Famous
Marketing Agencies:
Iconic Campaigns
& Epic Flops

Some agencies make advertising. A few make phrases that outlive the products they were written for. This article looks at the famous marketing agencies behind campaigns many people still recognize, from Nike’s “Just Do It” to Mastercard’s “Priceless,” and at two well-known brand moves that drew backlash.

Each profile covers who the agency is, the business problem the client faced, the idea, what the public record shows about the result, and the lesson a CEO can take from it. Where we cite a figure, we link to its source.

The Influence of Famous Marketing Agencies

Behind most of the advertising people remember is a small number of agencies. Their best work did more than describe a product. Nike’s “Just Do It” turned a shoe company into a point of view about effort. Mastercard’s “Priceless” moved a payment card from interest rates to the things money cannot buy. Apple’s “Get a Mac” made a technical comparison feel like a conversation between two people.

Those campaigns are worth studying because they solved ordinary business problems: a brand losing ground to a competitor, a category nobody thought about, a product people admired but did not buy. The craft was exceptional. The problems were familiar to any leadership team.

What Defines the Most Famous Marketing Agencies?

Plenty of agencies produce competent work. The ones whose names people know tend to share three traits:

• Work that enters the culture. “Got Milk?” and Budweiser’s “Whassup?” (created by DDB Chicago; the spots won the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2000, SHOOT reported) were repeated by people who never saw the media plan.
• Long relationships with demanding clients. Wieden+Kennedy opened in 1982 with Nike as its first client, and Adweek reported in 2003 that BBDO had been GE’s agency since 1920.
• A willingness to hold one idea for years. Most of the campaigns below ran for a decade or more because client and agency resisted the urge to start over.

Why Famous Marketing Agencies Matter for Brands Today

Attention is harder to earn than it was when most of these campaigns launched. The lessons travel anyway. A clear idea, repeated with discipline, still beats a new campaign every quarter. A point of view still outlasts a feature list. And the best-known work usually had a senior client-side leader willing to protect it.

That matters as much to a $50 million company as to a global brand. The budgets differ by orders of magnitude; the discipline does not.

What You’ll Learn in This Article

Below are eight campaigns from some of the most famous marketing agencies, two brand moves that backfired, and a short note on what a growth-stage company should take from all of it. At the end, we introduce Moving Minds and the companies we work with in the $10 million to $300 million range.

Wieden+Kennedy: One of the Most Famous Marketing Agencies, and the Three Words It Wrote for Nike

Dan Wieden and David Kennedy opened their Portland, Oregon, ad agency on April 1, 1982, with Nike as their first client (Encyclopedia.com, from the International Directory of Company Histories). Wieden+Kennedy remains best known for the line Dan Wieden wrote for that client: “Just Do It.”

The Campaign: “Just Do It” (1988 to present)

In 1988, Reebok had passed Nike in sales, The Oregonian noted. Nike’s athletes were elite; most of its potential customers were not. The agency needed a line broad enough to speak to both.

The first “Just Do It” commercial, which debuted on July 1, 1988, did not feature a star. It followed Walt Stack, an 80-year-old San Francisco runner, across the Golden Gate Bridge on his daily run (The Oregonian). The casting made the argument: the brand was for anyone willing to show up.

Why It Worked

• It spoke to everyone at once. The same three words worked for an Olympian and for someone starting to run.
• It sold an attitude, not a product. The line said nothing about shoes, which is why it could carry every shoe Nike made.
• It traveled beyond sport. People applied it to work and life, which kept it in circulation without paid media.

What Changed

Over roughly the decade that followed, Nike’s annual sales grew from $877 million to $9.2 billion, The Oregonian reported. Many factors drove that growth, but the line became the brand’s organizing idea and is still in use.

The Lesson for a CEO

Find the idea that is true for your best customer and your newest one, then keep it long enough for the market to learn it.

BBDO: One of the Most Famous Marketing Agencies, and How It Turned Hunger into a Brand Idea for Snickers

BBDO traces its roots to the George Batten Company, founded in New York in 1891; the merger that created Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn followed in 1928 (Hagley Museum and Library). Its best-known idea of the past two decades is a single sentence for Snickers: “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry.”

