Business
10 Viral Ad Campaigns and What We Can Learn from Them
Published
2 years agoon
By
Carmen DayOn the internet, anything can go viral. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t tried and tested recipes for success. Here, we break down some of the most viral ad campaigns in the last few years.
As you’ll learn, the top viral marketing campaigns use a mix of social media listening, trendspotting, creativity, and sincerity. From video landing page ideas to social media marketing, these campaigns integrated the best elements that took the internet by storm.
1. Apple: Shot on iPhone
One of the best ways to go viral online is to call for user-generated content. And Apple’s annual Shot on iPhone ad campaigns just gets that sweet spot right.
What we can learn from the campaign: No true ads person will just put out a call for content and call it a day. Give the audience something that they want to make content with, and you’re golden. With Apple, their Iphone’s features are enough to make a whole generation of individuals experiment with their creativity.
2. Gillette: #SayPubic Campaign
In 2022, Gillette Venus released The Pube Song to start a conversation and normalize pubic hair in women’s bodies. It’s one of the brand’s more viral ad campaigns because of its playful tone and strong self-love message.
What we can learn from the campaign: It can be a calculated marketing risk to talk about what’s taboo. But their song campaign manages to balance the weighty message with a lighthearted delivery that doesn’t take away from the issues it’s discussing.
3. Airbnb: Ukraine
Airbnb’s Ukraine campaign is also a moment that smashed everyone’s screens. In 2022, the company announced that global users could lend support to Ukrainians by renting out Airbnbs.
What we can learn from the campaign: Sometimes, the best marketing move is to just rise to the occasion, get in touch with your own humanity, and do something nice. In addition, viral ad campaigns like this allowed millions to extend tangible support to Ukrainians.
4. Netflix: Wednesday
Netflix is always goofing around with its marketing campaigns, but they didn’t come to play with their Wednesday promotions. Specifically, their release of ‘The Thing’ upon random New Yorkers really lighted up everyone’s week.
What we can learn from the campaign: It’s okay to be fun and think outside of the box! You don’t have to stick to the same strategies if you want to go viral. In fact, when you do things on a grand scale, the audience does the virality for you.
5. Dunkin: Ben Affleck
This recent Dunkin ad is short, but it’s comedy gold. It features the actor in a meta-scene where he talks about acting for a Meta ad. It’s short, snappy, and only 30 seconds, which may be why it quickly made rounds in social media.
What we can learn from the campaign: It’s all about references here. This Dunkin campaign wouldn’t be effective if it weren’t for the well-known fact that Ben Affleck loves his Dunkin Donuts. Instead of brands simply ignoring this fact, it’s the perfect opportunity for them to collaborate and show the audience that they’re listening.
6. Doritos: Jack’s New Angle
This star-studded ad uses the signature Dorito triangle as the star of the story. It combines the elements of music and food together, so the 2023 Doritos Super Bowl ad was truly on brand.
What we can learn from the campaign
The ad works for the sheer spontaneity of it. Jack Harlow, Missy Elliot, and Elton John in one video? Now that’s star power. The narrative is also compact, with a playful and unexpected twist delivered at the end.
7. Milo: Park Seo-joon
The Korean actor paired up with Milo Indonesia for a simple ad campaign. But there’s more. Milo also released a limited edition packaging that had netizens scrambling to get their hands on one.
What we can learn from the campaign: We know that the K-wave is rising high, but that will only get your interactions so far. However, what made this viral marketing strategy work was that it had the actor plastered on the packaging.
8. Rare Beauty: What are you made of?
Meanwhile, Rare Beauty’s ‘What are you made of’ campaign isn’t just about beauty and makeup. It’s about giving the community a safe space to speak about their lives. The curated content from Selena Gomez’ following is touching, but it also pays homage to Rare Beauty’s brand values.
What we can learn from the campaign: Well, you could argue that Rare Beauty content always goes viral. But this specific campaign didn’t just blow up for no reason. For one, they used people with their authentic beauty stories. In fact, the spotlight on the Latino community makes this even sweeter.
9. Dove: #DetoxYourFeed
This lengthy campaign by Dove guides parents on how to talk about complex body image issues for teenage girls. The company also released a short film to show how much social media can harm young girls.
What we can learn from the campaign: Dove’s hard-hitting campaign hits us where it hurts. After doing body positivity campaigns with inclusive models from different backgrounds, they’re now addressing the root of the problem: social media.
10. Mcdo: BTS
Mcdo partnered with global K-pop artists BTS to release limited-edition BTS Meals with their signature purple color.
What we can learn from the campaign: We don’t think this campaign warrants any more explanation. But just so you know, employing artists with a global audience will always pay off when the product collaboration is affordable and accessible.
Also, did we mention that fans were selling the used packaging in online forums? It was a crazy time. To date, we think this is one of Mcdo’s most viral campaigns.
And there you have it, some viral campaign examples to inspire your next marketing strategy. We just wanted to remind you in case this wasn’t clear yet, though. Viral ad campaigns work because the appeal isn’t surface-level.
