The Best Digital PR and Marketing Campaigns of 2024

The digital PR and marketing industry moves fast. Before you know it, you’ve wrapped up one meticulously planned campaign and are already onto the next.

But it’s important to pause and reflect on all the incredible work being produced – not just by your own team, but by the wider industry as well. So, as we close out another year, now seems like the perfect time to round up the Motive team and see which PR, marketing, and advertising campaigns from the past 12 months are our favourites.

In this blog, we’ve selected ten memorable and imaginative campaigns that have reaped the rewards when it comes to outstanding results.

What’s in this article:

Wallet Hub: Best Summer Travel Destinations Index
UpgradedPoints: The most sought-after seats on an aeroplane
Greggs: Limited Edition Greggs Top Trumps
Heineken: The Hidden Message
Bounce: The Underground Index
Specsavers: Should’ve Translations
Deliveroo: The Deliveroo Map of Britain
MedExpress: Come On You Blues
McDonald’s: The McRib ‘McFail’
Finder: Christmas Statistics

Wallet Hub: Best Summer Travel Destinations Index

If you need a masterclass in data-driven digital PR, just take a look at WalletHub’s campaign archive. The U.S. personal finance brand is a complete machine when it comes to creative outputs, delivering high-impact content that produces real results – namely, lots and lots of lovely links.

From ranking America's safest cities and analysing the best universities, to surveying the general public on their credit card debt and financial fears, WalletHub covers just about every topic in the personal finance realm. If it’s relevant to money, chances are they’ve already thought of it and turned it into a compelling campaign. The result? An incredible resource hub with studies and surveys on just about everything you can think of. Backed by solid data and presented in an engaging, visually appealing format, these resources prove themselves as powerful link magnets time after time.

The sheer volume of campaigns that WalletHub produces makes it difficult to single out just one from the past 12 months, but its Best Summer Travel Destinations (2024) achieved what many similar campaigns have attempted in recent years yet struggled to accomplish. We love a good index campaign here at Motive, and this is a stellar example.

To find out which places offer the most bang for your buck, WalletHub developed a ranking of the cheapest U.S. destinations that are also easy to reach. By analysing 100 of the largest metro areas across 41 key indicators – ranging from the cost of the cheapest flight and the number of attractions to the average price of a two-person meal – the campaign provided a comprehensive, data-driven guide for budget-conscious travellers seeking value-packed holidays and vacations.

Launched in May, the campaign was perfectly timed to help people plan their summer holidays. Since then, it has earned nearly 8,000 backlinks from relevant and high-authority sites, including USA Today (DR 92), Time.com (DR 92), Daily Mail (DR 92), LA Times (DR 92), Time Out (DR 90), and The Street (DR 87). Dreamy results for a dreamy campaign!

UpgradedPoints: The most sought-after seats on an aeroplane

In keeping with the travel campaign theme, another digital PR campaign we particularly enjoyed this summer came from UpgradedPoints. The company conducted a survey of 3,100 American travellers to uncover preferences around airline seating, including the most desirable spots, the best-rated airlines for seat comfort, and hot topics like window vs. aisle seating, reclining etiquette, and dealing with turbulence. The results revealed that passengers consider seats in the bulkhead or exit row the most desirable. Two-thirds (67%) of respondents said they prefer window seats, and nearly 60% are willing to pay extra to secure their preferred seat in advance.

Data campaigns continue to reign supreme in the digital PR world, and no-one can resist a good survey in particular, especially journalists who use them to back up claims, support arguments and demonstrate the validity of their reporting. The timing was also impeccable – it launched in peak travel season, when people were jetting off on holiday.

Some of the standout results include features in Mental Floss (DR 87), Business Insider (DR 92), and Condé Nast Traveler (DR 88).

Greggs: Limited Edition Greggs Top Trumps

We couldn’t talk about our favourite campaigns without mentioning Greggs, purely because the British bakery chain’s PR and marketing team always seem to surprise us (in the best possible way)! The brand’s newest stunt is the latest in a long line of viral hits – from sausage roll inspired makeup palettes to when it launched its very own Black Card.

This time, they’ve dialed up the nostalgia by creating a card game in the iconic Top Trumps format, showcasing Greggs’ popular menu items. Each card features unique stats, like the pastry’s ‘flake factor’ and the number of satisfying mouthfuls it provides – a playful twist that genuinely entertains while keeping Greggs’ iconic products firmly in the spotlight.

The timing was also perfect, launching just as the 2024 festive season began, when Brits were looking for fun, shareable activities and quirky stocking fillers. With Greggs’ signature cheeky tone woven throughout, the campaign generated buzz and once again proved Greggs’ knack for connecting with its audience in fresh and imaginative ways.

Greggs’ collaboration with Monzo also deserves an honourable mention, which resulted in ATMmmm - a pop-up ATM that dispensed Greggs Sausage Rolls and Vegan Sausage Rolls.