The Campaign: “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” (2010 to present)

By 2010, Snickers was a familiar bar with no particular reason to be chosen over the one next to it. BBDO New York gave it one: hunger changes who you are, and a Snickers changes you back.

The launch spot, “Game,” ran during Super Bowl XLIV. In a pickup football game, Betty White plays a young man’s hungry self and is flattened in the mud. His girlfriend hands him a Snickers; he takes a bite and is himself again (The Drum).

Why It Worked

• A repeatable format. Any celebrity, in any country, could play the hungry version of someone.
• A functional benefit told as a joke. “Satisfies” became a story people wanted to watch.
• A universal truth. Everyone has been short-tempered when hungry.

What Changed

“Game” topped USA Today’s Super Bowl Ad Meter, and by 2016 the campaign had expanded to more than 80 countries, The Drum reported.

The Lesson for a CEO

A format that can be repeated in many markets is worth more than a single brilliant ad. Build the platform, then let it travel.

The Arnell Group: The Agency Behind Reebok’s “Terry Tate: Office Linebacker”

The trade press at the time credits Reebok’s 2003 Super Bowl campaign to The Arnell Group of New York, led by Peter Arnell (SHOOT; Muse by Clio).

The Campaign: “Terry Tate: Office Linebacker” (2003)

Reebok wanted the attention of football fans without running another slow-motion athlete film. Instead, it and its agency backed a four-minute short by filmmaker Rawson Marshall Thurber about an office that hires a linebacker to enforce workplace etiquette.

The 60-second Super Bowl spot showed Terry Tate tackling colleagues who left the coffee pot empty or ignored a jammed copier, with Reebok’s logo on his uniform and little else from the brand. Four longer films ran on a dedicated website (SHOOT).

Why It Worked

• Surprise. A linebacker in an office was a premise viewers had not seen before.
• Entertainment first. The brand stayed in the background, which made people willing to seek out the longer films.
• Built for sharing. The web films gave the idea a second life after the broadcast.

What Changed

SHOOT reported that the Super Bowl placement came after Reebok finalized a 10-year contract with the NFL, and that the spot was Reebok’s first Super Bowl appearance in nearly a decade. Nearly two decades later, Muse by Clio featured it in its series on classic Super Bowl commercials.

The Lesson for a CEO

When every competitor says the same thing in the same way, a different format can matter more than a different message.

Droga5: One of the Most Famous Marketing Agencies, and Under Armour’s “I Will What I Want”

David Droga launched Droga5 in New York in 2006. Creativity magazine named it Agency of the Year in 2007 and 2011 (ADC Creative Hall of Fame).

The Campaign: “I Will What I Want” (2014)

Under Armour was built on football and men’s training. Its women’s business needed a reason to exist that was not a smaller version of the men’s.

Droga5’s answer was a film about will rather than physique. American Ballet Theatre soloist Misty Copeland dances while a voiceover reads a ballet academy’s rejection letter: “You have the wrong body for ballet. And at 13, you are too old to be considered” (TIME). The 60-second spot launched online on July 31, 2014 (Under Armour).

Why It Worked

• A real story. The tension came from obstacles the athlete had faced, not from a product claim.
• A new audience addressed on its own terms. Women athletes saw themselves in the work rather than in a reworked men’s campaign.
• A clear brand stance. Determination over circumstance, which fit Under Armour’s origins.

What Changed

Under Armour called “I Will What I Want” its most expansive global women’s marketing campaign to date (Under Armour release). The Copeland film drew 4 million views in its first week, TIME reported.

The Lesson for a CEO

When you enter a new segment, speak to it directly. A scaled-down version of your core message rarely persuades the people you are trying to win.

TBWA: One of the Most Famous Marketing Agencies, and Apple’s “Get a Mac”

“Get a Mac” was made by TBWA\Media Arts Lab, the TBWA agency dedicated to Apple; award records credit the campaign to TBWA\Media Arts Lab (The One Club). TBWA’s best-known U.S. agency, TBWA\Chiat\Day, is the product of a 1995 merger between Chiat/Day, founded in 1968, and the North American operations of TBWA (Reference for Business).

