👋, I’m Kimberly. I’ve been creating obsession-worthy brands for the past fifteen years. And now, I’m giving away my secrets every week in this newsletter.
Whether your brand is a Goliath dominating a market or an on-the-shorter-side David throwing stones — every brand in the world can benefit from a big and bold campaign that gets people talking.
Next up on The Boldest List…
The Campaign That Calls Out Hypocrisy, and Your Mom
Right before the Roe v. Wade turnover got announced, an arresting new ad campaign launched in a few critical states with restrictive abortion laws.
These billboards called out the disparity between laws that protect the rights of animals — and laws that affect women’s reproductive rights.
The campaign came from Stix, a reproductive and vaginal health brand that’s known for its “Judgement-free Emergency Contraceptive Product.”
The brand has run similarly bold campaigns before, with lines designed to make you think.
About the out-of-home campaign, Stix’s co-founder Cynthia Plotch said in a statement:
“My co-founder Jamie and I started Stix to create a convenient, discreet and judgment-free way to purchase reproductive health products. In terms of Restart, we were strongly compelled to jump into action when the news of the Roe v. Wade overturn possibility was released. We decided to conduct our first out-of-home campaign to help limit any potential bans on digital ads for Restart.”
The Very Best Things About This Campaign
The campaign was incredibly timely. '
Getting ahead of a conversation directly impacting your brand with a bold campaign that imparts your message is always a win.
In addition, the campaign was brilliantly targeted.
The billboards all appeared in states with restrictive abortion laws states (Ohio, Arkansas, Utah, Missouri, and Kentucky).
Each ad spoke to a specific law in that state.
And all of the ads were placed within five miles of crisis pregnancy centers that, according to AdWeek, were known to be “fake women’s health centers…. [that] appear like legitimate medical clinics, but do not truly promote all of the choices people with uteruses should be free to make for their own bodies.”
Lastly, the campaign’s creative details worked perfectly together to get all aspects of the message across.
The macro shots of human skin below the text were immediately attention-grabbing.
The copy made you stop and think about the message, rather than just consuming it. And any time you make your brain “do the work," even briefly, to make a connection — your message is going to be more memorable than the message that just got served to it on a platter.
The product itself stood out. Stix could have run this campaign without a product shot on the billboard and let the text speak for itself. But the balance of the product and the message were equally impactful and drew a direct connection.
How You Can Do It Too
Make Like Christain Bale and Be a Newsie
Keep your ears to the ground and your eyes to the headlines. As a brand, you should always be watching out for actions happening around issues that directly relate to your product and are of direct importance to your consumer.
Remember that Target Isn’t Just a Store Where You Buy Too Much Random Stuff
Put serious thought into your targeting. The more personal you can get, the better.
That goes for geographics as well as lifestyle.
Look at Your Creative as a Complete Package
Don’t review art or copy or product in a vacuum.
Think about the concepts cohesively, and look at how all of the elements play together and play off of each other to impart a wholistic emotion and a compelling call to action.
If you missed it, you can read the last issue of The Boldest List here.
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About Me
I help early-stage founders create the kind of brands that get customers so obsessed, they’ll do your advertising for you.
Based on my experience founding my own consumer brand, I developed The Branding Sprint—a uniquely collaborative, streamlined, and agile approach to brand creation.
Click here to learn more about The Branding Sprint, or schedule a call with me.