THE CREATIVE FIELDBOOK / SNS MEDIA TECH

Campaign studies

297 source-led reads, 12 per page. These numbered pages work without JavaScript. Search every study and lesson →

13
Beauty & personal care / 2024DEEPER STUDY · 10 MIN READ

Michael CeraVe

CeraVe / L’Oréal

Let the story travel for weeks, then make its resolution teach the product truth.

CeraVe wanted its first Super Bowl campaign to make its dermatologist-developed positioning memorable beyond a single television spot. A mystery is useful only if the answer improves what people understand about the brand. Here the strategic lesson is to design backward from the fact that must survive the entertainment. In another category, that fact might be who makes the product, how it works or what it does differently.

9B
earned impressions reported by WPPBefore the 2024 Super Bowl · Source-reported exposure estimate; conflicting D&AD total is disclosedAgency-network reported; method not provided · Source →
Read study, data & creative direction →Humor
14
Gaming & entertainment / 20249 MIN READ

Return to Verdansk

Activision / Call of Duty

A familiar world can open the door to a new product, but attention cannot substitute for retention.

For Warzone Mobile’s 2024 launch, Whalar sought awareness and app-store visits among casual mobile gamers and battle-royale fans in the UK, France and Germany. For existing customers, a location, ritual or shared challenge may stand for time spent together. The adaptation question is which specific memory still matters to the audience. Generic nostalgia is easy to produce and easy to ignore.

47.1M
reported video views2024 launch campaign; measurement window not specified · Video views, not downloads or retained usersAgency-reported · Source →
Read study, data & creative direction →Nostalgia
15
Consumer technology / Date not verified9 MIN READ

Gift of Time

Dell Technologies

Show the life benefit first, explain the feature, then give interested viewers a useful next step.

Dell asked The Goat Agency to explain how its AI-enabled technology could simplify tasks and free time for other activities across four markets. A technical capability is abstract until someone can see what it changes. A useful creative brief therefore asks for the before, the task and the after. This helps distinguish a demonstrated benefit from a lifestyle scene that merely happens to contain the product.

16%
reported engagement rateCampaign period not specified in the source · Denominator and paid/organic split not disclosedAgency/entrant reported · Source →
Read study, data & creative direction →Practical benefit
16
B2B technology / 20229 MIN READ

I.T. Squad

Dell Technologies

Make professional expertise approachable, then let the audience ask the difficult questions.

The campaign aimed to improve trust among IT decision-makers who wanted providers to understand their actual working problems. B2B content becomes more useful when the starting point is a situation the buyer recognizes. Community research can reveal the awkward trade-offs, internal disagreements and terminology that a polished product brochure often removes. This is an input to better ideas, not permission to quote identifiable users without care.

72M
reported impressionsOriginal campaign case; full reporting window not specified · Impressions, not unique buyers or qualified leadsAgency and entrant reported · Source →
Read study, data & creative direction →Workplace insight
17
Automotive / 19596 MIN READ

Think Small

Volkswagen

Make the supposed disadvantage the organizing idea, then show why it helps the right buyer.

Volkswagen’s official chronicle describes a need to regain market share against Renault and US compact-car competition. In a market associated with larger cars, the Beetle’s size also required a different argument for desirability. Showing a genuinely small product at small scale makes the proposition visible immediately. The transferable principle is alignment between form and message: a faster service could demonstrate speed, while a simpler process could remove steps. Empty space alone is not a strategy; it must clarify something worth choosing.

20% → 32%
company-reported import-market share changeOfficial chronicle reports increase in 1960; baseline period not specified in the passage · Share of the import market, not total US vehicle market; broader company performanceBrand historical account; no causal attribution established · Source →
Read study, data & creative direction →Simplicity
18
Financial services / local commerce / 20107 MIN READ

Small Business Saturday

American Express OPEN

Give a fragmented community one date, one action and practical tools to act together.

After the recession, small businesses needed customers. American Express sought to support local merchants while strengthening its own relationships with businesses and consumers, in a shopping period already shaped by Black Friday and Cyber Monday. People can support local businesses in principle without changing their next shopping trip. A clear occasion reduces the effort of deciding when to act. The opportunity for another brand is to identify an existing behavior it can organize, rather than assuming that inventing a named day automatically creates demand.