The Campaign: “Get a Mac” (2006 to 2009)

In the mid-2000s, Apple made admired computers that most people did not buy. Windows was the default. A specification-by-specification comparison would have been accurate and forgettable.

Instead, the campaign put two people on a white background. Justin Long, relaxed: “Hello, I’m a Mac.” John Hodgman, in a suit: “And I’m a PC.” Each spot turned a product difference, such as viruses, crashes or setup, into a short scene between them.

Why It Worked

• Characters instead of specifications. Viewers understood the difference without a single technical term.
• Humor without contempt. PC was likable, which kept the comparison from feeling like an attack.
• Volume and consistency. The same format carried dozens of messages.

What Changed

Apple ran 66 “Get a Mac” TV spots between May 2006 and October 2009, and in 2010 Adweek named it the best advertising campaign of the decade (Adweek).

The Lesson for a CEO

If buyers cannot tell your product from the default choice, give the difference a human face. People remember characters long after they forget feature lists.

McCann: One of the Most Famous Marketing Agencies, and Mastercard’s “Priceless”

McCann (formerly McCann Erickson) traces its roots to the agency Alfred Erickson started in 1902; the Erickson and H.K. McCann firms merged in 1930 (TIME). Its best-known campaign has run since 1997.

The Campaign: “Priceless” (1997 to present)

In the mid-1990s, credit card advertising was about rates and rewards, and Mastercard’s own executives called the brand “a mess” (Sports Business Journal). McCann won the account by changing the subject from the card to what people use it for.

The first spot, which ran during the 1997 World Series, followed a father and his 11-year-old son at a ballgame. It priced the tickets, the food and an autographed ball, then ended on the line that mattered: “Real conversation with 11-year-old son: priceless. There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s Mastercard” (Sports Business Journal).

Why It Worked

• Emotion with a structure. The price list made the final line land.
• A formula anyone could repeat. People parodied it, which kept it in circulation.
• A positioning, not a promotion. It gave Mastercard a role in moments that matter rather than a better rate.

What Changed

Twenty-five years later, Mastercard was still building its marketing around “Priceless” (Mastercard newsroom, 2022).

The Lesson for a CEO

When every competitor competes on price or features, the brand that names what the customer actually values can own that ground for decades.

Goodby, Silverstein & Partners: One of the Most Famous Marketing Agencies, and “Got Milk?”

Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein co-founded the San Francisco agency now called Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in 1983, and Goodby wrote the line “got milk?” (GS&P).

The Campaign: “Got Milk?” (1993)

By the early 1990s, Californians were drinking less milk each year, and earlier advertising had tried to persuade people who did not drink it. The California Milk Processor Board, formed in 1993, took a different brief to GS&P (Encyclopedia.com).

The agency’s insight was that people think about milk mainly when they run out of it. The first spot, “Aaron Burr,” debuted on October 29, 1993. A history buff with a mouth full of peanut butter sandwich cannot answer a radio quiz question he knows cold, because there is no milk in the house (Encyclopedia.com).

Why It Worked

• It targeted existing drinkers. The goal was to get people who already liked milk to buy it more often.
• Deprivation instead of benefits. No nutrition claims, only the moment of missing it.
• Two words. Short enough to repeat, easy to adapt.

What Changed

“Got Milk?” continued for more than a decade (Encyclopedia.com), and Lürzer’s Archive later named the “Aaron Burr” launch spot, directed by Michael Bay, among its 40 best ads of the last 40 years.

The Lesson for a CEO

Sometimes the best audience is the customer you already have. Find the moment they need you, and own it.

BBDO: One of the Most Famous Marketing Agencies, and GE’s “We Bring Good Things to Life”

Adweek reported in 2003 that BBDO had been GE’s agency since 1920. For a conglomerate whose products ranged from light bulbs to jet engines, it created a corporate line that ran for more than two decades.

