose PCs.

The challenge was to create a campaign that clearly shows how Macs are superior to PCs. It took seven months, proof that successful advertising campaigns take time.

While Apple had great campaigns like “1984” behind its name, there were also ones like “Lemmings” that fell far short. So, the stakes were high, even more so that they were planning to take on Microsoft.

It’s also a great example of how quality over quantity matters. Campaign US further reveals that more than 320 spots were shot of which only about 20% were ever aired. In fact, Phil Morrison the director working on the campaign at the time reveals that the spots featuring a celebrity rarely made it to air. As Mike explains, “The laughter had to be centered around the message we wanted to communicate.”

Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Can Smell Like” campaign is a classic example of the importance of market research. Data showed that women made 60% of body wash purchases. So, instead of targeting mainly men, the agency used this ad to spark conversation between couples. Clever thought was given to media buying and environments where couples would be watching together were targeted.

They also launched a “Response” campaign. This follow-up took a more interactive approach and the agency’s team filmed nearly 200 video responses to fans which were posted on YouTube. In fact, this second campaign became the fastest growing interactive campaign in history, according to the agency’s website.

As for the impact on sales, it surpassed the initial goal of improving sales by 15%. Three months after it was launched, sales were up by 60% from the previous year. Two months later and it had doubled.

The team delved deeper into the concept. They discovered that gender stereotypes are one of the main reasons why girls’ self-confidence drops when they enter puberty. They set out to tackle this in a three-minute ad by challenging how society uses the phrase “like a girl”.

All in all, it’s a great example of how you can leverage hashtags and social media not only to reach younger audiences but also get celebrities’ attention. Even Gloria Steinem, an author and feminist activist, tweeted the hashtag along with a link to the ad. George Takei, an American actor known for his role in Star Trek, also took to Facebook to applaud the ad and gather his followers’ thoughts. His post alone generated 40,000 likes, over 6,000 shares, and 2,000 comments.

Pepsi’s VP of Marketing, Todd Kaplan, explained in a press release that the brand’s millions of customers need to be asked continuously when ordering a coke if Pepsi is OK. This served as the idea behind the campaign.

The secret behind the campaign is the light-hearted tone throughout. Rolling Stone has rated it as one of Pepsi’s most memorable commercials and commends the ad for mixing reality with comedy.

It doesn’t stop at this bold statement, though. The CEO also gets into one of the brand’s cars which gets immersed in a huge bucket of bright orange paint.

All in all, it’s a great example of how you can set yourself apart from your competitors. According to Leo Burnett, the digital advertising agency behind this ad, 27% of cars sold across the globe are grey.

The gamble paid off. According to System1, a global marketing research and effectiveness company, they received a 3.6-star audience rating. The average score for automotive ads is only 2.4. In fact, according to System1’s CCO, Jon Evans, the ad has the potential to be one of the top 30 car ads in the United Kingdom. In any case, he thinks it’s Fiat’s best ad to date.

For another example of the power of hashtag campaigns, you can turn your attention to Dove’s “#TurnYourBack” campaign. Dove is known for broadening the definition of beauty and TikTok’s Bold Glamour filter was the latest threat to Dove’s fight against unrealistic beauty standards. Partnering with Ogilvy and DAVID, they created a two-minute video that won a Cannes Lion Gold.

The ad caught the attention of the likes of The Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, and Cosmopolitan. Women’s Health described it as a social movement which went on to reach the Oscars with Emmy-winning host Nischelle Turner and American actress Gabrielle Union turning their backs too.

Over 1 billion impressions were created and on TikTok alone it generated more than 110 million views. It initially started on social media, but turned into a 360-degree global campaign.

What makes this ad even more effective is that it uses influencers to speak out against one of the very features that they will probably be using for content creation. Overall, it also serves as a great example of how brands can leverage user-generated content to create a more authentic advertising campaign.

In this ad, Burger King UK cleverly admits “defeat”. Like some of the other ads, they also reference their biggest rival, albeit not as prominently as some of the other ads on this list.

What makes this ad so great is its “zag” (BBH’s way that they change brands). As the digital marketing agency explains on their website, they heroed one product (the Whopper) only to sell the Chicken Royale.

The ad was named The Drum Ad of the Day, while David Reviews, one of the leading online resources for filmed advertising content, gave it five stars. Aside from the reviews, the ad generated global coverage. In addition to the UK, it also reached markets in Spain, Germany, the US, and Brazil.

The agency also partnered with The Buenos Aires Museo de Bellas to host an exhibition. Here, beer/art lovers could use an augmented reality (AR) app to scan artwork which then generated “the Artois Probability score” in real time.

The results — tens of thousands of people interacted with the app and over seven million impressions were created. On YouTube alone, the ad was viewed nearly 40,000 times in just seven months.