+28%
reported year-over-year Amex-card sales at qualifying small retailersSaturday after Thanksgiving, 2010 versus 2009 · Defined subset of American Express merchants; excludes online-only retailers, national chains, franchises and government agenciesAmerican Express executive testimony; observational comparison, not controlled lift · Source →
Read study, data & creative direction →Local community
19
Beauty & personal care / 20137 MIN READ

Real Beauty Sketches

Dove / Unilever

Make a difficult self-perception idea concrete through a simple, humane contrast.

Dove wanted beauty to feel less like a source of anxiety and more like confidence. The creative focused on the gap between women’s self-descriptions and descriptions provided by others, rather than demonstrating a product feature. Two outputs make a difference easier to discuss than a slogan about confidence alone. In another category, a truthful comparison could reveal hidden effort or an overlooked benefit. The design challenge is to make the contrast understandable without misleading selection, manipulated conditions or a claim broader than the demonstration supports.

>114M
reported video views at the May 2013 snapshotAs reported by Unilever on 20 May 2013 · Unruly-chart total cited by the brand; China reported separately; not unique peopleBrand release citing measurement provider; no sales attribution · Source →
Read study, data & creative direction →Self-perception
20
Fast-moving consumer goods / 20135 MIN READ

Kan Khajura Tesan

Hindustan Unilever

When conventional media cannot reach people reliably, make the experience accessible through a behavior they already understand.

HUL wanted to reach rural consumers with limited television access and unreliable electricity. The obstacle was access, not merely finding a more persuasive advertisement. A familiar interaction can remove uncertainty about setup, payment and technical ability. Before choosing a channel, map the steps that make participation expensive or awkward. A campaign that saves the audience effort may deserve more attention than one that only improves the headline.

125M
reported listening minutesCumulative as of March 2014 · Service usage, not unique audience or advertising attentionEntrant-reported case published by MMA · Source →
Read study, data & creative direction →Access
21
Sportswear & athletic footwear / 20165 MIN READ

Da Da Ding

Nike

Make the desired identity visible through people doing the activity, rather than only saying everyone belongs.

Nike and its agency wanted more women in India to see sport as enjoyable and empowering, and to encourage a broader conversation about participation. A positioning statement becomes more concrete when people can see the behavior it celebrates. For a new brief, ask what the audience should recognize about itself and which real actions express that identity. Avoid treating representation as proof that practical participation barriers have disappeared.

3M
reported collective video viewsFirst 24 hours · Platform mix and deduplication not disclosedAgency-reported · Source →
Read study, data & creative direction →Women in sport
22
Personal care & hygiene / 20136 MIN READ

Roti Reminder

Lifebuoy / Hindustan Unilever

Place a simple reminder where the desired behavior is about to become relevant.

The campaign brief treated forgetting to wash hands before meals as a problem. Lifebuoy wanted a reminder encountered at that moment, rather than another general hygiene message. A reminder has a different job from an awareness advertisement: it must be available when a person can act. Map the sequence before purchase or use, then identify the point where a small prompt could help. Do not assume more impressions compensate for poor timing.

Evidence note
No verified quantitative outcomeRead the documented execution and evidence limits in the study. No numeric result is claimed.
Read study, data & creative direction →Everyday behavior
23
Personal care & menstrual health / 20225 MIN READ

The Missing Chapter

Whisper / P&G

Make the missing information into a useful thing people can distribute.

Whisper sought to expand menstrual education beyond its school programme, including rural areas with limited media access. A missing chapter is easier to explain and share than a general appeal to improve education. It gives supporters a specific object and institutions a concrete proposed addition.

Evidence note
No verified quantitative outcomeRead the documented execution and evidence limits in the study. No numeric result is claimed.
Read study, data & creative direction →Access
24
Food & snacks / 20225 MIN READ

Bring Back 2011

Oreo / Mondelēz

A playful coincidence can give fans a shared ritual.

Oreo wanted to bring families together around cricket while standing out among sports advertisers. Fans already have rituals. The creative opportunity was to offer a simple organizing rule that let many unrelated people make their own version.

Evidence note
No verified quantitative outcomeRead the documented execution and evidence limits in the study. No numeric result is claimed.
Read study, data & creative direction →Cricket
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