The Campaign: “We Bring Good Things to Life” (1979 to 2002)

In the late 1970s, GE was large, industrial and hard to feel anything about. Most people saw its products, not the company behind them.

BBDO connected the company to what its products did for people at home, at work and in their communities, and set the idea to a jingle that made the line easy to remember.

Why It Worked

• Outcomes over products. A diverse portfolio was tied together by what it made possible.
• Memorable sound. The music carried the line.
• Consistency. The same promise ran across the company’s businesses for more than two decades.

What Changed

The campaign ran from 1979 until 2002, and BBDO also created its successor, “Imagination at Work,” which GE launched in January 2003 (Adweek).

The Lesson for a CEO

A complex company needs one simple idea that every division can stand behind. Without it, the market sees a list of products, not a company.

Two Famous Brand Moves That Backfired

Not every well-known marketing decision works. The two below are often blamed on famous agencies. The record is more complicated, and the lessons are about leadership as much as creative work.

Bud Light and Dylan Mulvaney, 2023: An Instagram Influencer Post, Not an Agency-of-Record Campaign

In early April 2023, Bud Light sent transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney a can bearing her image. She posted it on Instagram as part of a Bud Light promotion, and a conservative social media backlash and boycott followed (Campaign US).

This was not a campaign by Bud Light’s creative agency of record. Anheuser-Busch InBev’s chief executive said the sponsored post was not a fully fledged ad campaign. Anomaly had been Bud Light’s creative agency of record since August 2022, and in May 2023 the chief executive of its parent company, Stagwell, confirmed that Bud Light was still an active client (Campaign US).

What Happened Next

Retail sales of Bud Light fell 21.4% in the week ending April 22, 2023, according to Nielsen data analyzed by Bump Williams Consulting (Campaign US). The company’s public statements in the following weeks were criticized by communications executives as vague, and two marketing executives were placed on leave, according to media reports cited by Campaign.

The Lesson for a CEO

Before any partnership that touches a contested issue, know how your core customers are likely to read it, and decide in advance who speaks for the company if a backlash starts.

Jaguar’s “Copy Nothing” Rebrand, 2024

In November 2024, Jaguar unveiled a new brand identity built on founder Sir William Lyons’s principle that a Jaguar should be “a copy of nothing” (Jaguar newsroom). The launch film featured models in bright colors and no car. Adweek described it as “a car-free campaign from the brand’s in-house creative team” and reported that it divided the internet (Adweek).

The agency picture: Accenture Song held Jaguar Land Rover’s global creative account, which it won in 2021 with Spark44, the company’s in-house creative agency. In May 2025, Campaign reported that JLR had put that account into review (Campaign).

What Happened Next

Jaguar showed the car, its Type 00 concept, at Miami Art Week on December 2, 2024, about two weeks after the identity launched (Jaguar’s official reveal video). The identity and the film came first; the car followed.

The Lesson for a CEO

A rebrand film that does not show the product asks customers to do the work. Sequence the story so the market sees what you sell before it is asked to love what you stand for.

Moving Minds: The Most Famous Agency You’ve Never Heard Of

This article is about agencies almost everyone has heard of. For the companies we work with, an agency’s fame has never been the point.

What Famous Marketing Agencies Teach a $10M–$300M Company

The habits behind these campaigns do not depend on budget: one clear idea, held long enough for the market to learn it, and a senior leader willing to protect it.

The practical question for a growth-stage or private equity-backed company is how to apply those habits at its own stage and in its own market.

Who We Are

Moving Minds, founded in 2006, works with companies in the $10 million to $300 million range, including private equity-backed portfolio companies, B2B SaaS and technology firms, healthcare vendors and business services firms. Our principals have won Webby, ADDY and EFFIE awards. Clients include Schweiger Dermatology, Jupiter Medical Center and TELCOR.

Updated October 2026: we corrected several agency credits, including Reebok’s “Terry Tate: Office Linebacker” (The Arnell Group, not Arnold Worldwide), updated the Bud Light and Jaguar sections, and removed statistics we could not trace to a published source.