Advertising best practice, evidence and insights

Article • WARC Best Practice, November 2019

Provides guidance and reading on a now common aspect of brand building – partnerships – in which two or more brands collaborate for mutual benefit.

Meredith finds a new role for branded content during COVID-19

Article • Alex Brownsell, Event Reports, FIPP World Media Congress, September 2020

US magazine publisher Meredith adopts an outcomes-based approach to branded content partnerships.

Samsung India: Good Vibes

Case Study • Kunal Ghosh, Sourav Ray, WARC Prize for Asian Strategy, Shortlisted, 2020

Electronics giant Samsung created an app to enable two-way communication between the deafblind and their caregivers and launched it in India using a digital campaign supported by cause advocates.

Zomato: How Zomato won the game before the game

Case Study • Tushar Handa, WARC Prize for Asian Strategy, Shortlisted, 2020

Food delivery app Zomato ran a gamified, multi-channel campaign targeting young male cricket fans in India to drive sales, user acquisition, engagement and regional penetration.

Singtel: Only True Fans Get It

Case Study • Amanda Lim, Jacob Wright, WARC Prize for Asian Strategy, Shortlisted, 2020

Telco Singtel took to trolling to boost take-up of its services in Singapore.

UCash & Shwapno: Project AgroBanking

Case Study • Bitop Das Gupta, WARC Prize for Asian Strategy, Shortlisted, 2020

Banking brand United Commercial Bank used video, on-ground activity and OOH to launch a platform that enabled farmers in Bangladesh to sell excess produce at a fair rate to retail chain Shwapno.

What Oracle’s TikTok deal means

News • 16/09/2020

News that ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, has reached a “technical partnership” with US tech firm Oracle for TikTok’s US operations opens the way for advertisers to continue spending on the platform.

How Hershey evaluates the appeal of esports and in-game advertising opportunities

Article • Geoffrey Precourt, WARC Exclusive, September 2020

The Hershey Co., the candy manufacturer, has begun exploring the opportunities provided by esports having carefully evaluated how this channel can help its business.

How online games can help other entertainment brands to thrive

Article • Funto Debo-Aina, WARC Exclusive, September 2020

Discusses content partnerships between game and non-game entertainment brands.

Game-on: How brands can unlock the potential of gaming in Asia

Article • Michael Fegan and Jamie Lewin, WARC Exclusive, September 2020

Best practice advice for brands exploring gaming and esports as a marketing channel in Asia.

2020 Content Strategy Report: Insights from the WARC Awards

Article • WARC Exclusive, August 2020

Analysing trends in content strategies with lessons for marketers drawn from the 'Effective Content Strategy' category of the 2020 WARC Awards.

Burberry teams with Tencent for ‘social retail’

News • 03/08/2020

Luxury fashion brand Burberry has partnered with Tencent’s WeChat to combine the physical and social media worlds in a new way; a ‘social retail’ store in Shenzhen is the result.

COVID-19 offers insurance brands an opportunity to rethink how they market to consumers in Asia

Article • Low Lai Chow, Event Reports, APAC Financial Services Webcast Week, May 2020

Asia’s insurance industry has found silver linings amid the COVID-19 pandemic with health becoming top of mind for consumers.

Haig Club: Blueprint for a fast start

Case Study • Marketing Society UK, The Brave Awards, Shortlisted, Start-ups, 2020

Haig Club, a whisky brand, launched its whisky among young drinkers in the UK by creating a business partnership with David Beckham, launching a bottle redesign and a new formula of whisky to suit a younger market.

Coca-Cola: Living The Rainbow

Case Study • Marketing Society UK, The Brave Awards, Shortlisted, Transforming Corporate Culture, 2020

Coca-Cola, a soft drinks brand, supported Team Pride’s Rainbow Laces campaign in English football and championed it throughout the business by putting rainbow welcome mats outside 10 Premier League stadiums.

O2 5G Live Rugby: How O2 got three million fans cheering for an event it wasn't allowed to talk about

Case Study • Marketing Society UK, The Brave Awards, Shortlisted, 2020

Telecommunications service provider O2 launched a 5G campaign at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in the UK.

Heinz: How [seriously] good marketing turned a featherweight into a contender

Case Study • Marketing Society UK, The Brave Awards, Highly Commended, 2020

Heinz, a food processing company, promoted its mayonnaise in the UK by launching a series of OOH billboards that directly called out its competitor, Hellmann's.

Nationwide Building Society: The team that took on the savings crisis

Case Study • Marketing Society UK, The Brave Awards, Winner, Bravest Team, 2020

Nationwide, a banking brand, returned to growth in the UK by launching the PayDay SaveDay campaign that encouraged consumers to save through the use of comedy films, print and OOH ads.

Cadbury: Rekindling the spirit of John Cadbury for today

Case Study • Marketing Society UK, The Brave Awards, Shortlisted, 2020

Chocolate brand Cadbury launched its campaign There’s a Glass and a Half in Everyone in the UK to reclaim its brand culture and tackle loneliness among the elderly in the UK.

Unilad: The Illegal Blood Bank #Bloodwithoutbias

Case Study • Marketing Society UK, The Brave Awards, Winner, Not for Profit Marketing, 2020

UNILAD, an internet media company, highlighted a discriminatory law that stops sexually-active gay and bisexual men from donating blood in the UK by opening an illegal blood bank that let them donate, to show their blood is safe.

Twitter: The Vagina Emoji

Case Study • SABRE Awards, In2 EMEA, Best Use of Social Networks, Gold, 2020

Twitter, a social media platform, encouraged women in the UK to have their smear tests by starting an open conversation on its platform in collaboration with Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust.

E-commerce players accelerate solutions and options for brands to engage

News • 20/07/2020

E-commerce platform Shopee has partnered with Google to launch Google Ads with Shopee, in a bid to help brands drive sales online.

Pepsi: #Summergram

Case Study • Case Studies on WARC, 2019

Carbonated drinks giant Pepsi ran a multichannel campaign to increase sales in the US.

Lighthouse Centre for Wellbeing: unspoken, uae

Case Study • Tahaab Rais, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Shortlisted, 2020

UAE-based community mental health and wellness clinic the Lighthouse Centre for Wellbeing devised a creative platform that encouraged people struggling with mental health issues to speak up.

Mastercard: Astronomical Sales

Case Study • Tahaab Rais, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Entrant, 2020

In the slowest part of Dubai's retail season, payment card brand Mastercard built a unique sale tied to a rare eclipse that put its brand literally in full view of the country's shoppers.

Brand partnerships