In the final weeks of 2023, brands celebrated the final holidays of the season and prepared for the coming new year with fresh, new campaigns. Catch up on the biggest stories you missed at the end of the year in our Weekly Must Reads.

Planet Fitness Crowns Their Mother Fitness

Ahead of the annual January gym membership rush, Planet Fitness debuted a new campaign starring Megan Thee Stallion as their newly crowned Mother Fitness. In the campaign’s first ad, Mother Fitness encourages people find their “Big Fitness Energy” by choosing low-cost, judgment-free Planet Fitness. The campaign focuses on both physical and mental wellness – a major consumer focus in recent years – with ad initiatives including television spots, in-app videos, an AR filter, and co-branded merchandise.

As an experiential portion of the campaign, Megan also helped consumers ring in the new year as the first performer on the Planet Fitness stage in Times Square during the Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest broadcast. For more details on the partnership, read on here: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/planet-fitness-debuts-empowering-partnership-with-megan-thee-stallion-dubbing-her-as-mother-fitness-in-a-dynamic-collaboration-for-the-new-year-302023040.html

Burger King Rates Holiday Hangovers

In a season overflowing with parties and festivities, Burger King knows consumers might be dealing with a hangover or two. This year, the fast-food brand set out to help those who overindulged with a new activation in their mobile app. In the Burger King app, consumers can use a facial recognition feature that will “scan their hangover” and suggest the ideal combination of menu items to treat their symptoms. Each user will also receive a coupon for their unique combo.

The activation includes many thought-out features, including varying sizes of combos based on the perceived severity of the hangover, as well as limiting coupons to delivery orders only. The promotion runs through January 2 to catch all the final new year celebrations. Check out the campaign’s video ad and learn more here: https://www.thedrum.com/news/2023/12/21/burger-kings-facial-recognition-tech-will-rate-holiday-hangovers

Geico Thaws Their Iconic Caveman

Twenty years ago, Geico debuted their iconic caveman brand character in a commercial with the tagline “So easy, a caveman can do it.” The caveman bit lived on for years and even earned their own short-lived sitcom on ABC in 2008 before the brand moved on to other advertising ideas. However, on December 24, Geico ran a commercial during NBC’s Sunday Night Football broadcast showing their caveman awaking from a nightmare where he was haunted by Geico’s tagline.

The reawakened caveman will allegedly appear in Geico’s upcoming Super Bowl LVIII spot. In the weeks leading up to the game, Geico will continue to run supporting spots, drumming up excitement and nostalgia for their mascot’s big return. Find out more about the caveman’s long advertising history here: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/geico-cavemen-super-bowl-return-campaign/702793/

Instagram Reels Drove Big Results in 2023

We hear a lot about how TikTok is taking over social media, so you may be surprised to learn that branded content on Instagram Reels outperformed TikTok and every other social platform in 2023. According to research from customer engagement firm Emplifi, brands saw the most reach on their Reels videos, despite the perception that consumers prefer TikTok for video content. The firm also noted that videos longer than 90 seconds saw double the median number of views on Reels compared to TikTok.

Reels are not only outperforming TikTok – they’re also outperforming other Instagram features. Emplifi’s data shows that Reels delivers six times the reach of Stories on average. In 2024, expect to see more brands shift their social strategies to include more Reels, rather than only Stories and TikToks. Dig deeper into the data from Emplifi here: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/instagram-reels-outperforms-tiktok-facebook-branded-video/703155/