15 Successful PR Campaign Examples That Made Brands Stand Out

The best PR campaign examples share one trait: they gave people something worth talking about, and the media followed. Some began as advertising and became news. Others started as a stunt, a stand or a single honest apology. What they have in common is a clear idea, good timing and a message that people wanted to pass on.

This guide walks through 15 PR campaign examples from India and around the world, with what each one did, what happened and what you can borrow. The figures come from the sources named in each entry, and where a number was reported by the company itself, we say so. If you want to see how we build campaigns for clients, browse our case studies after reading.

What Makes a PR Campaign Successful?

Before the PR campaign examples, a quick checklist. Almost every one of these successful PR campaigns meets most of these tests.

• A clear idea. You can explain it in one sentence.
• A human truth. It speaks to something the audience already feels.
• A reason to cover it. News value, surprise, emotion or a record.
• Easy to share. A hashtag, a video, a challenge or a line people repeat.
• Brand fit. The idea matches what the brand actually stands for.
• Evidence of results. There are numbers or outcomes, and they are reported honestly.

Several of these famous PR campaigns started as advertising films. We include them because their success came from earned media and public conversation, which is the heart of PR.

Successful PR Campaigns Built on a Human Insight

These PR campaign examples started from a truth the audience already felt, which is why they travelled so far.

1. Dove Real Beauty Sketches (2013)

Created by Ogilvy Brazil, the film showed a sketch artist drawing women first as they described themselves, and then as strangers described them. The gap between the two drawings was the story. It won the Titanium Grand Prix at the 2013 Cannes Lions, according to Adweek. Lesson: a simple, emotional contrast can carry a message across cultures without explaining it.

2. Always #LikeAGirl (2014)

Always, from Procter & Gamble, asked what the phrase “like a girl” means and turned an insult into a point of pride. Developed with Leo Burnett, MSL and Starcom, it won the PR Grand Prix in the Brand Voice category at the 2015 Cannes Lions, along with other Lions, according to a Leo Burnett release. Lesson: take a phrase everyone knows and change what it means.

3. Ariel #ShareTheLoad (India, 2015 and 2016)

Created by BBDO India for Ariel Matic, the campaign asked a question many Indian households avoid: is laundry only a woman’s job? Business Standard reported more than 50 million views and two billion impressions for the 2016 “Dads” film, and noted a printed “His & Her Odd Even Calendar” on packs to help couples split laundry days. The campaign won a Glass Lion and four bronze Lions at Cannes in 2016 (Business Standard report). Lesson: pair an emotional message with something practical people can use.

4. Lifebuoy Help a Child Reach 5 (India)

Hindustan Unilever’s hygiene programme focused on handwashing in villages. In a village called Thesgora in Madhya Pradesh, HUL said diarrhoea incidence fell from 36% to 5%, based on a Nielsen evaluation of 1,485 households in September 2013, as reported in an April 2014 release. The figure is the company’s own claim. Lesson: measurable community results make a brand story credible, as long as you attribute the numbers.

5. Tata Tea Jaago Re (India, 2008)

Tata Tea backed a voter registration drive through the Jaago Re website, which was conceived by the NGO Jaanagraha. Business Standard reported in February 2009 that almost 250,000 young people had registered through the site. The brand also reported its market share rising from 19.4% to 20.6% between December 2007 and December 2008, and said the campaigns partly explained it. Lesson: a civic cause tied to a brand can build trust, but link claims about sales carefully.

Creative PR Campaigns That Earned Attention

These creative PR campaigns relied on a stunt, an offer or a personal touch to win attention.

6. Red Bull Stratos (2012)

On 14 October 2012, Felix Baumgartner jumped from the stratosphere, about 24 miles up. NBC News reported that 8 million people watched live on YouTube, beating the previous peak of 500,000 concurrent streams. Lesson: when you create the event itself, the media comes to you. This is the logic behind well-planned event PR.

7. Burger King Whopper Detour (2018)

Burger King offered a one-cent Whopper to customers who ordered through its app while near a McDonald’s restaurant. Skift reported, citing the parent company’s results, that the promotion led to 1.5 million app downloads. Lesson: a playful rivalry and a clear mechanic make a product or offer launch easy for the media to retell.

8. Old Spice, “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” (2010)

After the original film, Old Spice recorded personalised video replies to people online. A Wieden+Kennedy strategist reported in August 2010 that the work had 130 million video views and 1.5 billion impressions, that each reply was made in under 15 minutes over two days, and that body wash sales rose 55% over three months, according to Adweek. Lesson: answering real people in real time turns an ad into a conversation.

9. Coca-Cola Share a Coke

The campaign, created with Ogilvy Sydney, printed popular names on bottles so people could share a Coke with someone. Marketing magazine reported young adult consumption up 7% in the first Australian season, and that, after a US rollout, sales rose 2.5% according to The Wall Street Journal, after 11 years of decline. About 80 countries later adopted it. Lesson: personalisation gives people a reason to post and share.

