Best marketing campaigns from 2024
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2024 has been one heck of a year for marketing campaigns! We’ve seen everything from a Brat Summer to a new John Lewis advert that brought a tear to our eye.
But what makes a marketing campaign successful? There is a fine line between making people stop and holding their attention or completely failing to resonate.
An exciting idea with brilliant execution is a must! However, a creative strategy with a clear understanding of who the audience is is equally important. Without a strategic plan, many brands just hope their idea will resonate, but it can often fall flat – looking at you, Glasgow Willy Wonka experience.
So, without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the best marketing campaigns from 2024…
Sabrina Carpenter x Blank Street Coffee
Sabrina Carpenter took the world by storm in 2024. A new album, a world tour and an iconic collaboration with coffee company Blank Street Coffee were a few things she ticked off her list.
In April 2024, Sabrina launched her single, Espresso, which became the song of the summer. With the single reaching over 1 billion streams on Spotify, her partnership with Blank Street Coffee just made sense.
Megan Atkinson
Senior Paid Social Executive
"Sabrina Carpenter x Blank Street was the standout campaign of 2024 for me. It was reactive, relevant and a perfectly matched pairing. Any number of coffee chains could have taken the opportunity to jump on the 'Espresso' hype, but Blank Street already had an established following built up by previous collaborations with influencers, and this following overlapped perfectly with Sabrina's fan base. The collaboration was interactive, with Sabrina visiting a Blank Street store to be a barista for the day, and gave fans the opportunity to be directly involved. Blank Street made themselves the 'IT girl' of the coffee world in 2024 by using the IT girl of the music world."
Charli XCX’s Brat Summer
The colour lime green has never been more popular, and we can thank Charli XCX’s album Brat for that. The marketing campaign behind this album had 2024 in a chokehold, so much so that Collins Dictionary announced “brat” as its word of the year.
Brat is a high-energy dance-pop album that has inspired TikTok dances, such as the viral “Apple” dance and a new fashion trend. Fans coined the term “brat summer, ” which evolved beyond the album and became the aesthetic of summer, embraced by Gen Z and millennials alike.
The minimalistic yet distinctive look particularly resonated with fans—the combination of the lime green colour and low-quality Brat font was nothing short of iconic.
After the album’s release, online communities christened it the season of the brat, following an aesthetic trend defined by a cool-girl style and lime green EVERYTHING! Its messy, carefree vibe was fun and resonated with other aesthetic TikTok fashion trends such as feral girl summer and rat girl summer.
Molly Mae launches Maebe
In September 2024, Molly-Mae Hague launched her fashion brand, Maebe. The initial hype and excitement around this announcement was huge!
After stepping down from her Creative Director role at Pretty Little Thing, fans speculated she would be moving on to bigger and better things. They weren’t wrong!
Her aim was to deliver “accessible luxury” without the hefty price tag. She chose chic designs with a modern twist, drawing inspiration from her personal style. The decision to make the brand more personal and based on her own style was a genius marketing move, and fans couldn’t wait to buy.
Ahead of the release, the brand debuted at an exclusive pop-up event in London, and tickets sold out in minutes. Fans queued around the block to see the collection early and meet the influencer behind the brand. Molly-Mae’s loyal fanbase was the heartbeat of this campaign’s success.
Devoted fans amplified the brand beyond its marketing efforts. They aren’t just an audience; they’re a community that trusts their favourite influencer. This created a huge sense of FOMO, ultimately making Maebe’s launch a success!
Currys marketing for millennials
In 2024, we saw many brands on TikTok adopt new social media strategies. Currys, the well-known tech retailer, became a TikTok powerhouse, reaching younger audiences than its usual clientele.
Jumping on Gen Z and Millennial trends, they employed popular and frankly humorous phrases among young people in their content. The video, designed to embrace Gen Z culture, followed a tour of the shop using exclusively Gen Z slang, such as “no cap” to “rizz” and even “brat summer.”
This fun viral trend helped Currys gain a fresh, relevant image while attracting a younger audience through its self-awareness. The unconventional campaign encouraged other retailers and brands to adopt similar tactics, keen to engage with younger, digitally-first audiences.
@currys The end 🤣🤣 #genz #genzlife #currys #tech #uk #fyp #viral ♬ original sound – Currys
Bird of the Week by RSPB
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) on TikTok is another brand that has changed its social media strategy from the norm. This non-profit organisation launched its unhinged and socially relevant “Bird of the Week” campaign in 2024.
RSPB’s mission is to protect and restore habitats and save species. Before this marketing campaign, many younger audiences had never heard of them or saw them as old-fashioned and boring organisation. This new strategy attempted to increase audience engagement with younger audiences.
The Bird of the Week campaign was at the forefront of championing this change, and users instantly fell in love. If you’re asking, “What is the Bird of the Week?” firstly, I can’t wait to introduce you, but secondly, it’s pretty much what it says on the tin. Bird of the Week is a weekly TikTok series uploaded every Monday where a random bird is selected, followed by a rapid series of interesting facts about that species. The editing style is fast-paced and relevant to younger audiences, making it perfect for the TikTok algorithm.
This campaign is the perfect example of how to tailor a campaign to reach new audiences and proves that you can make engaging content no matter your brand.
@rspb Replying to @Faith ✌️ ask and you shall recieve 🫡 tune in every monday for ‼️ bird of the week ‼️#woodpigeon #pigeons #pigeonfacts #pigeonlovers #birdtiktok #birdoftheweek #birdsoftiktok #birdtok #birdmemes #uk #birdlover #birdlovers #birding ♬ original sound – RSPB
Deliveroo x Smithy’s curry order
Deliveroo proved that sometimes the simplest ideas are the best. In honour of the last ever Gavin and Stacey episode on Christmas day, Deliveroo has paid homage to Smithy’s iconic curry order and teamed up with local Indian takeaway Brentwood Spice in Essex.
This takeaway is located in the home county of Gavin, Mick, Pam and Smithy and will launch a limited-edition bundle named “The Smithy.” For £61, Essex residents can sample the characters’ infamous curry order themselves.
It consists of: chicken bhuna, lamb bhuna and prawn bhuna, mushroom rice, bag of chips, keema naan, saag aloo and nine poppadoms. Tidy!
This limited-edition bundle is available exclusively on Deliveroo from December 16th, 2024, to January 1st, 2025. As further encouragement, the first 100 orders placed using code ‘SMITHY100’ get the entire bundle for FREE!
