Major PR Campaigns

Why This Matters

Public relations campaigns represent the strategic intersection of brand messaging, audience psychology, and media channel selection—core concepts you'll be tested on throughout this course. These campaigns don't just sell products; they demonstrate how organizations shape public perception, manage reputation, and create cultural movements. Understanding why certain campaigns succeeded (or struggled) reveals the underlying principles of agenda-setting, framing, two-way communication, and integrated marketing communications.

When you study these campaigns, you're building a toolkit for analyzing any PR strategy. Don't just memorize which brand launched which slogan—know what communication principle each campaign illustrates. Can you explain why emotional storytelling works differently than humor? Why user-generated content creates engagement that traditional advertising can't? These are the questions that separate surface-level recall from the conceptual understanding exams demand.

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Brand Identity Through Simplicity

The most enduring campaigns often strip messaging down to a core idea that becomes inseparable from the brand itself. This approach leverages cognitive ease—simple, repeated messages create stronger memory associations and brand recall.

Nike's "Just Do It"

• Launched in 1988, this three-word slogan transcended sports marketing to become a universal motivational mantra
• Empowerment messaging resonated across demographics by focusing on attitude rather than product features
• Celebrity endorsements (Michael Jordan, Serena Williams) provided aspirational proof points while the slogan carried the emotional weight

Volkswagen's "Think Small"

• 1960s counterculture positioning deliberately rejected the "bigger is better" American auto industry norm
• Self-deprecating humor built trust through honesty—a radical departure from typical advertising claims
• Minimalist design in the ads themselves reinforced the product message, creating visual-verbal consistency

Apple's "Get a Mac"

• Launched in 2006 with personified brand characters (casual Mac guy vs. stuffy PC guy) making abstract differences tangible
• Comparative positioning highlighted usability without technical jargon, appealing to mainstream consumers' pain points
• Humor as persuasion lowered audience resistance while delivering pointed competitive messaging

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Emotional Storytelling and Values-Based Messaging

Some campaigns succeed by connecting products to deeper human experiences and social values. This approach activates emotional processing, which research shows creates stronger brand loyalty than rational appeals alone.

Dove's "Real Beauty"

• Launched in 2004 to challenge beauty industry norms by featuring women of diverse body types, ages, and ethnicities
• Cause marketing tied product sales to a social mission (body positivity), generating earned media through controversy and praise
• Long-term brand repositioning shifted Dove from commodity soap to values-driven lifestyle brand

Procter & Gamble's "Thank You, Mom"

• Olympic tie-in (2012) leveraged the emotional intensity of athletic achievement to celebrate maternal sacrifice
• Universal narrative transcended product categories—P&G sells everything from diapers to detergent, so emotional umbrella branding unified the portfolio
• Global resonance demonstrated how family themes cross cultural boundaries in international campaigns

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User Engagement and Participatory Campaigns

Modern PR increasingly relies on audiences to co-create and distribute content. Two-way symmetric communication—where organizations and publics influence each other—represents the ideal in contemporary PR theory.

Coca-Cola's "Share a Coke"

• Personalized packaging (2011) turned mass-produced bottles into individualized items by printing popular names
• User-generated content exploded as consumers photographed and shared "their" bottles, providing free earned media
• Social currency made finding and gifting named bottles a form of relationship-building among consumers

Old Spice's "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like"

• Viral video launch (2010) combined absurdist humor with a charismatic spokesperson to revitalize a legacy brand
• Real-time social media responses created 186 personalized video replies to fans, celebrities, and influencers within days
• Two-way engagement demonstrated how brands could have conversations rather than just broadcast messages

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

• Grassroots viral phenomenon (2014) raised over $\$115$ million through peer-to-peer challenges on social media
• Low barrier to participation (dump ice water, nominate friends) created exponential spread through social proof dynamics
• Cause awareness for ALS research demonstrated that earned media can outperform paid advertising when content is shareable

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Social Responsibility and Purpose-Driven PR

Brands increasingly position themselves as forces for social good, though execution determines success. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaigns work when authenticity aligns with brand identity—and fail when they appear opportunistic.

Pepsi's "Refresh Project"

• Crowdsourced philanthropy (2010) invited consumers to propose and vote on community projects for brand funding
• Social media integration aimed to build engagement, but competed poorly against Pepsi's traditional Super Bowl advertising approach
• Strategic lesson demonstrated that purpose-driven campaigns require sustained commitment—Pepsi abandoned the project after one year

"Got Milk?"

• Industry-wide campaign (1993) promoted commodity consumption rather than a single brand, funded by California dairy processors
• Celebrity milk mustache visuals created iconic, parodied imagery that achieved cultural saturation
• Deprivation strategy focused on the absence of milk (running out at key moments) rather than product benefits—a psychological reframing technique

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Quick Reference Table

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Self-Check Questions

1. Which two campaigns used humor and simplicity to position against dominant competitors, and how did their target audiences differ?

2. Compare the user engagement strategies of Coca-Cola's "Share a Coke" and the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Which relied more heavily on earned vs. owned media?

3. If an FRQ asked you to analyze a failed CSR campaign, which example would you use and what strategic mistakes would you identify?

4. Both Dove's "Real Beauty" and P&G's "Thank You, Mom" use emotional appeals. How do their approaches to social values differ in terms of brand risk?

5. Explain how Old Spice's campaign demonstrated the shift from one-way to two-way communication in modern PR. What specific tactic made this possible?