22 Top Brand Advertising Examples To Inspire You In 2023

From health and wellness to design, thousands of companies worldwide look for a way to capture more audiences. To reach this goal, they should be able to stand out among the rest. How is that possible in this competitive market? You definitely think about campaign ads, but how can your branding ads stand out? Check out the following brand advertising examples that have gained good views and the best results. Maybe you’ll find the inspiration you need from them.

However, you should not forget that your branding ads can attract more audience if you run a campaign on social media. Therefore, you can use an influencer marketing platform like Ainfluencer to find top influencers in your niche and improve your online presence. 

Ainfluencer is a 100% DIY and free influencer marketplace you can use. Since it’s all free, why not give it a test now?

Now, let’s start from the brand advertising definition.

What is Brand Advertising?

Brands and companies would like to build brand awareness and a strong, long-term relationship with their customers, which will finally lead to customer loyalty. Accordingly, brand advertising is recommended as a long-term marketing strategy to reach these goals. Since the main idea of this type of marketing is brand recognition, it doesn’t emphasize on call to action; instead, it focuses on impressions and reaches.

Now that social media has everyone’s attention, influencer marketing campaigns work well for brands. They increase brand exposure and, as a result, drive more traffic to the company. 

Ainfluencer is an influencer marketplace that allows marketers to easily connect with professional influencers. Brands can use Ainfluencer to find the most relevant people for their campaign and target audience.

This marketplace provides brands with real-time metrics on how their campaign is going and will only pay the influencer once the deal is done.

And what makes Ainfluencer different from other influencer marketplaces is that it provides all the following features for free. 

Just sign up on Ainfluencer as a brand. Create your marketplace ad, which will be posted where thousands of verified Instagram influencers can see and make offers. 

Then, use Ainfluencer’s filters to explore and invite your own, specific Instagram influencers.

Try Ainfluencer

What are Brand Advertising Examples?

To build a unique and memorable brand image, companies create brand ads. Generally, the best brand ads must focus on engaging with customers on both emotional and intellectual levels.

And that’s exactly what these brand advertising examples do. 

So, without further ado, let’s check out 22 best brand advertising examples of large, small, and medium-sized businesses. 

Large-sized businesses advertising examples

The most common business classifications are small, medium, and large. However, it varies depending on the criteria used to classify the business. However, it varies depending on the criteria used to classify the business. For example, it might depend on the number of employees and sales. It could also be determined by the amount of production, total assets, and capital.

The following are good advertisement examples of large-sized businesses:

1- Google: Year in Search Campaign

In 2001, Google released its first end-of-year list, ‘the Year-End Google Zeitgeist’, a report of the most popular Google searches over the previous 12 months. 

Since 2009, Year in Search has been accompanied by a 3-minute film that highlights the year’s most memorable moments and showcases the emotion behind the searches and trends of the year.

This magnificent idea caused this ad to turn into one of the best advertising examples that engaged people well.

2- Apple: Get a Mac

Although the message was simple, it was also effective. This branding ad genuinely attracted a large number of people and had the desired impact on Apple. “Get a Mac” was an Apple ad campaign that began on May 2, 2006, and ran for four years.

This is one of the best brand advertising examples that included a series of commercials. In these series, a wiser, cooler, and kind guy, portraying Mac, talks with a slow, dull and nerdier guy, representing PC. Each commercial is a conversation between the two, with Mac always appearing like the more capable of the two.

It’s one of the top advertisement examples that attempted to persuade viewers that Apple was the superior product in a fun and concise way. To understand how well the ad campaign worked, consider that Apple products’ sales increased 39% by the end of 2006, with 1.6 million Macs sold. Hereupon, Get a Mac was one of the most successful brand advertising examples ever.

3- Coke: Share a Coke

One of the best branding advertising examples belonging to Coca-Cola. This brand ad highlights the iconic status of Coca-Cola in branding and marketing. #ShareACoke is one of the perfect advertisement examples of brand engagement and how far branded hashtags and personalization can go. Coca-Cola launched this campaign ad first in Australia in 2011, which prompted users to share their own content with the ‘Share a Coke’ hashtag on social media.

The ad campaign revolved around customers’ love of personalization. Since the brand personalized the wrapping around each Coca-Cola bottle with one of the 150 most popular names in the country, the customers were encouraged to look for a bottle with their name in the store. Furthermore, they would share the coke with their friend whose name was printed on the bottle. 

