As we head into the final month of 2022, there’s no better way to reflect on the year than to look back at a few of the best PR campaigns of the past 12 months. Whether they were devised and driven by PR agencies, in-house teams or global companies, innovative and eye-catching campaigns are hard to look past.
Not only is it fantastic to see brands pushing the creative boundaries to engage consumers, but as a PR agency, it challenges us to go bigger and bolder in the coming year. At Agent99, we are always looking for new ways to communicate with audiences and putting our brands at the forefront of the conversation, so we can create genuine business impact.
So, let’s not waste a minute! Here is our round-up of the top 5 of the best PR campaigns of 2022
1. VISIT ICELAND CAMPAIGN – OUTHORSE YOUR EMAIL
I’ll be honest, I’m obsessed with this PR campaign. For me, it was the perfect mix of crazy, innovative, humorous, and effective.
A global study by Visit Iceland found that two-fifths (41%) of people globally check their work emails between 1 and 4 times a day when on holiday, while 1 in 10 (14%) review them 5-6 times every day. To encourage workers to disconnect and experience the country’s breathtaking surroundings distraction-free, Visit Iceland launched its OutHorse Your Email service, a world-first email response system which sees its unique breed of horses take centre stage.
The country’s tourism board built a giant working keyboard and taught the horses to walk on it. Tourists could let the horses handle their inbox while they sat back and relaxed on their Icelandic vacation. You could even select the type of horse you wanted to answer your emails. It looked like this:
“Eva Harrington is out of office. During this vacation, Eva has OutHorsed all work-related emails to an Icelandic horse called Hrímnir frá Hvammi to free up more time for adventure.”
Here is Hrímnir frá Hvammi’s response to your email:
Qwsdcfrtgb fdfg jhlsajf vdpföð lkdsjahg bksdð adæfbnaqerbvui< i98oimdJVJ <0IÐ KVWE krjgi1ÆIÆ qwiik+ð’h as whbl ppppppppppp lh
An Icelandic horse really typed that!’
As one of the best PR campaigns of this year, it garnered global attention across news outlets and social media, particularly as it was the first time in 2 years people could travel globally and were desperate for a break from work.
2. LEGO’S MRI PR CAMPAIGN
LEGO is an iconic brand celebrated by children for its ability to create amazing plastic constructions and is known by adults because of the sheer pain experienced when you step on a piece.
Despite all of this, we couldn’t look past this PR play as one of the best campaigns of 2022.
This year LEGO donated 600 LEGO MRI scanner building kits to help children overcome fears of getting an MRI scan. Through play, role-playing, and interactive building, LEGO and hospitals helped children to build confidence while learning and having fun in an otherwise nerve-wracking environment.
Close to 100 hospitals across the world have already benefitted from the use of the LEGO MRI.
This PR campaign was warmly received by paediatric professionals and parents around the world and helped to position the brand as innovative and people-oriented.
3. #MAKENODOUBT NSW GOVERNMENT CONSENT CAMPAIGN
Ask anyone in Australia if they remember the milkshake consent video and you’ll most likely be met with a laugh or a cringed face. Unfortunately, Australia massively missed the mark with their bizarre consent video and received widespread criticism for not addressing the issue head-on.
I’m a firm believer that the comeback is always greater than the setback, so one of my best Australian PR campaigns of this year has to go to NSW’s #MakeNoDoubt campaign.
This digital PR campaign ran for 12 weeks across social media including Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok and Snapchat as well as Spotify, YouTube and Tinder.
The success of this PR campaign can be greatly attributed to its ability to highlight real-life situations where consent is required. It visually showcased intimacy between people of different sexual orientations and gender to highlight that everybody needs to ask for consent.
4. Aperol shouted Aussies 100,000 spritzes
Another of the best PR campaigns of 2022 has to go to Campari Group for living the true meaning of mateship by shouting consumers Aperol spritzes.
The campaign aimed to support the retail and hospitality industries and to celebrate us all being together again right through the season.
Friends who purchased two Aperol Spritz drinks in bars, liquor stores and venues, could hold onto the receipt and then redeem one of the purchases for free. This campaign was successful because of the number of people who already loved Aperol Spritz, so to feel supported by the brand after a difficult year and receive money back, was truly the icing on the cake.
5. Penguin Random House’s Unburnable Book
Margaret Atwood is an acclaimed Canadian author best known for her book The Handmaid’s Tale.
In response to an increase in books across the United States and around the world being challenged, banned, and burned, Penguin Random House created a special edition version of The Handmaid’s Tale which was completely unburnable.
Printed and bound using fireproof materials, this PR campaign was designed to protect this vital story and stand as a powerful symbol against censorship.
The book was sold at an auction for $130,000 of which all the proceeds were donated to help fight censorship.
So, that’s my round-up of my five best PR campaigns of 2022!
However, it would be wrong to not mention one of the many exciting campaigns we executed this year at Agent99.
We had the privilege of working with Dubliner to launch their Fiery Irish Whiskey, a brand-new chilli and cinnamon liqueur. Playing on the Irish tradition of a pub ‘lock in’, we worked with several venues to host ‘lock in’s’ for consumers and trade to experience Irish culture and spotlight the new Fiery Irish product in a unique way.
The campaign received over 24 pieces of media coverage with a reach of 31 million consumers.
If you’re inspired by these PR campaigns and want to kick off 2023 with a bang by putting your brand in the spotlight, please reach out to us today!
Agent Eva