Heineken: The Hidden Message

The best campaigns are often the ones that have real life impact, and Heineken’s The Hidden Message is a perfect example of this. Earlier this year, Heineken launched a campaign aimed at encouraging people to minimise phone use at music events. The campaign was activated at major festivals around the world, and used infrared technology to deliver hidden messages to attendees.

These messages, invisible to the naked eye, were only revealed when fans held up their phones to film the performances. The infrared display prompted users to keep the moment in their memory instead of on their phones. The campaign also introduced "Boring Mode," an app designed to make smartphones less distracting by blocking notifications, apps, and even the camera for a set period, giving users the chance to fully engage with their surroundings.

Smartphone overuse is something we’ve all noticed and talked about – especially at live events, where it’s easy to get caught up filming everything instead of actually enjoying the moment. Some artists have even gone so far as to ban photography during their performances, including Bob Dylan and Jack White. Heineken tackled this head-on with their ‘Hidden Message’ campaign, encouraging people to put their phones down and really soak up the experience. By addressing such a relatable issue, the brand showed it truly gets its audience and cares about the enjoyment of both the fans and the artist. The result is a campaign that’s not just creative and purposeful, but also lends itself as a real conversation starter.

Bounce: The Underground Index

Index campaigns are the bread and butter of the digital PR world, and we’ve already included one in this list. But we couldn’t resist adding Bounce’s Underground Index because of the exceptional results it achieved, including links from Visual Capitalist (DR 85), Conde Nast Traveler Spain (DR 76), and Brussels Times (DR 78).

The Underground Index uncovers the European capitals with the best metro systems by considering a range of variables – from the average Google review score of stations to factors like the distance covered by the system, the number of stations, the annual ridership, and the percentage of positive and negative online reactions to news about each metro. It’s the perfect blend of data and universally relatable topics like travel, commuting and city life – basically, it’s digital PR gold.

What makes it even better is how simple the idea is. Everyone loves a good ranking, and this one’s so easy to understand and share, which is probably why it resonated with such a wide range of publishers – from niche travel blogs to mainstream news outlets. By focusing on metro systems across Europe, the campaign offered excellent pitching potential, enabling outreach to journalists and writers in multiple countries and securing backlinks from new high-authority domains.

The idea also seamlessly ties back to Bounce’s brand. As a luggage storage service, they’re all about making travel as easy and stress free as possible. This campaign reinforces their connection to travellers and city explorers without feeling overly promotional. Smart, subtle, and super effective – what more could you want from a digital PR campaign?

Specsavers: Should’ve Translations

Big sporting events always bring a wave of campaigns as brands big and small rush to ride the wave and grab a share of the spotlight. But not many manage to make a genuine impact while staying true to their brand identity. Specsavers’ ‘Should’ve Translations’ campaign is one of the rare exceptions.

Few brands truly nail the art of the slogan – the kind that instantly springs to mind when you hear the company’s name. Think Nike (Just Do It), Gillette (The Best A Man Can Get), or Red Bull (Gives You Wings). While Specsavers might not have the same global reach, it’s fair to say that for anyone in the UK, the words “Should’ve Gone To Specsavers” are practically hardwired into their brain whenever the high street optician crops up. And when you’ve got such a memorable and recognisable slogan, you’ll want to use it at every opportunity.

And that’s exactly what Specsavers did with their ‘Should’ve Translations’ campaign, which they created to coincide with the 2024 Euros. The campaign was designed to help football fans from all competing nations prepare themselves for any potentially dodgy refereeing decisions. Tongue-in-cheek ads were created in the languages of all the countries taking part in the Euro 2024 tournament, translating Specsavers’ iconic ‘Should’ve Gone to Specsavers’ slogan. The aim was to ensure that supporters of every nation were able to scream, cry or shout the phrase in their native tongue when the inevitable dodgy refereeing decisions took place.

The result is a tongue-in-cheek campaign that seamlessly blends Specsavers’ brand identity with their iconic tagline, making it instantly recognisable and accessible to an international audience. It struck a chord with football fans by adding a humorous twist to a universally shared frustration – questionable refereeing decisions. All this was achieved while staying firmly rooted in Specsavers’ core offering, which helped to ensure the brand remained front and centre amidst the football frenzy.

Deliveroo: The Deliveroo Map of Britain

Any PR, marketing, advertising, or digital creative will tell you that sometimes the best ideas are the simplest ones – the ones that were right in front of you all along. Deliveroo’s Map of Britain is a perfect example. What could be more straightforward – and effective – than a food delivery service showcasing the most popular dishes ordered across the UK? It’s simplicity at its finest, and it works. It’s also a fantastic example of how to use internal data to maximise a campaign.

The campaign uncovers the most popular high street restaurant and dish in each UK region. In London, it’s the eight piece boneless box from Wingstop, in Birmingham, it’s Tamatanga’s Railway Lamp Curry, and in Manchester it’s Burgerism’s meal deal.