Famous PR Campaigns That Took a Stand

These famous PR campaigns each took a clear position or invited the public to act.

10. Patagonia, “Don’t Buy This Jacket” (2011)

On Black Friday 2011, Patagonia ran a full-page New York Times ad telling readers not to buy its R2 jacket, and explained its environmental cost. The ad was also emailed to about 750,000 customers, and the brand’s Common Threads pledges rose by 13,000 in the following week, Outside magazine reported. Lesson: a values-first message works when the brand has acted on those values for years.

11. Nike Dream Crazy (2018)

Released in September 2018 for the 30th anniversary of Just Do It, the film featured Colin Kaepernick alongside Serena Williams and LeBron James. It won the Emmy for Outstanding Commercial in 2019 and drew strong public reactions. Lesson: taking a stand invites both support and criticism, so decide in advance that your brand is ready for both.

12. ALS Ice Bucket Challenge (2014)

The Ice Bucket Challenge spread through social media and raised more than $115 million for ALS in eight weeks in 2014, with $77 million going to research. Time reported that the funding helped Project MinE identify a new ALS gene, NEK1, announced in July 2016 (Time report). It was a charity-led campaign, not a brand one. Lesson: a simple, visible, shareable action invites mass participation.

PR Case Studies in Real-Time Response

These PR case studies show how speed and honesty work when events move fast.

13. KFC “FCK” apology (UK, 2018)

When a chicken shortage forced KFC to close several UK outlets, the brand ran a full-page apology showing its bucket with the letters rearranged to read FCK. Campaign reported that Mother’s work won a Gold Cannes Lion in Print and Publishing. Lesson: humour and honesty can turn a crisis into goodwill, but only when the apology is real. Our crisis communication team uses the same principle: own the problem first.

14. Oreo “You can still dunk in the dark” (2013)

During the 2013 Super Bowl blackout, Oreo posted its line within minutes. Digiday’s oral history reports the team had it ready in under a minute and that it drew more than 15,000 retweets. Lesson: pre-agreed approvals matter more than perfect creativity. See how this works in practice with newsjacking.

15. Amul topical ads (India, since 1969)

Amul says its topical hoardings began in 1969 with “Hurry Amul, Hurry Hurry,” created by Sylvester daCunha, Mohammad Khan and Usha Bandarkar, and have commented on current events ever since. Lesson: a consistent voice, repeated for decades, becomes a signature.

Quick Comparison of the 15 PR Campaign Examples

What Can You Learn From These PR Campaign Examples?

Across all 15 PR campaign examples, a few patterns repeat.

• Start with the audience, not the product. The strongest examples found a truth people already felt.
• Give the media a hook. A record, a first, a number, an emotion or a surprise.
• Make participation easy. Hashtags, challenges, names on bottles and simple actions all lower the barrier.
• Prepare for speed. Real-time wins like Oreo and Old Spice relied on teams and approvals set up in advance.
• Be careful with claims. Report results with sources and say when a number is company-reported.
• Expect risk when taking a stand. Plan responses before you publish.

How Do You Plan a PR Campaign of Your Own?

Use these PR campaign examples as a starting point, because you do not need a global budget. Start with one audience, one idea and one clear outcome. Our guides to launching a PR campaign and planning a PR campaign for 2026 walk through the steps, and our list of PR activity ideas can spark smaller ideas. For help shaping an idea around your goals, our PR strategy team can review your plan, and once it runs, measuring PR success shows what worked.

FAQs

What is a PR campaign?

A PR campaign is a planned set of activities designed to earn attention and trust for a brand through media coverage, events, stories and public conversation, with a clear goal and audience.

What are some famous PR campaign examples?

Well-known examples include Dove Real Beauty Sketches, Always #LikeAGirl, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, Red Bull Stratos, KFC’s FCK apology, and India’s Ariel #ShareTheLoad and Amul topical ads.

What makes creative PR campaigns work?

They start with an audience insight, offer news or emotion, and make it easy for people and journalists to share the story.

Are PR case studies useful for small businesses?

Yes. You can borrow the principles, such as a clear idea, honest results and speed, even without a large budget.

How do you measure the success of a PR campaign?

Compare results with the goals you set at the start, such as quality of coverage, message accuracy, audience action and business impact, and use sources for every number you report.

How long does a PR campaign take to plan?

It depends on scope. A simple campaign can come together in weeks, while a large one with events or research takes months. Allow time for approvals and a plan for the unexpected.

Vvihan Gulati

Vvihan Gulati founded MediagraphicsPR in 2000. In 25 years of public relations, he's learned that a narrative only matters if it holds up once a journalist starts asking hard questions, not just when it's sitting in a press release. He's spent that time building brand stories for startups, global companies, and industry leaders across sectors, working as both strategist and the person actually writing the pitch.