Advertising inspiration from 10 of our favorite brands

Consumers are bombarded with advertising messages nearly every second. Experts refer to it as “marketing clutter.” Although it’s obvious that everyone is exposed to lots of advertising, researchers and professionals disagree about exactly how many ads most people see daily. 

Regardless of the number of ads people are exposed to, the number they actually recall is dramatically smaller, and there’s some evidence that as the number of advertisements increases, so does the ability to ignore them. 

“Poorly targeted marketing means ever more advertising, and the resulting, increasing ad clutter was causing consumer attitudes about and receptiveness toward advertising to plummet, leading to more inefficiency and thus increasing costs,” wrote author J. Walker Smith in his book Coming to Concurrence, published in 2005. If anything, it’s even more true 20 years later. 

Creativity and inspiration in advertising are key because getting and keeping the attention of consumers is not easy, and being memorable is an even more difficult task. 

Brands, especially those in the consumer packaged goods and quick service restaurant industries, face three challenges: 

1. Breaking through the clutter

2. Achieving recall 

3. Staying ahead of trends

Let’s look at some of the ways those challenges can be overcome through creativity and inspiration. 

Here are five key trends driving the most popular and creative campaigns:

1. Allowing data to play a part in the creative drive 

2. Having purpose and authenticity 

3. Tapping into nostalgia and pop culture 

4. Employing simple, but bold visuals 

5. Developing campaigns that are interactive or participatory. 

Let's dive in to each.

1. Data-driven creativity 

Using data to drive creativity seems like a no-brainer, but in marketing, data is often used in different ways. 

For example, tools for measuring performance are advanced and available, but data-related tools for the creative side of the business tend to lag. Part of the reason for that lag is that even the most advanced technology, like generative AI, can’t recognize the unconventional or quirky content that so often hits the emotional mark with consumers. 

The trick is finding the balance between allowing data to guide ideas but leaving plenty of room for human intuition, which is where consumer insights comes in. 

“Together, data and creativity form a powerful formulation for producing memorable and impactful marketing that connects with audiences in meaningful ways,” writes Tarirai G. Chivore in Advertising Week, adding, “By grounding our creative processes in data while nurturing human insight, we create campaigns that are not only effective but also unforgettable.”

2. Purpose and authenticity

Consumers increasingly support their belief-systems and values through their purchases. For example, people who are concerned about the environment are more likely to purchase products they know are produced sustainably, or that are packaged in environmentally-friendly packaging. But embracing values in a performative manner is a quick way to turn consumers away. Brands that initiated DEI programs in the wake of George Floyd’s death but quickly ended those programs following the 2024 presidential election saw significant public backlash. Authenticity is crucial when it comes to creative, inspiring and purposeful ad campaigns.

The values a brand publicly embraces must be authentic in order to inform advertising. Otherwise, the risk of backlash and negative sentiment is high. 

3. Nostalgia and pop culture

“Brands have leveraged the power of nostalgia after research uncovered that it increases consumers’ willingness to spend on goods and services, thus leading to an entire genre of marketing aimed at bringing back memories of the past…this emotional connection not only enhances brand loyalty but also differentiates brands in a crowded marketplace.” —Sophia La France, HollywoodBranded 

Being reminded of warm, fuzzy memories is nice, and the more things change, the more consumers look back with nostalgia. When brands can connect their products to the past, consumers are more likely to recall the ad—and, with all the marketing clutter out there today, recall is an important goal. 

Pop culture has always played a role in advertising, and a convincing argument could be made that the two need each other. How many commercials have become memes? In the age of influencers and participatory advertising, it’s impossible to separate pop culture from advertising. 

4. Visual boldness and simplicity

One antidote to the rising marketing clutter is visual simplicity. 

Brands that avoid excessive visual stimulation have a better chance of breaking through all of the noise. A minimal but bold visual approach allows a brand to communicate its message clearly. 

Choosing to use negative space, monochrome palettes and other minimal visual cues brings together the ideas of purpose, authenticity and pop culture. Minimalism has been gaining in popularity as an aesthetic for years, possibly in response to the increasing digital noise inherent in modern life. When a brand chooses to embrace minimalism, it makes a strong emotional connection to consumers who choose simplicity. 

5. Interactive and participatory campaigns

The list of well-known and successful interactive campaigns seems to grow day-by-day, and that’s likely because the number of ways brands can invite consumers to interact is growing. Quizzes, contests, photos, augmented reality, games, the list goes on. And interaction can create an emotional connection. 

From Coca-Cola’s personalized bottles in their Share a Coke campaign to Spotify’s ever-popular Wrapped campaign, brands that bring consumers into their advertisements entertain and delight. People tend to remember being delighted. 

Participatory campaigns can be used in targeted ways, as well. For example, Nike conducted a campaign called Reactland to test a new product. It was a treadmill-based game where participants wore the shoes Nike was testing and created avatars that ran through an exciting digital world as the participant walked or ran on a treadmill. People remembered the fun game, and Nike gathered useful information. 

Regardless of the format, CPG brands have plenty of inspiration. Here are a few of our favorite examples of inspiring ad campaigns that showcase data, purpose, authenticity, nostalgia, pop culture, visual boldness and simplicity, or interactivity. 

Colgate - A Million Logos

In this campaign, Colgate tapped into data, had an admirable purpose, created a bold and simple result, and engaged consumers through participation. It was targeted to Malaysia, where data showed that two in five people were uncomfortable with their smile. 

The company trained AI to trace teeth in photos, and created an app that could turn any smile into the well-known Colgate logo. Then the brand encouraged participants to take a photo and see their own smile as a logo. They even personalized packaging with the unique smiles. 

The result was 94% positive sentiment, a nearly 1 billion-person reach, attention in traditional media and on social media, and the brand positioned itself within the body positivity movement. 

Kraft Heinz - Draw Ketchup 

If someone gave you a paper and a set of pencils and asked you to “draw ketchup” what would you draw? If you’re anything like the participants in this campaign, who hailed from 18 different countries, you would draw a bottle of Heinz. These participants were in focus groups, on international video calls and even approached anonymously on the street. 

The result? Vastly increased social engagement, amplification and participation. After the video capturing the responses was released, Heinz invited people to submit their own labels, and did a limited run of products with the drawings. 

Hellmann’s - Mayo McHack 

Two facts about McDonald's, mayonnaise and the UK:  

1. In the UK, mayonnaise is one of the most popular dipping sauces for fries—or chips, as they are called there. 

2. McDonald’s restaurants do not carry packets of mayonnaise.

Hellmann’s mayonnaise took advantage of those two facts with an ad campaign titled Mayo McHack. The ad encouraged people in the UK to order a “mayo chicken sandwich, minus the  chicken, lettuce, and bun.” That left only the mayo, perfect for dipping fries. 

To spur participation, Hellmann’s offered to refund the cost of the chicken sandwich for the first 1,000 customers who took a photo of their mayo-only orders. 

The campaign brought about an 842% increase in social media impressions, a 320% increase in engagement and a Brand Experience Silver Lion. It’s considered the most successful Hellmann’s social initiative in the UK. 

Liquid Death - Murder Your Thirst

Liquid Death is canned water, but you might think it was an energy drink or an alcoholic beverage based on the ads. With a heavy dose of irony, Liquid Death taps into the trend toward sustainability, and although the entire brand is based on marketing (water can be purchased far cheaper) every advertisement mocks the very idea of marketing. 

It’s working, too. Liquid Death was started in 2017, is independently owned and operated, and  in 2024 raised a round of investment valued at $1.4 billion. 

“Liquid Death took off in part because it was a subversion of all the tropes of bottled water marketing that we’re familiar with.”

- Brad Avery, reporter with BevNET, NBC News

e.l.f Cosmetics - Dupe That!

Taking a purpose-driven, authentic approach, e.l.f. Cosmetics encouraged other companies to duplicate their efforts to make a positive impact. The campaign followed others, including So Many Dicks, which highlighted the fact that there are almost as many men with the names Richard, Rick or Dick on U.S. corporate boards as there are women. 

Dupe That! garnered a 99% positive sentiment and allowed the brand to give voice to their values and ethos. 

CPG isn’t the only category where brands use inspiration advertising effectively. Quick service restaurants (QSR) have been surprising consumers with data-driven creativity, nostalgia and interactive campaigns too. Here are a few examples. 

McDonald’s - Raise Your Arches

McDonald’s has successfully used nostalgia as only a brand that has been around since the 1950s can. In their Raise Your Arches campaign, the fast food giant layered their own nostalgic slogan “you deserve a break” with that famous track from the 1986 movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. 

The campaign began with teasers on Instagram, and three days later was released in full, accompanied by the hashtag #RaiseYourArches along with a two week promotion, complete with discounts each day. The goal was to increase app downloads, and in the end, it was the number one fast food app download in 2022. 

KFC - Believe in Chicken

KFC created an entire world with their Believe in Chicken campaign, recalling shows like The Walking Dead and Last of Us. The first “episode” showed people dancing, possibly involuntarily, and gathering around a chicken.

The next one, titled “All Hail Gravy” shows a person being dunked in a lake of gravy, and coming out as an enormous crispy-fried chicken leg. These ads are certainly creative, atmospheric and weirdly funny. 

Pizza Hut - Official Sponsor of Dominoes

If you asked any average person to name the two biggest pizza restaurants, you’d likely hear “Pizza Hut and Domino’s.” That’s why hearing “Pizza Hut is the official sponsor of dominoes” as an ad slogan might seem strange. Pizza Hut sponsored the 2024 World Championship Domino Tournament, and revealed a refreshed, amusing brand and product voice. 

The campaign featured Dominoes players enjoying pizza, and included signs with the slogan “People who like dominoes love Pizza Hut.” Fans of both dominoes and pizza enjoyed a laugh.

Subway - Subway in the Sky

It’s a blimp. It’s a restaurant. It’s a…sandwich? The Subway in the Sky promotion revolves around a sandwich-shaped blimp with a gondola large enough for six people to ride and enjoy samples of four Deli Hero subs. 

The blimp toured four cities, Kansas City, Atlanta, Orlando and Miami. Forty Subway fans per day enjoyed a 30-minute ride on a first-come, first-serve basis, based on on-line registrations a couple of days prior to the arrival of the blimp. 

Wendy’s - March Madness

Wendy’s took advantage of March Madness to promote a special on “Dollar Dave’s Single Cheeseburgers” as well as capture an insight consumers can all relate to. The ad is only 15 seconds long—arguably just long enough. 

You’ve heard it before, but it still rings true: Breaking through the advertising clutter and achieving brand recall requires creativity and inspiration. Audience fragmentation means the available platforms for distribution continue to multiply, and while that certainly presents challenges, it also gives brands more options for deploying creative advertising. 

Whether it’s nostalgia and pop culture, authenticity and purpose or an ad that invites participation, consumers remember ads that make an emotional connection no matter where they see it.