Startup & Brand

Unconventional campaigns, viral stunts, and challenger brand plays that made everyone notice. The creative work worth copying.

Ashley Madison's Rebrand Runs on the Privacy Tools Hackers Forced It to Build

Most rebrands cover up a problem. Ashley Madison's new campaign, "Blessed Are the Discreet," does the opposite. It stops pretending the 2015 data breach never happened, and starts quietly selling the privacy features the company had to build after it. That's a more interesting

Pringles Built Pringlelina Because Pringleleo Already Paid for Itself

Pringles just released a 60-second spot where a man builds a romantic partner entirely out of chips. He takes her on a bike ride. Makes her dinner. Nearly kisses her before a roommate walks in. It is, by almost any creative standard, absurd. And it's the second time

Instacart Is Making Music Videos About Groceries (and It's Not a Vanity Project)

A grocery delivery app just released three music videos. One is emo-pop about a dad finding extra-thin ham for his kid's sandwich. Another is a sea shanty about a woman sailing on a ship called "Instacart" to find ready-to-cook fish. The third is a heavy metal

Why Lego Is Marketing the World Cup Like Nike Would

Lego dropped a World Cup ad this week featuring Messi, Ronaldo, Mbappe, and Vini Jr. building a brick trophy together. It hit 314 million Instagram views across the four players' accounts in the first wave. That is sportswear-brand territory. And that is the point. The campaign, called "Everyone

Fruit Love Island Taught Brands Exactly the Wrong Lesson

By Notice Me Senpai Editorial A TikTok account called AI Cinema posted an AI-generated dating show starring anthropomorphized fruits. Within nine days, it had 3 million followers. By the time the creator paused production on March 28, the series had crossed 300 million views. Somewhere in a Slack channel right

Startup Brand Marketing: How to Build a Brand When You Can't Outspend Anyone

Most startup brand marketing guides open with "define your mission statement" and "choose your brand colors." That advice isn't wrong, exactly. It's just not where most startups actually get stuck. The real problem is simpler and harder: you're trying to

The Paleontologists Say VML’s Dinosaur Leather Is Fake. That’s Exactly Why the Campaign Works.

By Notice Me Senpai Editorial VML unveiled a handbag made from lab-grown T. rex leather at Art Zoo Museum in Amsterdam this week. Paleontologists immediately called the science misleading. And somewhere in a WPP office, Bas Korsten probably smiled, because the debate is the campaign. This is the third time