They could even order custom bottles on Coke’s website to request things like nicknames and college logos. As a result, ShareYourCoke It was among the brilliant product advertising examples that got people excited about their product, by personalizing Coke. 

4- Nike: Just Do It

It has been 30 years that Nike’s slogan was ’Just Do It’. Apparently, nobody really remembers that their products were once almost exclusively for marathon runners. Despite being one of the top brands for basketball shoes, they weren’t even the market leader in running- Reebok was way ahead. 

What’s the Story Behind ‘Just Do It’ Slogan?

Nike established this slogan in 1988 during a meeting with the advertising agency Wieden & Kennedy. Professional and amateur athletes spoke about their achievements and the emotions they experienced while exercising as part of the ad campaign. On one of the campaign’s earliest television advertisement, Walt Stack, an 80-year-old marathoner, explains how he runs 17 miles every morning.

Walt’s story generated an emotional response from viewers, prompting people to wonder, ‘If he can do it, why can’t I?’

What Was the Result?

Over 15 million Instagram posts now include the hashtag #JustDoIt, with a sizable portion of content created by everyday people. This tagline encapsulates an inspiring feeling which is perfectly suited to this sportswear company’s personality. These emotional responses from people made Nike’s ad one of the best brand ads of all time.

Talking about the impact of Instagram, you should not forget the role of social media in the success of brand advertising. For example, Nike is one of the best gym clothing brands that collaborates with fitness influencers and celebrities to promote its products. Therefore, you should consider top  influencer marketing strategies to have a more successful brand advertisement. 

If you wonder how you can run a hashtag-related ad that wins the game, like what Nike and Coca-Cola did, sign up on Ainfluencer for free and describe your campaign. Then, search for influencers in your niche. 

On Ainfluencer, you can search for influencers based on category, gender, location, language, hashtags, and even your budget. Most of them can give ideas for better ads. Additionally, you can create a campaign ad and invite influencers to participate. So, don’t lose your chance.

Sign Up on Ainfluencer Now

 5- Volkswagen: Think Small

In 1960, a legendary advertising group at Doyle Dane & Bernbach (DDB) created the best advertising campaign of the twentieth century.

Among all ad campaigns examples, the ‘Think Small’ campaign focused on being modest, honest, and a bit self-deprecating.

It talked about how cool larger vehicles are and how the Volkswagen won’t even go over 72mph. Then, it swung right around and hit its reader with a range of benefits like fewer repairs and lower gas consumption.

This popular advertising example also decided to refer to the car as a ‘VW’ to appease its American audience.

6- Starbucks: #WhatsYourName

Another example of brand advertising is Starbucks. Its popular campaign of ‘What’s your name’ was debuted in February 2020.

The objective of this campaign was to represent the transgender community and motivate them to find their voice using their preferred name rather than their given name. This ad campaign sets the scene where new members of the transgender community are putting their new identities, for the first time, on a Starbucks drink.

Giving your name to a barista may seem unimportant to other people, but it can be a way for the transgender community to embrace their new identity. Consequently, this idea caused the campaign to be among the top campaign ad examples.

7- Miller Lite: Great Taste, Less Filling

The Miller Lite brand advertising campaign in 1974 was one of the popular brand ads that were very effective in communicating the brand’s key message to consumers. The tagline ‘Great Taste, Less Filling’ was memorable and perfectly captured what the beer was all about.The ad campaign changed people’s ideas about the bad taste of light beer. As a result, the Miller Lite became one of the top-selling light beers in America.

8- Airbnb: #Live There Campaign

One of the other best brand advertising examples is Airbnb, the Live There Campaign.

This ad campaign aims to change people’s perspective on traveling and encourage them to live in a place rather than just being a tourist, even if it’s only for a night. They do this by showing people’s excellent feeling of staying at someone’s home when they travel. The result of this campaign was great because Airbnb experienced a significant increase in the number of requests after its launch.

Medium-sized businesses advertising examples

Medium-sized businesses are the backbone of the economy, and they are essential to innovation and growth. Here are some medium-sized business advertising examples:

1- Burger King: Moldy Whopper

One of the best brand advertising examples of medium-sized businesses is Burger King. Targeting their long-time competitor, McDonald’s, Burger King released a time-lapse video of its trademark burger rotting with mold over 34 days to prove that, unlike McDonald’s, their hamburgers are preservative-free. 

