Visual Marketing Ideas

Have you noticed the pink products taking over Asda shelves this October? Since 1996, Asda has run their Tickled Pink campaign in partnership with CoppaFeel! and Breast Cancer Now creating one of the most visible charity campaigns in UK retail. This year: → Over 120 brands have changed their packaging to pink → Products ranging from Warburtons to Diet Coke to Andrex → A percentage of each purchase goes directly to breast cancer charities The campaign's strength lies in its simplicity and scale. A few days ago, my stepdad came home with pink Warburtons bread and said: “I thought you'd like to see the pink packaging, Rachael. They've got loads of different pink products!" This highlights exactly why the campaign works - it creates natural brand awareness and conversation. (and maybe because my stepdad now subconsciously notices any brand or marketing changes - I wonder why, ha!) It’s simple but effective, especially with pink packaging that stands out on shelves. Every 10 minutes in the UK, another woman is diagnosed with breast cancer. ASDA's Tickled Pink demonstrates how retailers can use their scale for social impact. The unified messaging across 120+ brands, the retail dominance during October, the way it naturally enters family conversations... This is purpose-driven marketing at its most effective. - I love analysing clever marketing campaigns, But when they're rooted in genuine social impact while still driving commercial results? That's marketing excellence. If you're shopping in ASDA this month, look out for the pink products. You'll be supporting a campaign that's raised millions for breast cancer charities over nearly three decades 💕

Proofed In Paradise. California has been selling a dream through illustration for more than a century. Long before lifestyle branding became a strategy, citrus crate labels were already doing the job. Sunlit orchards, snow capped mountains, deep blue skies and golden typography promised buyers a taste of something brighter arriving from the West Coast. A simple wooden crate carried an entire idea of California with it. That visual language never really disappeared. You can still trace its DNA through Californian packaging today. Sun bleached colour palettes, poppy fields, redwood silhouettes, motel pool blues and roadside greens lifted straight from highway signs. Illustration remains one of the quickest ways to bottle a place and put it on shelf. As that tradition evolves, there is a sharper challenge. There's a fine line between storytelling and pastiche. The most effective work weaves product truth directly into the imagery. If the flavour leans citrus, the illustration might drift from orange groves into rolling Pacific waves. If the brand centres on local botanicals, the composition can reference those old crate labels while swapping in plants that genuinely grow in Californian soil. When the connection is genuine, the illustration starts to carry the product story as well. Youth To The People is a clear example. The Los Angeles born skincare brand built its reputation on vegan formulations that combine superfood botanicals with clinical skincare science. Kale, spinach and green tea became the foundation of its cult favourite Superfood Cleanser, a product that built a fiercely loyal following. For the cleanser's ten year anniversary, the brand expanded its visual world through a limited edition packaging and campaign series that leans fully into California's illustrated storytelling tradition. Whimsical drawings flow across the packaging, blending botanical ingredients with expressive scenes drawn from Californian nature and culture. Superfoods, sunlight, landscapes and urban energy sit comfortably within the same illustrated universe. The result is both nostalgic and current, using California's long history of illustrated packaging while keeping the brand rooted in its own values and audience. The technique may be old, but the idea still works. Illustration can capture something photography and minimalism often miss. It brings atmosphere, a sense of place and the feeling that a product belongs to a wider story. California has understood that for over a century. Some brands are still finding new ways to draw it. 📷@Sebastian Curi

Less is more... and better The simplicity of minimalism vs. the visual impact of bold elements. Solid colors, clean but striking typography, and balanced compositions create a message that is understood in seconds and easily remembered. This style does not seek to fill space, but rather to give each element a purpose to convey confidence, modernity, and visual coherence. >>Why it works in beauty & personal care<< In a sector saturated with visual stimuli, this aesthetic stands out because: * Clarity of message: it eliminates distractions and focuses attention on what is important: the product and its value proposition. * Immediate recognition on social media: its clean, contrasting aesthetic stands out in feeds saturated with ornate images. * Differentiation: while many brands opt for complexity, bold minimalism is gaining relevance thanks to its strategic simplicity and high visual impact. >>Benefit for the brand<< Adopting this aesthetic is not only a visual choice, but also a strategic one: * It reinforces visual identity, making the brand recognizable even without displaying the logo. * It creates consistency across all channels, from packaging to digital campaigns. * It communicates that the brand has a clear message and does not need unnecessary embellishments to stand out. >>Impact on e-commerce and social media<< On Instagram or Pinterest, where the scrolling speed is high, bold minimalism generates a clear stop scrolling effect. Its contrasts, white space, and intelligent use of color immediately capture attention. In e-commerce, it improves the readability of information, elevates the perception of quality, and facilitates the purchase decision. In addition, it is perfectly suited to paid ads, where clarity and impact are key to increasing clicks and conversions. >>Future trend<< Bold minimalism is evolving with: * Textures and sensory materials. * Moving liquids and 3D effects to add depth. This balance between minimalism and visual richness will mark upcoming campaigns in beauty and personal care, driving engagement without losing the clean and strategic essence. Bold minimalism is more than a style: it is a tool for communicating with strength, consistency, and relevance. In a competitive market, it proves that sometimes less is not only more... it is also better. Featured Brands: Prmr Sulwhasoo Bread Belif Nolani Nuebiome Cheris I'm From Cosnori #BoldMinimalism #BrandStrategy #PackagingDesign #BeautyBrands

