Creative Edge Report #2
We’re back for round 2 of the CREATIVE EDGE REPORT, built to inspire and fuel your creativity. Each month, I share a curated list of creative examples to help you kick-off your next project or get unstuck.
Thanks for the great response to the first report last month — which led to a 25% increase in subscribers. With that kind of organic response, I’m keeping this series free for now as a test.
Let’s jump in to the CREATIVE EDGE REPORT for October 2024
This edition includes examples from TSA, LinkedIn, Liquid Death, Asics, Pluto TV, Toast, Lidl, Zillow, R/GA, The White Sox, Vandy Crisps, IKEA, Diet Coke, and more. There's also a B2B ad report, a joyful consumer branding take, and — as always — some inspiring art.
1. Ememem’s Mosaic Potholes
Instagram / Street Artist
Ememem (not the rapper, not a typo) is a mosaic artist in Lyon, France who transforms potholes, broken stairs, and damaged buildings into beautiful and functional art through his unique "flacking" technique. The anonymous artist fills cracks in the city with tile mosaics and the result is truly wonderful.
WHY IT WORKS
Fixes something ugly that actively slows or harms the city and turns it into a beautiful art that adds culture and identity to the city.
WHAT YOU CAN LEARN
What disadvantage do you have that you can turn into a positive? What artificial constraint can you put on your work to help it stand out?
SOURCE: https://www.instagram.com/ememem.flacking/
ps. Emenem has also started installing art in the US (Chicago, Bloomington)
2. Simu Liu: An Epic LinkedIn Description
LinkedIn / Actor Creator
Simu, the actor from Marvel's Shang-Chi and Barbi among others, posted to his IG recently that he relaunched his LinkedIn profile. People quickly found this hidden gem in his work experience as an accountant at Deloitte. The “Was aggressively mediocre at job” line is especially good.
WHY IT WORKS
No one expects a celebrity to care about their LinkedIn account, much less find it genuinely funny.
WHAT YOU CAN LEARN
Honest transparency. Bring people along on your journey. Lean into the Pratfall Effect. Look for opportunities to use channels in new ways that will surprise people.
SOURCE: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simu-liu-47946a2b1/
3. TSA BFFs: Pesto and Moo Deng
Instagram / Organic
This carousel of viral friends — penguin Pesto and hippo Moo Deng — is a delicious, lofi meme buffet. And special shoutout to the incredible IG caption:
“Too big babies…
… that have waddled into our hearts and memes. So before they slip away let’s go over a few things.”
WHY IT WORKS
The lofi memes tell a story relevant to the brand. Part of successful lofi content today is putting in a lot of effort while making it look like you created it in a few seconds.
WHAT YOU CAN LEARN
I tried my best to limit the Moo Deng of it all in this month’s report, but I do love that TSA turned Moo Deng into their own character in an ownable format. One of the better tactics I’ve seen.
SOURCE: https://www.instagram.com/p/DAjiMDlz-pT
4. A B2B Ad Sea of Sameness
LinkedIn / Report
Ads from 6 different B2B brands are shown in the below image. But if I told you these were all from the same brand, you might not object.
Hat tip to Ty Heath who shared multiple slides from this LinkedIn B2B Branding Report. Lots of data and science here. Worth checking the full report if you’re in this space.
WHY IT WORKS
Gives visible and easily identifiable proof of a problem many people already suspect, that many B2B brands look too much alike.
WHAT YOU CAN LEARN
As
would say, look for visible examples with your storytelling that show instead of tell. It works with your writing and visual content like this LinkedIn slide.SOURCE: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7246489031662780416/
5. Liquid Death’s Casket Cooler
YouTube / PR
Liquid Death has become a billion-dollar business and has seen triple-digit growth for 3 years straight.
They’ve taken brand marketing in the beverage space to a new height and this most recent collab with Yeti is just one more example of the norms they’re willing to break. The Liquid Death campaign auctioned off a one-of-a-kind casket/cooler starting at $1,500 that ultimately sold for $70k.
WHY IT WORKS
This clearly sounds like a bad idea and terrible campaign concept, but Liquid Death’s fans understand the brand’s unconventional and shock-based style of marketing. They’ve come to expect and celebrate it. And Liquid Death has learned how to craft a PR story that the media love.
WHAT YOU CAN LEARN
Find strategic partners, make weird things, and do it with an attention to quality/detail.
SOURCE: https://youtube.com/watch?v=2ItxY2_wihY
6. Asics’ The Desk Break
TV / Ad
It always helps capture attention when you have established an enemy. Asics’s enemy? Sitting, or more specifically sitting at a desk.
“Look at you, trading your own mental health for free fruit and a wellness Wednesday.”
WHY IT WORKS
Minimal set, great copy, and letting the talented Brian Cox shine.
WHAT YOU CAN LEARN
Identify a common enemy that taps into your customer’s emotions (and if you have the budget hire Brian Cox).
SOURCE: https://youtube.com/watch?v=3XFXcBdXqKE
7. Pluto TV’s Crime Never Pays
TV / Ad
Great contrast here between the initial thriller-style close-up and cutting to an undeniably silly yet brandable potato costume.
