I’ve been analyzing over 50 campaigns
I’ve been analyzing over 50 campaigns in the past month.
Several major advertising awards recognized top campaigns recently, notably the Clio Awards, The One Show, and D&AD Awards.
The star was Vaseline – as Brand of the Year for campaigns that turned viral beauty hacks into verified science.
Also, several similarities stood out: none were primarily AI-generated, none were celebrity-endorsed, and none spent a big budget on production.
None treats visuals like an afterthought, or something that’s just in the brand guidelines.
The visual and the idea are unified smoothly and cohesively, showing great craftsmanship and creativity.
In this article, I’m giving you the freshest ideas from award-winning campaigns that beautifully blend visuals with creative concepts.
Let’s dive in.
1. Make people part of your campaign and brand
I’ll start with Vaseline, the 153-year-old petroleum jelly brand that was a surprise for everyone. It was a 2025 campaign, actually, that did so well it was extended into 2026.
Vaseline Verified campaign harvested the fruits of TikTok creators who were using Vaseline for all kinds of purposes, some made up, some true.
The ones that were accurate received a #VaselineVerified badge, and later on in the campaign, their own product.
Yes, you read that right.
The first two products launched via TikTok Live and sold out within minutes.
Here’s how it played out. Vaseline invited scientists to test hundreds of viral videos on Instagram and TikTok, compiling practical use, beauty hacks and everything in between or completely out of order.
Creators were talking about “taking this hack into the lab”, well aware of what was about to happen after they posted the videos.
The campaign generated 136 million views, a 43% uplift in sales, and positive consumer sentiment of 87%.
They were lucky because the campaign wasn’t built around creating a behavior. It was built around observing an existing behavior and legitimizing it.
According to Vaseline and Ogilvy’s case studies, there were already millions of posts showing people using Vaseline in unconventional ways before Vaseline Verified launched.
The brand identified this existing cultural behavior and stepped into it.
When you have such a great opportunity, it’s hard to miss out on an idea like this.
So for that, I’d say they mastered an impeccable strategy.
They won 2 gold pencils at The One Show, for community activation and for multi-creator collaboration.
2. Make people feel like they’re seeing something secret
A simple Zoom call became a viral campaign because it felt like leaked footage from an internal meeting.
Viewers felt like they were peeking behind the curtain.
Timothée Chalamet faked an internal marketing brainstorm for Marty Supreme, an A24 film starring him as a table-tennis prodigy inspired by the life of professional player Marty Reisman.
It was only bad ideas and visuals, blown out of proportion in the way that he acted and presented what his vision is, confident and assertive.
Everyone in the meeting was trying to keep a straight face and look remotely excited about Timothée’s ideas.
It was a great idea, in line with the “behind the scenes” that people craved to see from brands for a while.
Here’s a visual list of stuff you can make up that would make people believe they weren’t supposed to see it:
– Slack screenshots
– Notion docs
– Internal decks
– Whiteboards
– Group chats
– Meeting recordings
– Post its (that look real, not studio shot)
Here’s how brands can apply it:
– Publish brainstorming screenshots
– Show rejected concepts
– Create “accidentally leaked” prototypes
– Share rough drafts before the final version
Continue reading about the London Museum, McDonald’s Mosaic in Rome, 18 Months, Heinz, and British Airways.
This article was originally posted on Dreamstime.