3 ads launched this week that you won't find anywhere else on LinkedIn, and what can they teach marketers Getting drawn into marketing LinkedIn's hot takes on the same ad is fun, and a hell of a way to avoid eye contact on the Victoria line, but I've one weekly habit that keeps me real. System1 test every UK & US TV ad with thousands of people to predict how they will perform in market, measuring the branded emotional response. It updates every 24hrs, including media spend. I put an hour aside every week to just...explore. Watch a load of ads, see how the public reacts. What brands are on the up, which are spending more. And, my favourite part, understanding which brands are out there being boringly effective. Here are 3 ads that stood out this week. I've linked all 3 research reports in the comments. 1. #CrispIn by Walkers PepsiCo I'm not sure I've ever seen a crisp brand manage to get to an "insight" that unlocks a huge creative leap. Yet there are huge brands that create attention-grabbing, engaging and entertaining stuff. Here's a great example of a long-running campaign that has won Effie and WARC awards. "Crisp in" is simply about trying to make us think there's a debate about crisps going in a sandwich or not. There's plenty of examples of this idea but one aired this week (with plenty spend) is an 11sec joke about a familiar scenario between a man and wife. It's consistent, fluent, and emotional. Viewers rather love it. Lesson: Do you need a big insight to make enjoyable work that refreshes the right branded memory structures? Not always. 2. KitKat launching a share bar in the UK. Nestlé This is an extension of their recent global campaign where a guy is carrying his work life literally on him, but a KitKat break relieves this tension. Here, he gets home to a share bar, and his life becomes...better. It's a brilliant way to make an innovation known and familiar. This nearly scores 5 Stars - people simply love this familiarity that's easy to understand. Lesson: Committing to an idea (fluent device: Have a break) will take time, effort, resource and cash but it can make your advertising more effective for years after. 3. Airbnb's new huge platform "Some trips are better in an Airbnb" There's a lot to love here from a strategy and creative POV. "Proper insight" and strategy work, positioning AirBnb directly against hotels. With AirBnb being the only way to access what you really hoped from a trip emotionally. The creative execution is 10/10. It's distinctive, full of craft and a joy to watch. Again giving this nearly 5 Stars in our testing. Putting it in the top 5% of travel ads globally for predicted long-term effects. Learning: In the report linked, only 85% of viewers recall this being for AirBnb (rather low). They've found emotional gold, they need to hammer this over time and space (years and channels) until they own it. Hope that was useful. I share #advertising and #marketing insights daily, follow for more.

Five Indian brands built something so specific this year that people photographed it without being asked. I have been paying attention to what Indian brands have been building in the last six months. Vodafone parked mock ambulances across Mumbai streets. The message on the van: "We revive networks too." People stopped, clicked pictures, and shared them online. Swiggy Instamart built an "Aambulance," a mango-themed van with the tagline "Down with Mango Fever?" that drove through Mumbai streets. The van quickly became something people wanted to photograph. Swiggy also built a floating Durga Puja pandal in the Sundarbans to deliver bhog to communities that could not reach it. The image of a pandal moving through water became the campaign. KitKat Chocolatory built a full anime pirate ship at Comic Con, inspired by One Piece. Gen Z spent close to an hour inside the installation before buying anything else Pulse Candy ran a 22-town roadshow across West Bengal during Durga Puja. At each stop, they documented local artisans and families behind the festival. They turned that footage into an AI film and put the pandal at the centre of it. A candy brand literally became a storyteller Many people call these stunts. I think they are a blueprint: 📍 Replace the message with the moment. Do not write a tagline. Build something that communicates the tagline without saying it. The van, the ship, the pandal. Each one made the point before anyone read a word. 📍Design for one shareable image before anything else. Before the concept is finalised, ask: what is the single visual someone will pull out their phone for? If you cannot answer that, the campaign is not ready. 📍 Give people a reason to experience, not just see from a distance A photo opportunity gets a second. An experience gets an hour. The brands that won here built something you had to step into, not just walk past. Shuvadip Banerjee, CDO at ITC, said it plainly, “Gen Z is avoiding ads.” The brands getting organic attention have stopped asking "What is our next campaign?" They are now asking, "What moment can we build that people will photograph on their own?" For founders building a brand right now, that is the only brief worth writing. What is the most memorable brand moment you have walked into lately?