Since the only McDonald’s restaurant in Iceland closed in 2009, a McDonald’s hamburger and fries have stayed on display. For almost a decade, the burger and fries have remained perfectly preserved and mold-free, with no signs of decay. The moldy Whopper campaign ad was a risky and comical brand advertisement example that worked well.

2- Dove: Real Beauty

Here is the story of one of the best brand ads: Dove. This American personal care brand, created a revolutionary brand advertising campaign for real beauty, 17 years ago. The aim of this brand ad was to inspire women and young girls to be comfortable and satisfied with their bodies. 

Dove had an FBI sketch artist draw women based on how they described themselves and then from how a stranger described the same women.

And the drawings were totally different. At the end of the commercial, Dove revealed an eye-opening statistic: only 2% of women around the world believe that they are beautiful.

This was among the successful examples of ad campaigns that were appreciated by feminists.

3- Red Bull: Stratos

The Red Bull Stratos campaign is undeniably one of the coolest brand advertising examples, fitting the brand’s energetic personality. Felix Baumgartner, an Austrian skydiver and base jumper, made plans for a stratospheric freefall to test human limits and break the sound barrier while in freefall.

Seven years later, on October 14, 2012, Baumgartner launched himself into the stratosphere in a helium balloon over New Mexico, United States, and executed a freefall jump that sent him hurtling towards Earth at supersonic speeds before safely landing. By just backing this historic stunt, Red Bull etched its brand name into the pages of history. So, do not underestimate the efficiency of branding ads.

4- Volvo: Trucks Live Test

Volvo’s Grand Prix-winning is one of the fantastic brand advertising examples. In order to prove the 300-millimeter ground clearance on its trucks, Volvo created a commercial video showing its truck going over a hard-hatted technician buried up to his neck in the ground. However, it wasn’t the only commercial video Volvo created for this campaign.  

Then there was Jean-Claude Van Damme’s epic splits commercial, which received more than 100 million YouTube views, 8 million shares, and hundreds of parody films starring Chris Hemsworth, Chuck Norris, and a cartoon Jack Nicholson, which added another 50 million views to the campaign.

As a result of this campaign ad, Volvo’s Internet fan base increased, resulting in a media value of $170 million.

As you can see, YouTube is a great place for most brands to present themselves and show their brand ads to the world. Accordingly, some brands promote their products with YouTubers or even celebrities. Therefore, it is necessary to learn more about YouTube collab ideas. 

Do not forget that influencer marketing can be a great way to increase your internet fans. Therefore, if you need more followers and fans on Instagram or TikTok, sign up on Ainfluencer right now. 

Grow Your Business Online

 5- John Lewis: Monty the Penguin

The CGI animated penguin, called Monty the Penguin, is among the most memorable advertising campaigns of the last decade. This ad shows the heartwarming tale of an unlikely friendship between a boy and his toy penguin.

This was among the successful ad campaigns examples that resulted in 1.8 million YouTube views on the first day of its release and a record-breaking sales week of £175 million. Furthermore, it also grabbed the attention of Microsoft and Google.

6-   KFC: “FCK”

The FCK campaign ad arose from a public relations catastrophe and became one of the most famous apologies in brand advertising history. In 2018, KFC, the American fast-food restaurant chain, changed its logistics supplier. However, it then faced with a nationwide chicken shortage due to processing issues.

In response, the company hired the famed agency Mother and came up with the FCK campaign – a play on the similarly spelled swear word.

This is one of the funny brand advertising examples that performed so well and helped KFC regain public trust, even after a pretty sticky situation.

As you see, you can play with the words and turn a disaster into a fun and successful moment. 

7- Marlboro: The Marlboro Man

Back in the ’90s, Marlboro, the well-known cigarette brand, was believed to be a feminine cigarette due to its manufacturing of filtered cigarettes. Hence, Men avoided it, and as a result, it had less than a 1% market share.

So, how did they handle it? They came up with the Marlboro man, an iconic figure who embodied manliness, adventure, and independence. Marlboro cigarettes were then connected with machismo. In their classic ads, all guys who smoked Marlboro were hardworking and, in some ways, superior to those who did not.

It was all done in the persona of a cowboy riding through America’s wild landscape. This advertisement was one of the most successful brand advertising examples. The result of this campaign was the growth of Marlboro’s market share from less than 1% to the fourth best-selling brand in less than a year.

