It was an interesting year to be a marketer. Expectations were high, budgets were low, content moved at the speed of light, and marketers had to juggle through it all.
As 2023 comes to a close, I surveyed the HubSpot Media team to see what their favorite marketing campaigns of the year were. Check out the full run-down below.
HubSpot Media's Favorite Marketing Campaigns of 2023
barbie movie
Let's start with the obvious: Barbie had the first half of 2023.
To promote the summer blockbuster, Warner Bros. and Mattel teamed up to execute one of the strongest, all-round marketing campaigns ever seen. The marketing engine for the “Barbie” movie was everything from experiential activations to product collaborations. Some of the highlights include:
- Ken's Malibu dreamhouse listed on Airbnb
- Barbie-themed co-branded products with brands like Crocs, Xbox, BEIS, and Homesick Candles
- An experiential Barbie-themed boat tour in Boston
- barbie meme generator
However, Warner Bros. and Mattel can't take all the credit – “Barbie” also received plenty of organic marketing support. The opening of “Oppenheimer” on the same weekend caused film fans to create a “Barbenheimer” double feature trend on social media, boosting marketing for both films. Plus, whenever we saw the color pink this year, we couldn't stop ourselves from thinking of Barbie.
Snoop Dogg and Solo Stove
In the autumn, Snoop Dogg shared a cryptic social media post saying he was quitting smoking. Naturally, the post garnered a lot of attention, as Snoop Dogg's marijuana use has been a big part of his brand since day one.
Turns out the post was a teaser to promote their collaboration with Solo Stove, a brand that sells smokeless fire pits. The brand announced that Snoop is its official “Smokeman” and released an official advertisement a few days after his initial social media post.
walmart black friday
Walmart took advantage of nostalgia marketing in a big way with its “Mean Girls” themed Black Friday campaign.
The retailer launched a series of commercials featuring the original cast reprising their roles from the 2004 film. The campaign was well-crafted and effectively targeted the largest demographic of holiday shoppers: millennials.
Millennials are expected to spend more than other generations this holiday season. The original “Mean Girls” was a generational movie that many millennials know and love, and the commercials instantly sparked nostalgia for this important group of consumers.
Dunkin' Donuts x Ben Affleck
In February, Dunkin' Donuts aired its first Super Bowl commercial starring Ben Affleck. The Massachusetts-raised actor has been spotted enjoying Dunkin' Coffee several times over the years, so it made sense for him to become an official spokesperson for the brand.
The Superbowl ad kicked off a series of Dunkin' Donuts commercials starring Affleck, and the partnership is a great example of brand alignment and a celebrity endorsement that makes perfect sense.
Nicki Minaj's Gag City
Nicki Minaj has one of the most active fans on the planet. This year Minaj's fans, known as Barbz, effectively created a viral marketing moment for the rapper in the run-up to the release of her latest album, Pink Friday 2.
In September, Minaj shared the album cover on social media. The cover featured their set in a pink futuristic city. Their fans immediately began using the term “Gag City” to describe the album cover and used AI to create their own pink cityscape images to depict Gag City. Barbaz essentially created an online world and created memes to help promote the album.
Other brands like Baskin Robbins and Microsoft Bing quickly got into the action, creating their own Gag City images and adding fuel to the trend.
While it's unclear whether the Gag City campaign was intentional marketing from Minaj and her label or an organic movement created entirely by her fans, it is an interesting case study at the intersection of fan UGC and generative AI.
Dove Self-Esteem Project
The Dove Self-Esteem Project had a series of fantastic campaigns supporting their impact work this year.
In the spring, Dove embraced social media beauty filters with the #TurnYourBack campaign. The campaign featured celebrities and influencers sharing retouched content, warning their followers about the dangers of digital distortion and encouraging them to turn away from filters that alter their natural features.
Shortly thereafter, Dove launched an initiative with Lizzo called the Dove Self-Esteem Project Research for Kids' Online Safety. The goal of the campaign was to draw attention to the Kids Online Safety Act, which promotes safety on social media for young users. To support the bill, Dove produced a film called “Cost of Beauty”, highlighting the impact social media beauty standards have on the mental health of young people.
As we covered this fall, Dove teamed up with Nike to launch the Body Confident Sports initiative, which encourages girls' participation in youth sports during and after puberty. In addition to an educational toolkit for coaches and caregivers, the Body Confident Sport campaign included a series of YouTube videos showcasing the benefits of girls' participation in sports.
From cinema to social impact, 2023 had its fair share of impactful campaigns. We look forward to seeing what marketers have in store for 2024.
