Duolingo killed its owl with a Cybertruck. Two weeks later: 1.7 billion impressions, 38% download growth and 5 billion lessons completed. Plus one credit dispute.
Dove “Real Beauty”: 2% of Women Called Themselves Beautiful. Dove Decided to Change That.
Only 2% of women called themselves beautiful. Dove built a 20-year platform on that number and doubled sales in three years. It still cannot answer one question.
When Sound Sells: Three Brands That Put Ears to Work
Campaigns with a sound identity are 8.53x more effective than visual-only ones. Budweiser, Oreo and Spotify proved it, and one of them ended up publicly apologising.
The Sweet Wins of Chocolate Brands: KitKat, Tony’s and Toblerone
KitKat hijacked the skip button. Tony’s copied rival wrappers. Toblerone made its shape a personality. Three chocolate campaigns, with the numbers.
SKIMS and SPANX: How Kim Kardashian’s Brand Pushed the Shapewear Flagship into Second Place
SPANX was valued at 1.2 billion dollars in 2021. SKIMS hit 5 billion in 2025. Same category, opposite playbooks, and only one changed the rules.
Jellycat: Why Adults Queue for Hours to Buy a Smiling Croissant
Jellycat revenue grew 70% to GBP 333m while the toy market shrank. Retirement dates, staged pop-ups and a billion TikTok views it never paid for.
Heinz Ketchup Fraud: When the Bottle Says Heinz and the Ketchup Doesn’t
Restaurants refilled Heinz bottles with cheap ketchup. Heinz made it a public crime scene instead of hiding it. Sales rose 8%, plus 33 new contracts.
Impossible Ads: Louis Vuitton, PODS and Maybelline
A 73-metre trunk facade, a truck that rewrites itself every block, and a fake Tube train with eyelashes. Three impossible ads, three very different strategies.
Kellogg’s “See You in the Morning”: A Wake-Up Call for a Breakfast Cereal Brand
Kellogg’s spent GBP 12m bringing Cornelius the Cockerel back. System1 scored it 3.8 stars and 150 million Europeans saw it. What worked, what didn’t.
Strong Messages and Zero Discounts: KIAF’s Standout Charity Campaigns
WWF grew its email list 600% with an AI quiz. Flood-scarred concrete raised EUR 45,000 for dog shelters. Three KIAF-winning charity marketing campaigns, broken down.