What makes this campaign so great is that it’s been regionalised to highlight the food preferences across the UK, offering tailored insights for local audiences. By showcasing the top picks for each region, the campaign taps into the pride people feel about their local food scene. This regional focus also makes it perfect for engaging local media outlets, ensuring more coverage opportunities.

MedExpress: Come On You Blues

So far, we’ve highlighted campaigns on music events, takeaway food, and holiday destinations, but the beauty of a great creative campaign is its ability to tackle serious and meaningful issues as well, and MedExpress’ ‘Come On You Blues’ campaign is a fantastic example.

Combining reactive PR, social content, influencer strategy, and digital PR, the campaign aimed to build awareness around the not-so-glamorous topic of erectile dysfunction (ED) while getting both media outlets and meme pages buzzing. The campaign was conjured up and carried out by digi PR titans Bottled Imagination, who described their approach:

“We knew tackling erectile dysfunction (ED) had to be done with a bit of creativity to make its mark in the media. So, we took the most relatable UK passions – sport, drinking, and gaming – and linked them to ED in a way that was both cheeky and compelling. We didn’t just talk about it; we made it a conversation starter. By pitting fan bases against each other, we answered the question of who was more likely to need the blue pills. We even went so far as to discover each team’s favourite pint, because why not add a little fun to the facts?”
‍
‍Bottled Imagination.

This resulted in coverage in top media including The Telegraph (DR 92), JOE (DR 70), and Sport Bible (DR 74), along with plenty of online buzz. By turning an often avoided subject into a relatable and lighthearted conversation, MedExpress not only destigmatised ED but also proved that creative campaigns can spark meaningful conversations in unexpected ways.

McDonald’s: The McRib ‘McFail’

Accidentally leaking details about a top-secret campaign or launching it too early is every digital PR and marketing professional’s worst nightmare. Weeks (or even months) of hard work down the drain – not to mention the fallout of dealing with a very unhappy client or campaign team. But what if the ‘leak’ was intentional, designed to generate buzz and drum up interest? That’s exactly what McDonald’s did earlier this year to tease yet another return of one of its most beloved products: the McRib.

McDonald’s isn’t the first brand to use staged leaks as a PR tactic – it’s a tried and tested tactic in the industry. But as a global powerhouse, McDonald’s has the budget and resources to execute it on a grand scale. This time, they strategically dropped a series of “accidental” hints, from glitchy app notifications to cryptic ads, before finally coming clean to reveal it was all part of a clever strategy to build hype for the McRib’s next big comeback.

What made this campaign especially effective was the McRib’s status as a continued topic of debate. Will it return? Will it ever become a permanent menu item? First introduced in 1981, the McRib has made several comebacks over the years, only to disappear just as quickly – keeping fans on their toes and ensuring renewed interest every time. Its limited-time availability creates a sense of exclusivity, and this scarcity has fostered a near cult-like following, especially online. In fact, the McRib has almost transcended being just a fast food item; it’s become a pop culture phenomenon. Media outlets, online forums, and social media influencers often jump in on the conversation when the McRib returns.

All of this allows McDonald’s to intentionally keep the McRib’s return unpredictable, which was key to the success of this campaign. The idea of a ‘top secret’ leak from the fast-food giant sparked excitement even before the official announcement, generating a significant amount of online buzz and discourse. However, this tactic wouldn’t have the same impact for a small startup. To pull off a successful staged leak, you need a sizable audience – people who are already invested in your brand and eager to engage with anything you’re doing. Without that established following, it’s unlikely that the excitement and anticipation would have reached the same level.

You can read more about the details of this campaign on The Drum.

Finder: Christmas Statistics

To round off the list, we couldn’t resist wrapping up with a Christmas campaign. With the cost of living top of mind and dominating headlines all year, this digital PR campaign from Finder ticks all the right boxes. It’s topical, relevant to the brand’s offering, and timely – three essential ingredients for a successful campaign.

Based on a survey of 2,000 Brits, the campaign reveals how Christmas spending will impact their finances this year, with a focus on costs for gifts, food, drink, and travel. For example, it revealed that Brits were expected to spend an average of £596 each on Christmas gifts in 2024, and millennials are planning to fork out the most on Christmas gifts this year, with an average spend of £871 each. Finder is a personal finance website, so the campaign topic is super relevant and on-brand.

By addressing the timely and universal concern of festive financial pressures, the campaign is relevant to most families which significantly boosted its pitching potential – and the results speak for themselves, with almost 200 links pointing to the campaign page on ahrefs. Links and coverage secured include high-authority sites like PayPal (DR 95), Metro (DR 89), and the Holy Grail – BBC.com (DR 93)!

Inspired by these standout campaigns? Let us help you create your own award-worthy digital PR strategy. Contact the Motive team today to discuss!