The best marketing often looks like breaking the rules KitKat Canada intentionally “destroyed” one of the most recognisable FMCG assets in the world. KitKat became “KatKit”. “Have a Break” became “Break a Have”. Every brand manager is taught to protect consistency. Never touch the logo. Never confuse consumers. Never play with core brand assets. And that is exactly why this campaign worked. Nestlé’s KitKat is a global confectionery giant built on decades of brand memory, iconic packaging and one of the most recognised slogans in advertising history. That recognition gave the brand the confidence to do something most companies would never dare to approve. Not because of a massive media budget. Because of a sharp idea. The campaign launched KitKat Mix-Ups in Canada, a new pouch product combining KitKat and graham cracker clusters. Instead of explaining the concept with traditional advertising, the brand turned itself into the “mix-up”. Simple. Memorable. Shareable. That is modern communication. In a social media world, attention spreads faster when people discover something unexpected themselves. Consumers do not share media budgets. They share moments that make them stop for one second. And this campaign created exactly that. The most important lesson: Differentiation today is often less about spending more and more about daring more. Many brands still try to win attention by adding complexity, louder campaigns and bigger production budgets. But cultural relevance increasingly comes from courage, simplicity and strategic tension. A slightly wrong logo generated more discussion than many multi-million-dollar campaigns. Because people noticed it. Talked about it. Shared it. That is the power of brave communication when the idea is rooted in the product truth. Minimal change. Maximum impact. The strongest brands are often the ones willing to break their own rules first. #kitkat #nestle #marketing #branding #advertising #fmcg #retail #consumerbehavior #brandstrategy #creative #communication #socialmedia #digitalmarketing #innovation #retailinnovation #brandbuilding #shoppermarketing #packaging #ooh #ecommerce #foodtech #marketingstrategy #sales #startups #canada #northamerica #switzerland #europe #omnichannel #retailmedia

One thing I always do before hitting publish - whether for myself or my clients? I preview the post on mobile. Why? Because everyone is on mobile. If your content isn’t built for small screens… there's a good chance that you aren't maximising your results. I recently reviewed dozens of profiles from institutions, NGOs, and associations in the EU bubble, and too many fail this simple but crucial step. Here’s how to fix it: - Captions → keep them scannable. Use short paragraphs and line breaks for easy reading. - Visuals → skip horizontal images. Use square or vertical formats to take up more screen space. - Videos → so vertical! Let them fill the whole screen, and don’t forget an eye-catching thumbnail. People you want to reach are scrolling on mobile - make sure your content is ready for them.

