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12 Most Memorable Marketing Campaigns Of 2017

Forbes Agency Council
POST WRITTEN BY
Forbes Agency Council

Throughout the years, there have been several moments when a brand has successfully captured the hearts and minds of consumers worldwide with a smart campaign or a significant gesture. Product brands such as Starbucks PSL did their due diligence on social media by birthing an identity that today needs no introduction, according to a report by Mediapost. Nowadays, you can’t enter the fall without hearing, seeing, and definitely tasting PSL in some form or another.

As brands seek to create campaigns that wow and turn heads, creating a brand moment that stands out is the single biggest achievement that a company can reach for. When your brand hits the mark with its customers with a creative campaign strategy, you feel the love from your fanbase, and the results can be astounding.

Below, 12 members of Forbes Agency Council weigh in on the best campaigns or brand moments of 2017 and what exactly made them notable. Here is what they had to say:

Images courtesy of FAC members.

1. San Francisco Modern Art Museum's 'Send Me' SFMOMA Campaign 

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art launched a service that texts a related art piece in return for an emoji you text them. For the museum, it was an answer to the question: "How do we get people to see all the art we simply cannot show on the floors of our museum?" What they got in return was brand awareness and brand love — all via one simple idea. - Fabian Geyrhalter, FINIEN

2. Shot On iPhone

"Shot on iPhone" is a series of campaigns with several messages utilizing user-generated content. iPhone users submitted images that Apple later posted on billboards, showcasing beautiful high-quality photos. Users also sent videos for the "Earth" campaign, where Apple featured Carl Sagan's voice reading from his Pale Blue Dot book to serve as a warning of everything we have to lose on Earth. - Ahmad Kareh, Twistlab Marketing

3. The Fearless Girl 

The Fearless Girl statue was placed overnight on March 7th facing the Wall Street Charging Bull statue. Her quiet strength set off a campaign that earned an estimated $7.4 million in advertising dollars, accolades and awards. As marketers, experiential is an effective way to connect with consumers if done well. The Fearless Girl is a great example of this and is definitely a highlight of 2017 for me. - Gina Michnowicz, Union+Webster

4. Pixel 2 Onboarding 

When folks connect their new Pixel 2, they receive a welcome email. There is a link that brings you to an amazing user experience filled with videos breaking down the new features. The videos are made to look like the people are interacting with your phone's interface. The best part is that Google used YouTube influencers for the videos. - Dennis Lomonaco, Story Block Media

5. Wendy's 'Big Mac' Moment 

Last year it was all about Pokémon. In 2017, the best brand moment, in my opinion, was when Wendy's Twitter account was asked how much a Big Mac cost. Their response — "your dignity" — was epic, as they are known for roasting hecklers. Wendy's clever savageness makes it the best brand moment for 2017. - Tom La Vecchia, MBA, X Factor Media

6. Misereor's Charity Donation Billboard 

Misereor's concept is great but the execution is stunning. They incorporated a card reader on a digital screen and when someone swiped their card through, it cut a piece of bread or a rope that was holding the hands of a hostage. A small donation was made when you swiped your card. This type of advertising is extremely moving. - Jessica Gonzalez, InCharged

7. Halo Top's Innovative Campaign 

Halo Top built a consumer-driven brand based on a quality product, evangelical consumers and clever, grassroots marketing for an innovative product and brand. Cresting in 2017 was a huge achievement and brand moment. But also a warning call: Their next two "traditional" campaigns were complete flops as they left their "cool" behind and went first cheesy and then too edgy. - Craig Greiwe, Rogers & Cowan

8. Patagonia's Brand Activism
They set up a campaign to save Bears Ears National Monument, encouraging visitors to reach out to the Department of Interior while including an opt-in box to receive emails/texts from Patagonia. This campaign showed that business success while incorporating a campaign for meaningful political change doesn't have to be mutually exclusive. - Twila Grissom, Acorn Digital Strategy

9. Heineken's 'Open Your World'

I think any campaign worthy of the best brand moment in 2017 must speak to the current social climate. The real-life social experiment by Heineken delivered what Pepsi could not in demonstrating that human kindness and compassion is very much alive, more so than we think. Bravo to Heineken for being inspirational but not political, and elevating their brand with a broader appeal. - T. Maxwell, eMaximize

10. 'Good Goes Round' By Cheerios 

With arguably one of the most entertaining and catching scores in advertising of 2017, the "Good Goes Round" campaign by 72 and Sunny was beautifully executed. In addition to the broadcast spots, Cheerios gave 10 meals to Feeding America for every photo and video of someone drawing an "o" with the hashtag #goodgoesround for their social campaign, amassing over one million meals donated. - Chris Carter, Rep Interactive

11. IKEA Place 

Augmented reality got a boost this year when IKEA, a longtime adopter, led with Place, quickly embracing Apple’s ARKit. The app allows consumers to view furniture at true scale in their homes. Meanwhile, monitoring social media, the company noticed that consumers were complaining about the lack of a search feature for Place, and so they added one, deploying a new version in five days. - Julie Bernard, Verve

12. Wendy's #NuggsForCarter Brilliance 

Wendy's #NuggsForCarter Twitter campaign was a stroke of genius. This is a large example of how something as small as a well-worded tweet could create an explosive amount of engagement. This proves that brand managers need to keep on their toes for fun, creative ways to get people talking because they never know when something could blow up. - Jeff Grover, BestCompany.com

Forbes Agency Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?