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Business
Top 10 Free and Paid eCommerce Tools for 2025
Published
53 minutes agoon
September 18, 2025By
Skylar LeeStarting an eCommerce business is no easy feat. You have to think about sales, marketing, customer service, invoicing, and inventory all at once. Some platforms may offer those, but you need other eCommerce tools to make life easier and automate your processes. But which are the best ones? I’ve compiled a list of the best ones here.
1. Shopify
Type: eCommerce platform
Any eCommerce tools list would simply be incomplete without the mention of Shopify. After all, Shopify is one of the leading eCommerce platforms of all time. The eCommerce platform makes it easy for new eCommerce businesses to set up shop in no time. They have a bunch of tools to keep any eCommerce business around, such as branding, point of sales, email marketing, and payment tools.
With Shopify, you don’t have to create a website immediately if you don’t need it yet. If you want to start small, Shopify has a Starter plan where you can reach customers via social media or messaging apps.
Pricing:
Starter (social and messaging apps only) – $5/mo
Basic – $29/mo
Shopify – $79/mo
Advanced – $299/mo
2. Veeqo
Type: Inventory and logistics
Even though Shopify has everything you need to get your business ready from launch to your first sale, you can integrate tools into the platform, such as Veeqo. Veeqo is a logistics company helping eCommerce businesses with inventory and shipping.
You don’t have to worry about keeping track of all your products manually. With Veeqo, you can rest easy knowing they automate your stock every time there’s a sale. Plus, with shipping, you’ll have lowered rates on known logistics businesses, such as DHL and UPS. In addition, you can automate shipping processes.
Pricing: Veeqo Free, $250 per month for Veeqo Priority
3. SurveyMonkey
Type: Survey
One eCommerce tool that you should use is a survey. This helps you get a pulse of what’s going on with your customers, and one of the survey tools you should use for your eCommerce business is SurveyMonkey.
With SurveyMonkey, you’ll also know what your customers think of your products, aside from the reviews they give. Surveys will provide you with more input, and you’ll learn how to improve your products and how you can interact with your customers better. But it’s not just a tool for your customers. You can also ask your employees how they can improve your eCommerce business.
Pricing:
Team Advantage – $25/user/month
Team Premier – $75/user/month
Enterprise – Contact sales
4. Wave
Type: Accounting and Invoicing
Most eCommerce platforms will have their own payment portal. But if you want an all-around easy-to-use small business financial service software, Wave is one of the best eCommerce tools to use. They have these nifty features:
- Invoicing
- Payments
- Accounting
- Banking
- Payroll
- Advisors
With Wave, you don’t need an accountant. Wave helps you with your taxes, bookkeeping, and billing. And if you still need financial help, advisors are ready to help you learn more about finance terms or concepts. Plus, Wave is free to use for their Invoicing, Accounting, and Bookkeeping features. Or, you can even hire a bookkeeper to do all the work for you.
Here’s the pricing for their Payments, Payroll, and Advisors features:
Payments: 2.9% + $0.60/ transaction (AMEX: $3.4% + $0.60/transaction)
Bank payments: 1%/transaction
Payroll: Tax service states – $40/mo; Self service – $20/mo
Advisors: Bookkeeping support – $149/mo; Coaching – $379/mo
5. Rewind
Type: Data protection
Any business with a website should know that they need to back up their data. After all, you can put it right back up anytime if outages or something unexpected happens to your website. And if you don’t want to lose your data, Rewind is one of the best eCommerce tools out there.
Rewind can help eCommerce businesses protect their business from any downtime with their daily backup. If you have integrated a 3rd party app into your website, but it’s not doing you any good, you can just rewind and get back to the last time you didn’t install it. Plus, they ensure your data is secure from any attacks.
Pricing: Starts at $45/mo
6. Zendesk
Type: Customer service
Zendesk is one of the best customer service tools of all time, with more than 100,000 brands and users helping customers with their concerns. The customer service tool will help eCommerce businesses connect with customers through email, phone, or live chat.
Pricing: Starts at $19 per agent per month, billed annually
7. Jungle Scout
Type: Marketing
If you need a marketing and keyword research tool made for online sellers, Jungle Scout is one of the best eCommerce tools to use. This tool is for Amazon sellers, but you can still use this for your online store anywhere. You can grow your traffic with their keyword research feature, optimize listings, and get more reviews for your site.
They also have an inventory management feature. Plus, Amazon sellers can get more out of the tool with their finances and ads features.
Pricing: Starts at $29/month
8. Copysmith
Type: SEO/Marketing
Are you having trouble creating product descriptions for all of your items? Don’t fret, Copysmith is an AI writing tool to help you create a copy in minutes. It can be difficult trying to come up with persuasive copy that will get people to click add to cart.
With Copysmith, you’ll have an AI assistant giving suggestions from the keywords you provided. From there, you can choose from the best copy and add it to your website. Plus, they ensure that the copy is search engine optimized, so customers can visit your online store and get more traffic. In addition, you can also create bulk product descriptions for SKUs.
Pricing: Starts at $19 per month
9. MailChimp
Type: Marketing
MailChimp is best known for email marketing. But it has grown into an all-around marketing platform for any business. They have a comprehensive email marketing platform, allowing businesses to segment their audience, reach more, and analyze open and conversion rates.
