Marketing campaigns can go viral for many reasons – they’re funny, they’re thought-provoking or they’re downright atrocious. And just because it’s Christmas, we’re taking a break from our regular scheduled programming to look at the best and the worst of 2022 marketing. 

The good

Smile 

Whether or not you’re a horror fan, there’s one thing we can all agree on, Smile had a great marketing campaign. 

This innovative and real-world take on marketing got people talking. Who were these mysterious women and what were they doing? Word of mouth remains the most trusted form of marketing, with 88% of consumers saying they trust word of mouth more than other advertising. And the team behind the Smile campaign found a way to utilise that on a large scale. Real-life discussions around a campaign leads to recommendations. 10/10 to Paramount. 

Nissin cup noodle mop 

Who doesn’t love a noodle pot that’s actually a mop? No really. Check it out 👇.

This basketball court saw these two cleaners of a different kind. This is another example of real-world marketing that got people talking. Small, cost-effective ideas like these can lead to big things on the internet, I’m sure we all know how quickly something can go viral! Kudos to Nissin. 

See how we’ve been using comedy in our B2B marketing campaigns.

Everything Everywhere All at Once

To promote the wacky sci-fi film, Everything Everywhere All to Once, A24 brought out a new and interesting product: hot dog fingers. Confused? If you’ve not seen the film, you should be. But it’s certainly an interesting ploy to get people intrigued. How many independent films bring out merch before the film even drops? It’s a risky move but one that paid off for A24 films. 

Glebe Farm

Glebe Farm proved that you don’t need to be a big company to make waves with your marketing campaigns. The honesty of this tongue-in-cheek billboard got people talking and ultimately, shopping. Sometimes being the underdog pays off. 

The bad 

Waitrose

As a copywriter, this is a bit like watching a car crash, you can’t look away. It’s a small mistake, but something like this can quickly go viral. It’s all fun and games though, we don’t think Waitrose lost out on any custom due to this missed proofread – and we certainly hope no content writer lost their job!

Magnum

It was a nice idea, sure. But if you’ve ever been to Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester, you’ll see where they messed up. One doesn’t lie down in Piccadilly Gardens like you might on the beach or at Regents Park… it’s more the sort of place you walk through quickly, avoiding eye contact with anyone. One thing is for sure, the marketers haven’t done their research.

The ugly

Brewdog 

Another marketing campaign with good intentions. Brewdog released these strongly worded billboards ahead of the World Cup ‘22 against it being held in Qatar. A bold move by a beer company. But it all fell flat when they announced they’d be selling their beers in Qatar despite their “beliefs”. Hypocrisy like this is a quick way to get cancelled.

Whatever your marketing style, our takeaways for 2022 are:

• Always proofread your content before it goes to print
• Do your research
• If you’re going to make a statement, stand behind it
• And think outside the box

Check out the top 5 B2B marketing trends for 2023 to stay one step ahead of the competition.