WHY IT WORKS
Putting both a celebrity spokesperson with an iconic voice and “regular people” into the same silly couch potato costume makes everything they say more memorable and ties the ad together in a memorable way. Great branding for a FAST TV streamer that needs to drive awareness more than anything.
WHAT YOU CAN LEARN
Using a simple but memorable costume or character enhances storytelling and brand retention.
SOURCE: https://youtube.com/watch?v=-5hE09uXmT0
8. Toast Buys $5k In Gift Cards For Struggling Restaurant
TikTok / Engagement
Toast, the point-of-sale provider, spent $5k supporting one struggling restaurant that was posting about their challenges on TikTok. The campaign has driven over half a million views on related video content and grew their social TikTok followers 55X (admittedly from a very low starting number, but still great!).
WHY IT WORKS
It’s always nice when doing the right thing also aligns with goals. Helping a struggling restaurant is built into how Toast the brand wants you to think of them. Doing so in this public and targeted way to help one store, gives the story more impact.
WHAT YOU CAN LEARN
Look for opportunities to support your customers, stakeholders, or community in a way that represents what you want to be known for. Look for a small way you can help and go as big as possible to create a memorable story.
SOURCE: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7246912047748186113/
9. Lidl’s Air Fryer Fall
Threads / Organic Social
The German grocer’s UK team has their Thread’s content dialed in. Outside of air fryer content, 88% of their posts are about croissants.
WHY IT WORKS
Brat summer was a moment, air fryers are having a moment, and seasonal transitions are always something we all connect with on an emotional level.
WHAT YOU CAN LEARN
Embrace humor, trends, brevity, and cultural references.
SOURCE: https://www.threads.net/@lidlgb/post/C_vNmxMtUDG
10. Inflatable T-Rexes = Home Sales?
Threads / Organic Social
Yes, I had to Google what the plural of “T-rex” is.
It’s a tough housing market these days in the US, so I understand the need to think outside the box. And dressing up 3 people in tyrannosaurus rex costumes to do a photo tour of your house deserves some kind of an award. The copy on the listing also doesn’t disappoint: “Wooded gem with a Dino-mite two-car garage and finished basement! This roar-worthy post and beam home offers 3beds, 3baths, and sits on 1.91 jawesome acres…”
It’s worth clicking through to the original Zillow post below to scroll through all the shots. The home is in Londonberry, NH and is still for sale as of this publication date.
WHY IT WORKS
It’s so out there it feels like a mistake. Why are there T-rexes here? Wait, are they cooking? It goes beyond attention-grabbing.
WHAT YOU CAN LEARN
Lean into absurdity, one of the cornerstones of bad ideas. Plus, it’s October. What costume can you get away with to bring a little more attention to what you’re working on?
SOURCE: https://www.threads.net/@zillowgonewild/post/DA_0HucPdL2
11. R/GA Terrible Idea
Twitter / Organic Social
I talk about bad ideas a lot and this visual by Chapin Clark at R/GA cuts to one of the biggest problems with brainstorm meetings. We like to say “There’s no such thing as bad ideas” but we all know a bad idea when we hear one.
WHY IT WORKS
One of the ways memes work is to exaggerate a relatable moment or emotion. We’ve all thrown out an idea that we immediately regretted as not being good enough. We’ve all done that right? Right?
WHAT YOU CAN LEARN
Try keeping track of emotional and relatable moments or anecdotes relevant to the types of stories you want to tell online. Pay special attention to vulnerable moments, those relatable mistakes or missteps.
SOURCE: https://x.com/rga/status/1836805030147465515
12. White Sox Loses
Twitter / Organic Social
The Chicago White Sox did not have a great season. It was bad and it has broken their social media team. Late in the season, they stopped posting their losing scores and instead started vaguely alluding to their technically being a score, but it probably wasn’t a good thing for fans to focus on. Mental health and all. White Sox fans and generally all sports fans loved this creative series.
WHY IT WORKS
It’s tough to be a fan when things aren’t going well. Even tougher for the social media team who has to create “engaging” content around a no good, very bad season. Teams usually choose to spotlight the good moments. The White Sox instead chose to troll their own team.
WHAT YOU CAN LEARN
What are the raw emotional responses you don’t normally share? Look for opportunities to share common emotions or moments that others avoid.
SOURCE: https://x.com/whitesox/status/1837984379030696062
13. Barefoot Grandpa
TikTok / Creator
TikTok user Jaqxtv finds YouTube creators who aren’t getting the views they deserve. It's a wonderful content template that celebrates the underdogs and brings attention (and new subscribers) to worthy overlooked accounts.
The YouTuber featured below, Barefoot Grandpa, went from 84 subscribers to over 135k subscribers in less than two weeks.
WHY IT WORKS
It’s a very heartwarming story to celebrate people who are doing good in the world but not seeing results from their efforts. It gets you invested right away. Maybe you click over to subscribe or learn more about the creator or to see if they got more views from the video.
Another simple but powerful lesson here is finding a source of content that is consistent (there are endless YouTube creators to feature) and giving yourself an easy templated way to create that content. These videos are very simple and all very similar. They’re easy to produce, but still effective.