AI isn’t replacing creativity. It’s expanding who gets to use it. From luxury cars to telecom to personal assistants, Brands are testing what’s possible when AI becomes a creative tool. Not every output is polished. But the willingness to experiment? That’s the real shift. Here are 8 brand campaigns showing how AI can stretch ideas, formats, and interaction: 👇 🚘 Volvo – First AI-Generated Ad Subtle. Elegant. Conceptual. Volvo used AI to visualize simplicity and safety in a fresh, poetic way. https://lnkd.in/eW9Qbn4D 🌐 BMW × Lil Miquela AI meets virtual influencer. A fictional creator promoting a real car—merging identity and product in a new-age collab. https://lnkd.in/ec3UuP84 📱 Vodafone – Rhythm of Life AI meets human interaction. The campaign used AI-generated avatars and motion to bring connectivity to life—bridging people and networks. https://lnkd.in/eFxeZV_K 🛳️ Virgin Voyages – Jen AI Let customers interact with an AI version of themselves. Voice + face synthesis turned every user into their own vacation concierge. https://lnkd.in/eVwf2jDB 🎾 Nike – Never Done Evolving AI helped Nike visualize how Serena Williams' game changed over time. A layered view of performance, growth, and legacy. https://lnkd.in/eE9pXPFS 🍅Heinz – AI Ketchup Asked AI “What does ketchup look like?” Most outputs looked like Heinz—showing how deeply brand codes are embedded in culture. https://lnkd.in/eb97n9Wy 🎨 Nutella – 7 Million Jar Designs AI-driven packaging design at scale. Each jar unique. Creative access widened like never before. https://lnkd.in/eveXx_Ac 🎄 Coca-Cola – AI Holiday Ad Classic seasonal campaign, reimagined using GenAI tools. Visually rich, a glimpse into what AI-powered storytelling could become. https://lnkd.in/eAUr28tN The real takeaway here: AI is breaking down execution barriers. ✅ You no longer need huge teams to create personalised experiences. ✅ Creative assets can be imagined and iterated in hours, not weeks. ✅ Interaction is moving from one-way to dynamic. You don’t need to be a tech company to act like one. You just need to start. #AI #Creativity #Marketing #Advertising #Brand 

62% of LinkedIn users scroll on mobile. Yet most creators still design posts like everyone's on a 27-inch monitor. (I have made these mistakes too.) The result? Your content gets skipped. Not because it's bad, but because it's unreadable. Here are the 5 mobile design mistakes killing your engagement: 1. Tiny text on images • If your audience needs to pinch and zoom, they won't. • Keep text at least 40pt and limit it to 6 words per line. 2. Heavy images that load slowly • Anything over 1MB will frustrate mobile users. • Compress your visuals before uploading. 3. Carousels crammed with information • Mobile screens are small. • Fitting 8 bullet points on one slide? You've already lost people. • Aim for 3 lines max per slide. 4. Poor color contrast • That light gray text on white background? • Invisible in sunlight. • Use high contrast combinations. • Test your designs in bright light. 5. CTAs hidden below the fold • If your CTA is buried at the bottom of a long post, mobile users will never see it. • Put your ask in the first 3 lines or repeat it at the end. The fix is simple: design on mobile first, then check desktop. ✓ What's the biggest mobile design mistake you see on LinkedIn? PS: I am not a designer. But I always cross-check my posts on the mobile to ensure they are reader-friendly.

Your Idea Isn’t the Hook. The Reason to Watch Is. Too many marketing ideas sound great in a deck but fall apart in execution. The biggest mistake? Assuming a clever idea is enough. It’s not. The real question isn’t “Do people get it?”—it’s “Why would anyone watch this?” JACQUEMUS x Apple nails this. • A behind-the-scenes video that feels like a peek into the brand’s world—but is meticulously crafted for engagement. • A cat napping, toast being ironed, a sugar cup overflowing—absurd, playful, and engineered to make you rewatch. • And the product integration? Seamless. The iPhone 16 Pro Max’s zoom, cinematic sharpness, and Dolby Vision capabilities are all showcased—without shoving it down your throat. This is what marketing should be. 5 Takeaways: 1️⃣ Show, don’t just tell—but make it irresistible. Most “behind-the-scenes” content is boring. This one demands attention. 2️⃣ Subversive innovation wins. Shooting on an iPhone? Not new. Making the iPhone itself a character in the storytelling? That’s the game-changer. 3️⃣ The best product placement is invisible. The tech isn’t the focus—it’s an enabler. You’re watching the world, not the spec sheet. 4️⃣ Design content that loops. Every weird, tiny detail (the cats, the sugar cup, the toast) makes this worth watching twice. Or five times. 5️⃣ Make the familiar feel fresh. Fashion campaign? Seen it. iPhone-shot content? Seen it. But by blending humor, high production, and purpose-driven tech, this one feels new. And Jacquemus isn’t stopping there—their entire fashion show is pushing this further. They’re not just using Apple’s camera; they’re leveraging Dolby Vision and cinematic high-tech visuals to make the iPhone itself look better by association. When a brand that’s known for high-end, luxury runway productions adopts smartphone cinematography, it shifts perception. This isn’t just a phone—it’s a tool for luxury storytelling. So here’s the real question: What’s stopping other brands from making content this good? Would love to hear—what’s the best campaign you’ve seen lately that nailed product integration without forcing it? Drop it in the comments. ⬇️