In the attention economy, the best marketing makes audiences stop. From Apple TV’s unsettling ‘Severance’ stunts to footwear brand Merrell’s trailblazing Olympic protest, here are five campaigns that did just that.
1. Apple TV’s ‘Severance’
Apple TV’s ‘Severance’ follows a team of office workers whose memories have been surgically divided between their work and personal lives, leading to two distinct versions of themselves.
Its marketing campaign leaned into the show’s eerie sci-fi premise by inserting its fictional characters into the real world. Lumon Industries, the sinister employer from the show, has its own website and LinkedIn page, while offline stunts blurred the lines between fiction and reality to viral effect.
In New York’s Grand Central Station, actors Adam Scott, Britt Lower and Zach Cherry performed the ‘Macrodata Refinement’ featured in the series inside a giant glass cube. For three hours, swathes of commuters rushed past the Orwellian activation, catching glimpses of the ritualistic office behaviour.
performance art for marketing. television is so back. https://t.co/1fFrn0U8G0
— jay (@kendallhosseini) January 14, 2025
In London, suit-clad individuals carrying bunches of blue balloons – each printed with Adam Scott’s face – made their way across Tower Bridge. At the other side, they were met by the cast and a towering version of the same balloon. The strange, cult-like activation drew a huge amount of attention, helped by the famous faces.
Why did it work?
The marketing approach placed the ‘Severance’ universe in our own. From the uncanny LinkedIn presence to the live activations, it tapped into the show’s themes of identity, surveillance and corporate control.
It gave audiences a taste of the unsettling world they’d enter if they watched and leveraged the talent within to gain attention.
2. The Columbia Hike Society’s HikeFest
Brandnation created The Columbia Hike Society for sportswear brand Columbia – a community designed to inspire hikers to explore the UK’s most breathtaking landscapes.
Tapping into festival culture, the agency created HikeFest, a new festival of hiking launched a series of over 40 free hikes across the UK during summer.
In one major festival event billed as ‘the UK’s most remote gig’, hikers were challenged to trek deep into the Snowdonia mountains, where a hidden natural amphitheatre became the stage for an off-grid acoustic performance.
Hosted in partnership with Sofar Sounds, the activation captured national media attention and reached over 4.5 million people on social.
Why did it work?
The idea was grounded in Brandnation’s Creativity. Multiplied. philosophy – the belief that bold ideas, amplified intelligently, create lasting brand impact.
Rather than marketing a product, the approach led with creative ideas that engaged with hiking culture and placed Columbia in it.
First, Brandnation created a community, the Columbia Hike Society, bringing together adventure-seekers with a shared passion for the outdoors. Then, they gave the community something to rally around: a culture-driven experience designed to generate talkability.
3. Oriflame’s Love Potion Cherry on Top Launch
Swedish beauty company Oriflame is a global sensation active in over 60 countries worldwide. To launch their new fragrance, Love Potion Cherry on Top, Brandnation devised a two-day immersive influencer experience driven by storytelling.
Influencers and fragrance experts were whisked away to Paris, where the scent was first developed with renowned fragrance house Givaudan. Their hotel rooms at the Château des Fleurs were dotted with branded details, from mirror decals to daily product drops.
The group explored the Givaudan lab, before heading to ‘The Secret Cherry Party’, an indulgent cherry-themed soirée at Mondaine de Pariso.
With red velvet, black lace, cherry motifs, the night embodied the effortless femininity of the fragrance and gave guests (and their followers) something to swoon over.
Why did it work?
The experience placed the product within a romantic, Parisian brand world and invited people to enter it through the fragrance. From the Parisian setting to the insider visit at Givaudan’s fragrance lab, guests were in the making of the scent and part of its narrative.
The Secret Cherry Party stands out as clever creative concept: a feminine, playful celebration of self-expression that made the fragrance feel like a lifestyle, not just a product. It was culturally relevant, tapping into the 2025 cherry trend and inviting viewers to enter their ‘cherry era’.
4. Black Mirror’s Season 7 Launch, ‘Nubbin’
In true Black Mirror fashion, ‘Nubbin’ – a fictional brain chip that allows wearers to relive memories – was launched with all the bells and whistles of a real tech product. A website, social media pages, press coverage, YouTube ads, even influencer unboxings.
@rylan The most SUPERNATURAL unboxing video I've ever done... still not over it tbh #ad #nubbin @TCKRSystems ♬ original sound - Rylan
Why did it work?
The brilliance of this campaign lies in its restraint. ‘Nubbin’ is just one element of a single plot line but marketing it like a real product to advertise the show captures the eerie essence of Black Mirror.
The campaign took Severance’s marketing approach a step further. There was no glass cube that we could peer into, instead, we were inside it, without further explanation.
5. Merrell, Trail 2032
Footwear brand Merrell launched a new trail running shoe by inserting itself into the UK trail running culture with Trail 2032.
With the Paris Olympics coming up, Brandnation found that trail running hadn’t been part of the Olympic Games since 1924.
To spark a conversation about its return, the agency penned an open letter, supported by relatives of a 1924 Team GB athlete, and mobilised UK run crews for a ‘protest trail run’ from London to Paris.
This powerful journey was shared on social media, made headlines in national news, and was amplified through a full-funnel paid media strategy, boosting brand awareness and delivering tangible commercial gains for Merrell.
Why did it work?
The campaign leveraged a massive cultural moment – the Olympics – to ignite a purpose-driven conversation amplified through organic and paid media. Merrell was at the heart of that, positioning the brand as an advocate for UK’s elite trail running scene.
“It expressed the power and possibilities of Creativity. Multiplied. – it captured the imagination of our audience, travelled internationally organically and exceeded expectations in terms of KPIs and return on investment.” says Brandnation’s Creative Director Joe Murgatroyd.
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About the author
Natalie Clement | Digital
Marketing Executive
With international experience as a digital marketer, writer, and editor, Natalie has worked across sectors including lifestyle, technology, and tourism.
