Marketing Innovators Share Their Favorite Social Campaigns

Over the last three years, we have had the honor to interview some of the most innovative marketers in the industry. These Innovators are responsible for the compelling and creative campaigns that go viral across social. But what do they think is best when it comes to social? What brands do they look to for inspiration when reaching new audiences, connecting to their fanbases or looking to make a big splash online? We asked our recently featured Innovators what’s the first post to come to mind when they hear “best-in-class social”? Spotify's masterclass in fan advocacy "I am forever a huge fan of Spotify’s 'Wrapped' campaign: it’s smart, innovative, and on-brand. It’s a masterclass on fan advocacy and the idea is so clean it can live anywhere on OOH, social and print."—Guillaume Huin, social media director, McDonald's "Spotify’s 'Wrapped' annual activation is my favorite social content every holiday season. Every year they make it more shareable, community-driven and insightful. Their best content is inherently content the community-made themselves—they’ve just given us the tools to share it with the world. If that’s not best-in-class social, then I don’t know what is."—Gabe Alonso, Head of digital platforms and community, PepsiCo "Spotify 'Wrapped' campaign. I’m a big fan of interpreting data and understanding user consumption. Spotify turned listening data into a user-generated content campaign, sparking people’s curiosity about what their friends and family were listening to, how often they were listening and what drove people to the app/website. Also, a great way to build a new playlist!"—Andrew Rebhun, vp of digital, El Pollo Loco https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpwv5tiQGKk Fast food's knack for being self aware "I loved KFC’s tongue-in-cheek campaign. The video used images from their customers who had attempted to recreate KFC during quarantine to varying success. Such a great way of pulling your customers in through UGC and keeping the brand alive despite restrictions."—Naomi Walkland, vp of EMEA marketing, Bumble "I’ve never been more impressed with a brand than when KFC changed its name to FCK when there was a chicken shortage in the UK. It was a masterclass in humor, self-awareness and authenticity. The Reddit community loved it. The backstory of why KFC only follows 6 men named Herb and the Spice Girls (and how they rewarded the person who found the Easter egg) is further evidence of their best-in-class crown."—Laura Nestler, vp of community, Reddit "Wendy’s national roast day. A brand that sells burgers and fries, with a mascot of a little girl, has the country begging to be insulted by them. Recognition and engagement is off the charts, in a moment their competitors cannot copy."—Ken Gibbs, global head, social media marketing, Spotify "Less of a post and more of just some sheer inspirational brilliance was when KFC unfollowed everyone except 6 people named Herb and the 5 Spice Girls and then gave the dude who found the Easter egg that painting of himself and the colonel."—David Tai Bornoff, head of consumer marketing, DoorDash We thought it was just a random street corner ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ pic.twitter.com/9xz1TkUKFO— KFC (@kfc) March 16, 2021 'Virtual clubhouse' campaigns "AOC’s Tweet/Twitch livestream to get out the vote last October. This is a great reminder to marketers and brands to meet consumers where they are: over 400k young voters joined in as she played and discussed political issues in real-time on Twitch. It was for a great cause, promoted cross-platform, allowed for two-way dialogue in the form of one-to-many and the content and memes created out of this will live on for years to come."—Angelic Vendette, vp of marketing, Alo Yoga "A Discord server run by an NFT project called The Bored Ape Yacht Club. It represents the best parts of where social media is moving: lightly moderated, highly self-driven by its community and grew inertia outside of its primary source to become a genuine virtual clubhouse for its members."—Jamal Dauda, vp of blockchain innovation, Playboy "I am impressed by the work The Washington Post is doing on TikTok. I am a huge fan of Dave Jorgenson, the main personality and how he’s grown a following to nearly 1 million. It’s fascinating to see him and The Post lead on new media platforms and make news and politics accessible for the next generation."—Michael Ribero, chief subscription officer, The Washington Post The ones that cut through the noise "REI’s #OptOutside. It’s a couple of years old now but every year I look forward to it, as it stands out from all the Black Friday sales messaging we get inundated with and it’s interesting to see how they make tweaks every year to keep the idea fresh."—Larisa Johnson, vp of paid and CRM, NBA "I’m aging myself but the Jay-Z launch of Decoded is my all-time favorite social campaign and post because it set up engaging, immersive real-world discovery and allowed the community to essentially run the social campaign for them. I love that work and always will. It’s also not dated, an idea like that would work just as well today and carry to any platform."—Elle McCarthy, vp of brand, Electronic Arts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnVZTBuzxP4 The importance of timeliness "I am impressed by the team at Nuggs dabbling in the delights and absurdity of meme culture but still feeling designed, coherent and styled … and somehow relevant to vegan chicken nuggets!"—Stacie Grissom, head of content, BARK "Nike’s #YouCantStopUs campaign: Not only do I admire the message of inclusivity and perseverance for this campaign, but I appreciate the timeliness and leadership around driving positive change and a strong stance on social issues."—Jayvee Nava, vp of community, Peloton "I’m a long-time Airbnb fan and their most recent video campaign of 'made possible by hosts' was beautiful, creative and clever. It was also very timely in execution."—Leanne Sheraton, svp of marketing, PayPal https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLe_YVMnS1oXY4mmxPEjbFJIv59eF_pzOf&v=3oQ721__9yg 4 Trends Marketers Should Watch for in a Post-Quarantine World

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Marketing Innovators Share Which Brand's Post Is 'Best-in-Class'

Leaders from McDonald's, PepsiCo, Spotify and more share their favorite social moments

Spotify’s masterclass in fan advocacy

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