Aside from email marketing, MailChimp allows businesses to create optimized landing pages and social media ads and send printed postcards.
Pricing: Free plan available, paid plans start at $13 per month
10. Google Analytics
Type: Analytics
Any entrepreneur or seller needs to keep track of their online business. And if you want to know how your online store ranks on one of the widely used search engines, you can use Google Analytics.
Most eCommerce platforms will have analytics, but Google Analytics can help you with your marketing, and you’ll know how to reach more customers. Plus, you can run ads with their Google Ads and Search Ads 360 features and get access to the Google Search Console.
Pricing: Starts for free
These eCommerce tools have proven their worth and helped other eCommerce businesses thrive in their own niche. Plus, they have also provided immense value and eased the minds of new and existing eCommerce businesses.
Business
What’s the Best Website to Get a Graphic Designer in 2025?
Published
4 hours agoon
September 18, 2025Great design makes your business shine. But when there are so many sites out there it’s hard to discern who to get your graphic design from. This article will outline the best graphic design hire websites in 2025 along with what they offer and their advantages and disadvantages so you can make an informed choice.
#1 Penji – Best for Unlimited Graphic Design
Ranked number one is Penji simply for its unlimited graphic design subscription. You pay a flat rate per month and can request as many designs as you’d like.
Pros:
- Unlimited requests and revisions
- Fast turnaround (24-48 hours)
- Flat rate pricing means no surprises
- Team of professional designers at your service
Cons:
- Not suitable for anyone who only needs one small project
- Monthly subscription fee could feel expensive for one-off users
Penji is ideal if you’re seeking out graphic design outsourcing services and want to avoid freelancers and fickle situations in the future.
#2 Design Pickle – Best for Business Support
Design Pickle operates similarly to Penji with a subscription option that’s favored among businesses needing frequent graphics.
Pros:
- Unlimited design requests and revisions
- Flat monthly fee
- Designers dedicated exclusively to your projects over time
Cons:
- Turnaround time depends on how busy designers are with other projects
- Pricing is higher than other options if you’re not going to use the service frequently
This works well for business owners who are in need of constant support—but not necessarily the extensive offerings that Penji provides.
#3 Toptal – Best for Higher End Talent
Toptal makes its mark by connecting you with top-quality freelance designers. If quality is your priority and money isn’t an issue, this is the best site.
Pros:
- vetted, top-tier designers
- Pay as you go, or employ long-term.
- Ideal for difficult design tasks that demand long-term engagement.
Cons:
- Significantly higher than all other options.
- Not ideal for smaller projects or finances.
Best for those who prioritize top-tier talent above cost reductions.
#4 Dribbble: Best for Creative Portfolios
Dribbble is a community where designers can share their work. You can look through portfolios and contact the people whose work you admire.
Pros:
- Access to the specialized creators.
- Ideal for style discovery or inspiration.
- Communicate directly with designers before hiring.
Cons:
- No fixed-price service
- Quality ranges by creator—some might be available, others might not
- Takes a lot of time to research potential hires since they’re not all guaranteed availability or skill level
This is best for those who want to see portfolios created by potential candidates and match styles with their needs.
Conclusion
No matter which site you choose in 2025, you’ll find benefits from each. Go with Dribbble if you want creative freedom in hiring, Toptal if you’re looking for exclusive freelancers, and Design Pickle if you’re seeking ongoing support. But if you want consistent, affordable, unlimited graphic design without any guessing—Penji is number one. Visit penj.co today to streamline design for your business.
Business
What’s the Best Subscription Creative Service Agency in 2025?
Published
7 hours agoon
September 17, 2025This year, we’ve witnessed how creative work moves at breakneck speed. We see brands launching faster, content increasing, and competition becoming more fierce. This is the reason subscription creative services are multiplying by the second. They are proven beneficial to businesses. But how do you choose? We compiled this short list of the best subscription creative services to help you decide.
1. Penji
Hands down, the best subscription creative service, Penji, has been making waves in the design niche since 2017. It offers a diverse range of innovative services, including web and app design, social media graphics, logo design, custom illustrations, and more. Its unlimited graphic design business model lets you send requests for as many designs as you want a month for a flat rate.
2. Reel Unlimited
For small businesses and startups, Reel Unlimited is the best subscription creative service for you. They can craft graphics, websites, and video content for you with fast delivery and unlimited revisions. You can avail of its 7-day free trial to determine if this is the right fit for your brand.
3. Designity
Taking pride in its hybrid business model, Designity combines freelance talent with creative direction. This is the ideal subscription creative service for businesses seeking strategic design leadership. It provides branding, web design, UX/UI, and a range of other marketing materials for your brand.
4. Superside
Next is Superside. This is the best subscription creative service for brands that require enterprise-level work. It has a focus on collaboration and scalability, making it the most suitable graphic design partner for large teams and global businesses.
5. NoLimit Creatives
Last but not least, NoLimit Creatives, the design service that offers both graphic and video design with flexible plans. It is most suited for agencies and eCommerce businesses. It provides a wide range of creative services, which include online ads, social media graphics, product packaging, and video editing.