Hungry for Marketing Inspiration? Feast on These 6 Tantalizing Examples

It’s Thanksgiving Day in the United States, when you try to leave work behind, put aside petty squabbles, and be present with the people you care about (at least until the post-meal nap attacks hit).

Of course, not everyone observes the same holiday traditions or shares the same good fortune. But finding ways to recognize and relate to others’ authentic experiences is what great content marketing is all about.

In that spirit, I’ve gathered some holiday marketing and content examples that capture the essence of this day, including some winners and top finalists at this year’s Content Marketing Awards. As you fill your plate, save room for these tasty treats. 

Sharing a meal

Food is the official Thanksgiving love language. Whether you’re in charge of cooking or just plan to consume, marketers serve up plenty of content to prepare you for a fulfilling experience.

Nestlé: Libby’s in the Field

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Turkey may be the star of the Thanksgiving show, but another farm-sourced dish deserves second billing: pumpkin pie. To share the origin story behind the unofficial flavor of fall, Nestlé Professional LIBBY’S®️ Pumpkin created Libby’s in the Field.

This content-rich microsite features an immersive virtual-reality experience, From Our Fields to Your Kitchen. It aims to help the brand’s target audience of operator partners and suppliers better understand its agricultural process, from seed cultivation to picking, processing, and packaging the produce for wholesale distribution. 

At each step, clicked hot spots reveal compelling visuals, video interviews with farmers and agriculture experts, and details on the company’s sustainability practices.  

The powerful educational tool highlights the brand’s core values of sustainability, land stewardship, and farmer relationships. Its innovative application of VR technology put the campaign on the finalist list for the 2024 Content Marketing Award for Best Use of Technology.

Traveling the highways and byways

The Thanksgiving holiday includes some of the busiest travel days of the year. Great content might not always save you from the stress of getting to where you’re going, but it can help pass the time in transit and remind you of the joyful experiences that await once you arrive.

Marriott: The Power of Travel

On Thanksgiving, travel plans typically involve a return to familiar spaces and faces. But journeys to unexpected places are often the most memorable — and some can be downright transformational.

In its streaming video series The Power of Travel, Marriott Bonvoy explores the idea of travel as a catalyst for meaningful change. Each short film shares the story of an inspirational individual striving to create a sense of belonging and expand people’s horizons.

As you might expect from a travel brand, the films feature stunning natural landscapes and spotlight exotic locations where Marriott operates. But its focus on fostering community while far from home makes the content series a standout and a finalist for the Content Marketing Award for Best Motivational Video or Video series.

For example, on their first-ever trip to Puerto Rico, Zi Donnya Piggott talks about how they founded the travel platform Pink Coconuts to help connect LGBTQ+ travelers with queer-friendly spaces worldwide (video above). In another film, The World in a Glass, sommelier Tahiirah Habibi discusses a trip to South Africa that led her to create the first international chapter of The Hue Society, an organization advocating for increased inclusivity in the wine industry.

Connecting with friends and family

Thanksgiving is a time to gather with those you care about and turn to in times of need. It’s also a reminder of how complex human relationships can be, whether they manifest around the dinner table, in front of the TV, or through the screens of digital devices.

Peloton: Find Your Push, Find Your Power

Many people aspire to maintain healthy habits during the holidays, but those intentions can go out the window in the face of a Thanksgiving feast. Similarly, you might vow to keep the conversation civil during dinner, yet a triggering topic overwhelms your resolve.

Peloton ran with the concept of friendly family rivalries for a new campaign to increase its appeal among men fitness enthusiasts. The video features big-name NFL stars — and real-life brothers — T.J. and J.J. Watt. The siblings bring their competitive edge to their personal workouts. Each pushes to outperform the other until the Peloton coach calls a timeout. However, as they settle on the couch to power down, a text from their mother spurs them to jump back onto their machines for another run.

Giving back

Showing gratitude is admirable. Paying it forward by supporting those in need and contributing to the greater good is even better. Stellar content efforts can further those philanthropic ideals by bringing them to life through storytelling.

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: Partners of Human Potential

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation had an awareness problem. While the public may have heard of the philanthropic organization, few outside its target list of academics, policymakers, and nonprofit leaders were familiar with its work, mission, and impact.

To close that knowledge gap, the foundation teamed up with the agency Message Lab to create Partners of Human Potential as part of a large-scale branding initiative. Each of the five full-length feature articles with an accompanying sizzle reel and images profiles an organization supported by the foundation and the people who have benefited from its work.

The stories span the globe, from students in New Orleans empowered to turn their dreams into academic and career success to water-saving sanitation technology in South Africa that increased school attendance.

In addition to illustrating the foundation’s impact on individuals, the series truly shines by showing the interconnected nature of its work. For example, in the intro video above, a narrator describes how a novel neonatal care technique inspired by kangaroos helped significantly reduce infant mortality rates in India and will soon be implemented worldwide.

The campaign made an impressive impact on the foundation’s marketing goals, according to Message Lab. It also drew admiration from the 2024 Content Marketing Award judges, who named it the winner in three categories: Best Feature Article, Best Series of Articles, and Best Interview or Profile.

Bargain hunting on Black Friday

While some choose to sleep off the carb overload after dinner, others prefer to get a jump-start on their holiday shopping. For those in the latter group, marketers are standing by to help them discover the perfect present for everyone on their list.

Etsy: Waldo Anthem

It’s hard for small retailers to compete with massive marketplaces like Amazon. But Etsy steals its share of shoppers’ attention by promoting its signature strength: a community of creators who craft customized products that satisfy virtually any niche interest. This bespoke gifting expertise is highlighted in Waldo Anthem, Etsy’s first ad of the 2024 holiday season.

If you’re looking to stand out in a crowd, there’s no better star for your ad than Waldo — the bespectacled bloke who’s easy to spot in his signature red-and-white striped outfit. In the video above, Wally (as he calls himself) wanders through a holiday market, smiling graciously at the shoppers who spot him. Yet, he laments, most are more interested in learning where Wally is than who he is.

As he arrives in a cafe, a friend, also dressed in red and white stripes, demonstrates she’s the exception. She presents him with a custom-made compass inscribed, “I’m glad I found you.” It’s a touching moment that reflects Etsy’s unique value proposition and speaks to the power of personalized connections — something content marketers can undoubtedly relate to.  

Amazon: Virtual Holiday Shop

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Malls were invented because people loved the convenience of one-stop shopping. However, when their online retailer of choice is Amazon-sized, they can browse for days and still not find what they’re looking for.

To make its gift-buying experience more manageable, Amazon has launched a whimsical virtual-reality simulation of a high-end holiday emporium. The brand’s Virtual Holiday Shop experience features familiar brick-and-mortar Christmas mainstays — visually appealing product displays, merry background music, and festive decorations. But instead of expecting shoppers to do the standard search-and-scroll thing, Amazon has curated collections of trending products organized into categories like beauty, tech, toys, and stocking stuffers.

Visitors can zip around the shop and zoom in on items that catch their eye. And unlike a physical storefront, shoppers don’t have to wait for a sales associate to answer their questions or stand in long holiday lines. Clicking on a product in the virtual display opens a detailed description and the ability to add it to the shopping cart.

Find fulfillment — no matter how you define it

From the CMI team to yours, we hope you find time to relax this holiday season so you can return refreshed and ready to create content experiences your audience can’t wait to dig into.

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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute