Influence 100: Campaign Picks

We again asked a selection of our Influence 100 cohort if they’d like to highlight the best earned media-led or PR campaign they’ve seen recently. This year, 24 in-house communications leaders, based across the US, EMEA and Asia Pacific, have selected work ranging from campaigns for some of the world’s biggest consumer brands, to cultural movements, to impactful programmes for charities and governments, and exceptional B2B campaigns.

Abhinav Kumar, Global Chief Marketing Officer, TCS

Doordash’s ‘All the Ads’ campaign was a phenomenal activation of a very simple idea, which required great complexity to execute and the impact it created was immense:

 

Alex Burnett, EVP, Chief Communications Officer, Adnoc

Norwich City Football Club’s campaign for Mental Health Day, ‘Check in on those around you’.

 

Allyson Park, Chief Communications Officer, Walmart

Hands-down the best “campaign” goes to Taylor Swift. She continues to outmanoeuvre – and understands the importance of audience centricity better than most.

 

Andreas Bartels, Head of Communications, Lufthansa 

The Stanley Cup campaign.

 

Andy Pharoah, VP Corporate Affairs & Sustainability, Mars

Within the past year, the best overall combined earned media and PR campaign is the whole encompassing campaign surrounding Barbie. Between the movie and creative brand partnerships, Mattel has been able to reinvigorate the brand and what it stands for, repositioning itself for the next generation.

 

Christine Heffernan, Group Communications Director, Tesco

It’s hard not to love the Specsavers ‘Misheard Version’ campaign, not only reigniting a love for Rick Astley, but for the way Golin let the campaign run with no explanation, generating huge buzz but also a genuine, authentic conversation about hearing loss.

 

Dominic Redfearn, EVP Strategic Communications, Shell

This year's ‘Michael Cerave’ campaign by Ogilvy PR for CeraVe was an incredibly clever, multi-layered, integrated campaign.

 

Dustee Jenkins, Chief Public Affairs Officer, Spotify

I hate to be biased here, but I really loved and was proud of the Spotify team’s work with the launch of our AI DJ, which uses machine learning to curate music tailored to listener preferences, providing commentary and recommendations, just like a real DJ. We worked across all different media types, with a focus on owned social to create buzz around the feature, but one key element that made this campaign so special was our ability to showcase Xavier “X” Jernigan, a Spotify employee who lent his voice and persona to the AI DJ. X’s participation helped us connect on a very real and personal level with fans, many of whom even expressed a little romantic interest in our DJ! It was a really fun and new way to bring a tech feature to life - and I’m very proud of the team for executing it so creatively.

 

Frank X Shaw, Chief Communications Officer, Microsoft

I thought the Pop-Tarts Bowl Game stunt was amazing.

 

Jonathan Adashek, SVP Marketing & Communications, IBM

The pop-up Cheeze-It Diner.

 

Kate Cronin, Chief Brand Officer, Moderna

Ikea’s ‘This Is Not A Home’.

 

Lavanya Wadgaonkar, Corporate VP & Chief Communications Officer, Nissan 

Samsung’s ‘UnCrush’ campaign in response to Apple’s ‘Crush’ ad.

 

Lena Goh, MD Public Affairs, Temasek

Singapore Airlines did a great job in managing the recent SQ321 crisis and in prioritising the safety of their customers. Their responsiveness and transparency has put them at the forefront of the trade and is much respected by fellow practitioners.

 

Lisa Tremble, Chief People, Corporate Affairs & Sustainability Officer, British Airways

I’ll give you a British Airways example! We recently launched our Speedbird Pilot Academy programme which provides up to 100 aspiring aviators with the chance to pursue their dreams and secure a place on a fully-funded cadet programme – a first for a UK airline. Following the announcement, we saw significant favourable coverage across print, online and social media on how we are working to remove the financial barriers to becoming a pilot. During the application window, we received more than 22,000 applications for the scheme.

 

Lorenza Pigozzi, EVP, Strategic Communications Director, Fincantieri

Ford’s ‘Built Ford Proud’ campaign.

 

Moira Gilchrist, Chief Communications Officer, PMI

L’Oreal’s ‘Worth it Resume’ for its simple yet impactful concept elevating the topic of women’s empowerment.

 

Paul Matthews, Head of Communications, Unilever

I think Barbenheimer is still unsurpassed as a recent cultural phenomenon, although Taylor Swift is running it close.

 

Ramiro Prudencio, Global Director of Communications, McKinsey & Co

Patagonia’s ‘Fashion is none of our business’.

 

Rebecca Lowell Edwards, Chief Communications Officer, Organon

e.l.f’s 'So many Dicks' campaign to encourage more diversity across corporate boards (pictured). I'm totally biased because I'm a beneficiary of this program, but I'd love it even if I wasn't.

 

Ritu Jhingon, Group Director of Communications, Vedanta

Indian actor Manoj Bajpayee in Vedanta’s Khana Khaya Kya campaign.

 

Sally Susman, EVP, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Pfizer

Unilever’s Dove has been continuing to break ground for more than 20 years and reaching new audiences with its Real Beauty and self-esteem campaigns.

 

Sujit Patil, Chief Communications Officer, Godrej Industries Group

Godrej Industries Group’s holistic campaign to enhance its aura in the lifestyle space through an owned media property, Godrej L'Affaire, is something noteworthy.

 

Su-Min Sng, Head of Communications, Grab

The transition of the Singapore prime minister. This was seeded over time, with great care taken to both build credibility of the incoming PM and also showcase a more personable side.

 

Torod Neptune, SVP, Chief Communications Officer, Medtronic

The Barbie Movie campaign re-introduced an icon along with a compelling narrative around gender issues that was timely, creative, and emotive.