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The Creative Round-Up: October

Sometimes the simplest creative ideas are the best ones. You know, the kind that are so seemingly effortless that they prompt despairing exclamations of ‘why didn’t I think of that?’ 

Sometimes the simplest creative ideas are the best ones. You know, the kind that are so seemingly effortless that they prompt despairing exclamations of ‘why didn’t I think of that?’ 

But sometimes the campaigns that brands serve up push both creative boundaries and the limits of audience expectations. From unlikely brand partnerships to novel out-of-home advertising, the last month has seen a range of exciting, dynamic creative campaigns from both recognised household names and the new kids on the block. 

This month, we run through the last month’s creative highlights, including luxury brand collaborations, wholesome family-friendly TV ads, canny dating app advertising, and a dash of obligatory Bond.

DHL delivers action-packed predictability 

Well, we couldn’t do an October creative round-up without including a Bond campaign… 

To coincide with the long-awaited release of No Time to Die, international courier and the film’s primary logistics partner, DHL, released its latest campaign, paying homage to the iconic franchise. 

The TV ad depicts a hapless DHL driver attempting to deliver a package to 007, while inadvertently getting caught up in a series of dangerous, high-speed pursuits. It’s got all the hallmarks of a classic Bond scene – fast cars, explosions, narrow escapes from the seemingly inevitable clutches of death – and is tense enough to leave audiences feeling shaken (or, indeed, stirred). 

But for all its action-packed, cinematic brilliance, it is predictable. It delivers exactly what audiences might expect from a Bond advert, but it feels like a missed opportunity for some out-of-the-box thinking… Get it? Because they deliver parcels. 

Watch DHL’s Bond advert here.

Innovative ‘intern marketing’ with Thursday

New dating app, Thursday – named so because it only works on Thursdays – has been raising an eyebrow or two in the world of creative comms recently, due to its… unorthodox approach to out-of-home advertising. 

Rather than utilising traditional OOH channels such as flyering, bus backs or digital displays, the brand has had its most recent intern out and about in central London, partaking in humorous PR stunts to grab the attention of commuters. 

From being handcuffed to a lamp post next to a giant chalkboard emblazoned with ‘World’s most embarrassing internship’, to having bunches of balloons tied to them while wearing a makeshift sandwich board reading ‘F*ck flyering’, Thursday’s intern was well and truly put through their paces. 

But, however ludicrous, the result was a viral campaign that caught people’s attention, showing that great marketing can be achieved without big media budgets and highlighting the power of offline methods for amplifying brands in funny, memorable ways. 

Check it out here.

Letting life happen with John Lewis

John Lewis? Doing a wholesome, light-hearted TV ad? Surely not… 

The latest campaign from the department store features a young child stomping through their home in a pair of leopard print heels, makeup smeared across their face, causing havoc as they smash glasses, knock over lamps and handprint paint across the walls. 

Produced to market John Lewis’s home insurance policies, the advert takes a fun, creative approach – the child bounds about the house, facing the camera in the style of a bad 90s music video, becoming progressively destructive as they do so. It didn’t go down too well with some viewers, though… 

One YouTube commenter called the advert ‘delusional, woke, abhorrent hogwash’ and the ‘most sanctimonious, self-serving example of an advert I’ve ever seen’, while another, rather pragmatically, pointed out that the advert’s homeowners wouldn’t be able to claim on their John Lewis insurance because its policies don’t cover wilful damage. 

Anyway, contractual inaccuracies and alleged wokeness aside (it is, after all, simply a kid dancing in their dining room, throwing glitter and listening to Stevie Nicks) we quite enjoyed it. 

See what all the fuss is about here.

 

Larger than life OOH with Fortnite and Balenciaga 

When people think of the luxury fashion house Balenciaga, it’s unlikely that its association with one of the world’s biggest online video games would spring to mind. But the French brand, whose garments have been donned by the likes of Beyoncé, recently partnered with Fortnite on a 3D billboard campaign which defied the constraints of traditional out-of-home advertising. 

The futuristic billboards, which appeared in London, New York, Tokyo and Seoul, saw Fortnite character Doggo donning head-to-toe Balenciaga and appearing to lean out of the digital display, scanning the streets and pavements below for passersby. 

Produced in partnership with Epic Games, this dynamic collaboration pushed the boundaries and possibilities of out-of-home advertising to their immersive limits. 

Explore the Balenciaga x Fortnite immersive billboard here.

Seen something deserving of a mention? Let us know about the campaigns that have caught your attention: @WeAreKenyons