Small-sized businesses advertising examples

Small-sized businesses are a huge part of the economy, and they are often overlooked. However, there are many successful small businesses out there that can give larger businesses a run for their money. Here are some brand advertising campaigns from small-sized businesses:

1- Always: #LikeaGirl

Using your brand to confront stereotypes and stigmas can be a powerful way to gain support for your business. Always, an American menstrual hygiene product manufacturer, launched a campaign with an inspirational commercial that aired during the 2015 Super Bowl.

The campaign was created to highlight society’s gender disparities and the stigma associated with playing sports “like a girl,” implying playing like a boy is better. The brand advertisement’s message was clear: girls are just as capable as boys, and the term “like a girl” should not be used to degrade anyone. The message made this ad campaign one of the tear-jerking brand advertising examples of all time.

2- Anheuser-Busch: Whassup

It’s difficult to recall the last time a commercial changed how we speak with one another. Here is one of the popular ad campaigns examples:

Wassup, wazzup, whassup, or however you say it, refers to a series of commercials that began in late 1999 and lasted until 2002. The commercial shows a comical moment when four friends talk on the phone, starting their conversation with “Wassap,” “Watchin’ the game, havin’ a Bud.”

The commercial crossed all cultural borders to become one of the most well-known and remembered brand advertising examples of all time.

3- Old Spice: The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

Body wash for guys was revolutionized by Old Spice. 

“The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign was inspired by a significant insight: in 60% of cases, women make purchasing decisions for hygiene products, even for male family members. 

This branding ad targeted female viewers to promote the benefits of using Old Spice products for their men. Wieden and Kennedy created the TV commercial “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like,” which debuted in February 2010 and has since received over 60 million views.

This kind of popular advertising tends to change people’s ideas about such traditional beliefs.

4-  Wendy’s: Where’s the Beef?

A memorable slogan is the essence of every successful ad campaign. Wendy’s advertisement is one of these ad campaigns examples. Wendy’s chain of hamburger restaurants made a bold move by pointing out the lack of beef in competitors’ burgers (Big Mac and Whopper). For this purpose, they used a cute set of old ladies to say “Where’s the Beef?” This campaign debuted in 1984 and ran until 1985. 

 5- Absolut Vodka: The Absolut Bottle

This campaign branding ad ran nonstop for 25 years and had over 1500 versions, making it one of the longest continuous brand advertising examples on this list. The print ad campaign example focused on the Absolut bottle’s recognizability and artfulness.

Absolut showcased the human side of its brand and opened the door to a consumer-brand relationship by linking the vodka bottle shape to events like Christmas, locations like Oslo and Manhattan, and sporting events like the World Cup. Absolut is among the best ad campaigns examples, which had increased its US sales from a modest 10,000 cases in 1980 to 4.5 million cases by the time the campaign ended in the mid-2000s.

Did you know there are influencers that are the right person to promote alcoholic beverages? If you want to promote your brand in this field, wine influencers can help. 

6- California Milk Processor Board: Got Milk?

In 1993, the executive director of the California Milk Processor Board, Jeff Manning, hired an advertising agency to help revive milk’s reputation across the country. They determined that television commercials should emphasize the consequences of not having milk.

During a brainstorming session, they wrote down a tagline: “Got milk” and then placed a question mark at the end.

The ‘Got Milk?’ campaign became another successful example of brand advertising focusing on a slogan, like what Nike did with the ‘Just Do It’ campaign. As a result of this campaign, the California Milk sales had 7% growth in just one year and the slogan was popular for over two decades. 

7- Morrisons: Supporting local food makers

According to one of the UK’s largest supermarket chains, shopping with a major retailer shouldn’t mean consumers miss out on wonderful products made locally.

As a result, Morrisons created the Local Foodmakers Campaign, one of the top product advertising examples, to assist local communities by providing items from producers who cater to local food preferences and manufacture their goods within a short distance of Morrisons stores. Furthermore, they host Local Foodmakers events, which invite local food producers to showcase their products at a community venue.

Pro Tip: Do you know what is the perfect option to promote such products? Since most local products are considered healthy and used in different recipes, health influencers and food influencers can successfully promote such campaigns. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, it’s evident that brands are stepping up their advertising game with clever and innovative campaigns. This is great news for consumers, as they are now being exposed to more creative and memorable advertisements. So the next time you’re watching TV, browsing the internet, or walking down the street, be sure to keep an eye out for some of these awesome brand advertising examples. And who knows, you might just find yourself being inspired to create your own clever ad campaign!

If so, don’t forget that Ainfluencer is here to help you find the right influencer for your campaigns. 

Start Your Campagin