Advertising best practice, evidence and insights

How marketers can win with Gen Z and Millennials post-COVID-19

Article • Carmen Bona, WARC Exclusive, June 2020

Research from Boston Consulting Group and Snapchat into the consumption shifts of Gen Z and millennials driven by COVID-19.

Lessons in brand activism and effectiveness from the North America SABRE Awards winners

Opinion • Chiara Manco, June 2020

The winners of the 2020 North America SABRE Awards can inspire brands looking to progress social change, writes WARC’s Chiara Manco. Many of the winners of the 2020 North America SABRE Awards show how to tackle different forms of bias, prejudice and discrimination.

Pampers: #LoveTheChange changing tables commitment

Case Study • SABRE Awards, Gold, North America, 2020

Pampers, a nappy brand, partnered with influencers and celebrity partner John Legend to promote the need for more changing tables in men's toilets in the US and Canada as part of its mission to celebrate hands-on dads.

UNICEF: Backpack Graveyard

Case Study • Angus Ingham, Carolina Lahoud Doumet, WARC Awards, Entrant, Effective Innovation, 2020

The United Nations Children's Fund used an installation at the North American UN Headquarters to drive awareness and engagement globally.

TD Ameritrade: Money On Your Mind

Case Study • Jill Howel, WARC Awards, Entrant, Effective Content Strategy, 2020

TD Ameritrade, the US-based brokerage, used a podcast to strengthen its muddled brand by educating customers about behavioural economics.

Consumers’ online behaviour transformed by COVID-19 pandemic

News • 16 April 2020

New research from online brand management company Yext offers insight into how people’s use of online search has changed around the world since the COVID-19 pandemic took off.

TD Ameritrade: The first interactive financial goal planning session in a chatbot ad

Case Study • Beth Palmer, WARC Awards, Shortlisted, Effective Innovation, 2020

US-based investment brokerage TD Ameritrade cooperated with IBM Watson to create a display ad capable of providing financial guidance through a chat interface, driving strong conversion rates.

Planet Fitness: Teen Summer Challenge

Case Study • SABRE Awards, IN2, North America, Best in Broadcast Media (Earned), 2020

Fitness centre brand Planet Fitness created the Teen Summer Challenge, spearheaded by Stranger Things actor Caleb McLaughlin, to increase brand loyalty and affinity among Generation Z, and fuel future member growth in North America.

Oh Henry!, Pizza Pizza and Wingstop: making money from the munchies

Opinion • Chiara Manco, January 2020

As cannabis is made legal in more countries, WARC’s Chiara Manco highlights three food brands that have targeted users effectively.

Tourism Québec: It’s Better Together

Case Study • Hearts & Science Montreal, WARC Media Awards, Entrant, Best Use of Data, 2019

Canadian tourist board Tourisme Québec used an SEM strategy to increase Québec's visibility on search engines and grow interest in the state as a tourist destination.

Tim Hortons: The Away Game

Case Study • WARC Media Awards, Gold, Effective Use of Partnerships and Sponsorships, 2019

Tim Hortons, the restaurant chain, leveraged a favourite pastime - hockey - with The Away Game campaign to revive love for the brand in Canada.

Can-Am Ryker: A ride like no other

Case Study • Touché!, WARC Media Awards, Entrant, Effective Channel Integration, 2019

Vehicle brand BRP took an unconventional approach to publicise the launch of its latest model to a younger target audience, teaming up with pop culture icons to increase awareness and drive trial.

GSK: Abreva - Reaching a Younger Audience through Mobile Video

Case Study • MMA Smarties, Silver, X (Global), 2019

Abreva, a cold sore medicine brand, launched an optimised digital video campaign on YouTube to successfully increase purchase intent among younger consumers in North America.

McDonald's Trick. Treat. Win! Campaign

Case Study • MMA Smarties, Silver, North America, 2019

Fast-food brand McDonald’s created an in-app promotion, based on scannable QR codes, to drive sales and engagement by leveraging Halloween in the US.

T-Mobile Tuesdays

Case Study • MMA Smarties, Gold, North America, 2019

Mobile operator T-Mobile’s multichannel activation, spearheaded by a Super Bowl ad, launched its partnership with fast-food brand Taco Bell, as part of a customer reward programme in the US.

Making sound decisions: How the strategic use of sound is the next frontier in effective marketing

Research Paper • Joe Sauer, Lauren McGuire and Nic Thomas, ESOMAR, Congress, 2019

Nissan, the car manufacturer, tested the use of sound to create an iconic 'sound experience' that would promote the brand identity of its electric vehicle portfolio in Asia, Europe and North America.

Canadian Down Syndrome Society: Endangered Syndrome

Case Study • Cannes Creative Lions, Gold, Creative Strategy Lion, 2019

The Canadian Down Syndrome Society (CDSS), a non-profit organization, created the Endangered Syndrome video campaign in North America to get people with Down syndrome put on the endangered species list.

Brand Purpose and Cinema

Research Paper • Doug Pulick, Sarah Barasch, Jennifer Friedlander and Fiona Blades, ARF Experiential Learning, AUDIENCExSCIENCE, April 2019

Using a new global study, NCM, a wholesaler, and ScreenVision, a media company, put cinema under the spotlight and compared its performance with all other media channels, from TV to digital.

Alibaba deepens its North American B2B offer

News • 25 July 2019

Alibaba has opened access to its B2B marketplace to small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in North America, alongside new features to support the onboarding and marketing efforts of new suppliers, or sellers, on the site.

Forum: Do millennials differ in terms of survey participation?

Research Paper • Oriol J. Bosch, Melanie Revilla and Ezequiel Paura, International Journal of Market Research, Vol. 61, No. 4, 2019, pp. 359-365

Millennials have been the focus of quite some research because of their differences with older cohorts.

Apple: The Rock X Siri — Dominate The Day

Case Study • Cannes Creative Lions, Entrant, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2019

Apple, a technology brand, created a short film on YouTube that showed Siri organisation Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's busy schedule to encourage users across China, Japan, Germany, the UK and the US to re-engage with Siri.

Coca-Cola: Share A Coke 1,000 Name Celebration

Case Study • Cannes Creative Lions, Entrant, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2019

Coca-Cola, the soft drinks brand, improved awareness of the increased numbers of names featured on its packaging by creating a unique song for every name.

Four obstacles podcasting must tackle to take its seat at media’s top table

Article • Tom Webster, Admap, June 2019

Highlights four key obstacles in podcasting, derived from findings of the flagship study of consumer media and technology habits by Edison Research.

Tourism Australia: Dundee – The Son of a legend returns home

Case Study • Effie Worldwide, Gold, North American Effies, 2019

Government agency Tourism Australia mimicked a Hollywood film campaign to shift perceptions and attract US high-value travellers.

North America's best campaigns and companies 2019

Rankings • Rankings Articles, April 2019

Explore WARC’s pick of the North American campaigns, and agencies working on campaigns in the region, that performed best over the past year.