Seeing as the 2026 year is drawing to a close it might be best to take a look at all the years notable marketing campaigns. On this list however we wont be considering international events like the World Cup or global summits as they account for an already extensive demographic that doesn’t require marketing . Also not on the list but worth considering is Box office releases as most of them don’t actually campaign if they did the odyssey and spiderman brand new day would definitely have made the list .
The Biggest
- Vaseline (“Verified” / “Originals”): Tapped deep social trust and human insights, driving a massive 43% sales uplift with cultural storytelling.
- Coinbase (“Your Way Out”): Addressed AI and platform anxieties through sharp, culturally timed digital and video storytelling.
- Nike (Knicks Championship & World Cup Ad): Directed by Josh Safie, capturing a unified emotional response across New York City set to “New York State of Mind”.
- McDonald’s (Viral CEO / Backrooms Trend-Jacking): Turned CEO Chris K’s unpolished “big arch burger” comment and YouTube “backrooms” trends into organic viral engagement.
- Heinz (“The Dipper”): Solved a 75-year-old consumer friction point with physical packaging redesigns for fry boxes.
- Calvin Klein (Bad Bunny Partnership): Timed a global drop with Bad Bunny’s album momentum, generating $8.4 million in media impact value in under 48 hours and 56+ million video views.
- NHS (Harry Styles Cervical Screening PSA): Used timely, humorous references to Harry Styles’ new music to successfully drive health awareness among young women.
- Heinz & Absolut (“Ridiculously Good”): Partnered on an unexpected co-branded vodka pasta sauce that pulled in over 6.2 million TikTok views.
- Duolingo (Death of Duo Owl): Executed a high-engagement, playful mascot stunt that dominated social feeds.
Local Marketing campaigns
- Payflex | The Inside Man (Gold — Best Revenue Generating Marketing Campaign / Event by a Corporate): A standout commercial activation by digital credit and payment platform Payflex.
- Sasol | Bluecloud AI Danki Mzansi (Silver — Best Revenue Generating Marketing Campaign / Event by a Corporate): Sasol’s 75th-anniversary growth and engagement platform celebrating South African communities.
- Crocs South Africa | Clockwork Croctober 2025 (Silver — Best Revenue Generating Marketing Campaign / Event by a Corporate): A high-conversion seasonal fan and product engagement campaign managed by Clockwork.
- FNB South Africa | Vivid Theory FNB Festive Campaign: Get in the Game (Bronze — Best Revenue Generating Marketing Campaign): A festive-season transactional and gamified drive by First National Bank.
- Ackermans | 99c Ackermans Packs Summer ’25 (Bronze — Best Revenue Generating Marketing Campaign): A retail-driven promotional push capturing high-volume summer apparel sales.
A Bezaleel view
All the brands that made this list did one thing in common outside of the product development, general distribution channels and marketing strategy ,they gave the people what they wanted . Catering for your ICP is the number 1 method to drive sales increase convergence and extend market base but to cater for them you have to know them . Our R&D department ensures that you know why your ICP loves you and by working with us you get a specialy tailored campaign strategy that helps you dominate the market.
