Ten Brand Ideas Creativity Loved in 2015

Here, you'll find ten powerful advertising and marketing ideas that moved us this year -- whether it was through skillfull storytelling, emotional punch, comedic prowess, sheer ingenuity or a combination of several of those things. Make sure to tune into Creativity-online.com for more of our favorite ideas from 2015. Each day until New Year's, in our Picks of the Day we'll be counting down the best creative in the categories of TV/Film, Print/OOH/Design and Integrated/Innovative. Supercell "Revenge" Creativity's favorite Super Bowl ad of the year was a surprise appearance from mobile gaming giant Supercell, which along with Barton F. Graf 9000 masterminded a surprise appearance from our favorite action star, Liam Neeson, in a laugh-out-loud spot for "Clash of Clans." Psyop's Fletcher Moules was behind the camera for the skillful animation, while MJZ's comedy master Tom Kuntz directed the live action portion of the ad. AT&T "Close to Home" This shocking ad from AT&T and BBDO New York imagined how a mom's simple social media post could shatter multiple lives. Directed by Anonymous Content's Frederic Planchon, the short film chronicled a day-in-the-life of everyday folks as they went about their business, but then a mindless mobile distraction (one that no doubt will feel scarily familiar to many) leads to a tragedy touching several lives. Toyota "A SIRIous Safety Message" And here's yet another genius safe driving idea. Radio spots don't often get much attention in the ad world, but this one truly deserves to be heard. Saatchi & Saatchi Stockholm created this radio ad for Toyota that "hijacked" Siri to disable people's phones while they were driving -- a reminder to keep their eyes on the road. Samsung "Look at Me" As we've seen in recent years, advertisers have the power to do real good. Samsung, along with Cheil, demonstrated this with a marvelous app designed to help autistic children tackle their most common challenges of reading facial expressions and making eye contact. M&C Saatchi: Artificial Intelligence Billboards The roles of data and artificial intelligence have ramped up significantly in the ad and marketing world. This eye-opening idea from M&C Saatchi London shows just how far A.I. can take brand messages with this "Darwinian" approach to advertising: billboards that evolve on the spot in real-time, based on consumers' reactions to them. Karma Nirvana: Cosmopoliton Honor Killing Cover On the other side of the spectrum, great ideas don't have to be so technologically sophisticated. They could just be a simple rethink of a familiar practice -- like magazine covers. Leo Burnett, our most awarded agency of the year, conceived this shocking ad for charity organization Karma Nirvana. It's a Cosmopolitan mag cover wrap with a photo of a woman being suffocated, the impact intensified by the plastic bag that typically sheaths monthly publications. The idea was inspired by the 2004 story of Shafilea Ahmed, a 17-year-old British-Pakistani girl whose parents suffocated her to death in an honor killing. NIke "Last" We saw plenty of amazing Nike ads in the past year, including the powerful golf spot that showed how young pro Rory McIlroy rose to fame inspired by Tiger Woods, the rollicking ad illustrating how superjocks have out-of-this-world fun when they're snowed in and "Inner Thoughts," which illustrated the messy mind-talk women can have during their workouts. The latter idea continues in what was our favorite Nike spot from 2015, "Last," which celebrates the unlikeliest marathon heroes -- those in last place, who carry on to the finish line, even as the winners are out celebrating and the cleaning crew has begun sweeping up after the big event. Patagonia "Denali" Brands don't have to be in-your-face to promote their message. Patagonia supported this sweet, true tale of an outdoors-loving man and his dog, Denali. Told from Denali's point of view, it's at once funny and heartbreaking, chronicling how the pair rejoiced in the beauty of life and nature while tackling some tough times. It was directed, written and edited by Ben Knight and produced by Ben Moon, the film's co-protagonist. Make sure to grab some tissues. Wieden & Kennedy Tokyo: "Type" Eyewear Agency creatives' great ideas aren't limited to ads, as evident in one of our favorite design ideas of the year. Along with retailer "Oh My Glasses," Wieden & Tokyo created the "Type" eyewear collection, a set of frames inspired by different typefaces -- so, if you're a Times New Roman fan, you could wear it on your face. The idea was actually conceived in 2014, but broke out in a big way this year, with the release of several new designs. Read more about how the glasses came about in Behind the Work, and about one of the creatives behind the idea, Executive Creative Director Tota Hasegawa, in this year's Creativity 50. Paramount Pictures: Zoolander Hits Paris Fashion Week In what was probably our favorite movie marketing move since The Simpsons took over 7-Eleven, Zoolander and Hansel, aka Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, stole the spotlight when they strutted down the catwallk during Valentino's Paris Fashion Week show flashing Blue Steel, and perhaps a little bit of Magnum. The idea, of course, set social media on fire. And even Vogue editor Anna Wintour got in on the action with a backstage video.

Ten Brand Ideas Creativity Loved in 2015

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