WHAT YOU CAN LEARN
Find people who are putting in the work, being overlooked, and help celebrate them.
SOURCE: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP88jhvBv/
14. “Cardboard” Ceramic Art
TikTok / Artist Creator
Jacques Monneraud's ceramic art masquerades as cardboard. His remarkably detailed pitchers, vases, and cups are so realistic, that it's hard to believe they're actually made from ceramic.
WHY IT WORKS
Monneraud's work exploits the trompe l'oeil (fools the eye) phenomenon, creating an initial confusion that captivates viewers.
WHAT YOU CAN LEARN
Experiment with the unexpected. Ceramics are hard and shatter when broken. Cardboard is soft and crumbles or folds. Two contrasting materials in one medium.
SOURCE: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP88jmQ9N/
15. Making Library Cards Cool
TikTok / Organic Social
The Monson Free Library in Massachusetts would like you to get your library card while they drop this beat.
WHY IT WORKS
The trending audio truly makes this whole video. The juxtaposition doesn’t hurt either, of your typically very demure, very mindful librarians giving the camera attitude with a little comic sans.
WHAT YOU CAN LEARN
Take something dry and maybe even a bit boring and add it with a surprising audio soundtrack.
SOURCE: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP88jkaVk/
16. Jeopardy Bad Clue
TikTok / Organic Social
Jeopardy blooper here as Ken Jennings gives away the answer when reading the clue. It’s not the most exciting video, but becomes engaging because they typically never share this type of mistake. Adding the visual of the clue with highlights also brings the viewer along with Ken as he reads.
WHY IT WORKS
They’re sharing mistakes with full transparency. A behind-the-scenes look that their biggest fans loved.
WHAT YOU CAN LEARN
Embrace imperfection and show that mistakes can create stronger bonds with an audience.
SOURCE: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP88jkrdA/
17. Vandy Crisps Creator Explainer
Instagram / Organic Social
Potato chip brand Vandy Crisps (and sister brand Masa corn chips) are on trend as anti seed oil snack solutions. Cofounder Steven Arena (aka ReallyTanMan) published this excellent explainer video about the brand and the history of the potato chip. Both of these chip solutions are delicious, but I love the content even more.
WHY IT WORKS
Explainer videos as a category have consistently engaged short-form video audiences. They’re a great storytelling medium that project authority as mini-documentaries. ReallyTanMan has also developed his own explainer video style that feels native to modern social platforms.
WHAT YOU CAN LEARN
Develop in-house creator skills, invest in nuanced storytelling, and build a unique style.
SOURCE: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_A7D8SOZ25/
18. IKEA Sleepfluencers
YouTube / PR
A clever campaign by IKEA where any customer can get free window blinds as long as they don’t mind turning their window into an IKEA ad.
WHY IT WORKS
When we think of free promotions or influencer campaigns, we never think of turning windows into OOH billboards. It’s clever, simple, and delightfully transactional (surprising for a European brand).
WHAT YOU CAN LEARN
What type of campaign would let you partner with ANY of your customers? What can you give away for free in a clever way?
SOURCE: https://youtube.com/watch?v=9n_E0EtHHiQ
19. Diet Coke Flat Lays
Instagram / Organic Social
Hat tip to Lauren Nichols for her LinkedIn spotlight of Diet Coke’s recent “gen-Z centric vibes and aesthetics approach.”
When I reviewed their recent IG content, one trend stood out: their modern lifestyle approach to flat lays. Where Diet Coke was not necessarily the dominant star of the shot, but one of many objects in a relatable moment like shopping at Target, being seated for a flight, or getting room service. Additional examples in this series from Diet Coke here, here, and here.
WHY IT WORKS
Flat lays, organizing multiple items together typically for an overhead photo, are a format that’s always worked on social. Especially for beauty, fashion, and food brands. Diet Coke gave it a modern lofi twist that’s somehow still apsirational.
WHAT YOU CAN LEARN
Look to existing trends and formats that you can make your own or tailor to your audience in a new way.
SOURCE: https://www.instagram.com/p/DAWT6cguvxv/
20. Dopamine Brands
LinkedIn / Insight
I came across the below insights deck from Joe Burns on LinkedIn last week that speaks to a new CPG trend he calls Dopamine Design. It’s exemplified by brands like Graza, Goodles, Yellow Bird, Fishwife, and others. And features bright colors, fun illustrations, and a generally joyful vibe.
WHY IT WORKS
Design can be very seasonal. These bright, illustrative brands stand out on today’s store shelves while also pulling in retro ad trends like hand-drawn characters and unique typography choices.
WHAT YOU CAN LEARN
Imagine your product or service is on a shelf next to dozens of competitors. What design or messaging choices can you make that will ensure you stand out immediately from the pack?
SOURCE: https://linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7250082729042526208/
Also, for some reason, all of these light and airy brands remind me of Hendrick’s Gin (one of my favorite visual brands) and their odd but very consistent illustrative cutout look.
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Hey, if giant inflatable gorillas and wavy dancing guys can sell cars, I say give T-Rexes a chance!