10 years of Three Good Things
We asked our GOOD colleagues to share a campaign that stands out to them from the past decade and why it resonates with them.
“GOOD launched ‘Three Good Things’ 10 years ago at a time when negative news stories dominated the media and were contributing to general feelings of despair. We consider ourselves lucky and privileged to work in a sector where charities and brands are doing extremely powerful and positive things, and we wanted to shine a light on that work. It’s easy to focus on the sheer amount of negative news in the world, but Three Good Things exists to deliver a dose of positivity and inspiration to people’s inboxes every week. Over the decade, we have seen a broad range of organisations adopting purposeful communications and charities pursuing braver brand work, creating powerful campaigns for awareness and change.”
Pete Esuola-Grant, Head of Planning, GOOD
Jess Sargent (She/Her) – Planner
Bodyform: Womb Stories
Bodyform have had multiple standout campaigns over the last ten years, from 2017’s Blood Normal which finally replaced the weird blue liquid in period adverts with something that looked much closer to the real deal, to 2024’s Never Just a Period which humorously and sensitively depicts the reality of being a woman in societies which still just don’t get it. My favourite of these is 2020’s Womb Stories, which brought real experiences to life using different artistic techniques and metaphors. They took a new and ‘radical’ approach to research for this campaign, asking open-ended questions like ‘if your womb was a person or a place, what would it be like?’, encouraging women to explore their experiences in more depth and unlocking unexpected metaphors, images and stories. The result was the first of a series of ads that represent women’s relationships with their bodies in a sensitive, multifaceted way. I love these campaigns because they’ve contributed to more realistic and empathetic representations of women, and they demonstrate the power of taking time to listen to and co-create with our audiences.
Kia Wing (They/Them) – Copywriter
Starbucks: #WhatsYourName
When asked for my favourite purpose campaign over the past 10 years, immediately Starbucks #WhatsYourName comes to mind. Maybe it’s the personal resonance of the trans and gender non-conforming experience or maybe it’s just a refreshingly authentic story told very well. Either way, the story follows James – a trans man who no longer identifies with his birth name. After repeatedly being called “Jemma” during a series of everyday encounters and family interactions, the ad climaxes as he finally tries out the name “James” at Starbucks. It’s written on the cup and when his coffee is ready, he hears his true name called out for the very first time.
What a powerful and wildly ownable truth.
Jonas Pollard (He/Him) – Junior Creative
Amnesty International: The Refugee Nation
Let’s go back eight years to a more hopeful moment in history for refugees. Before the negative chants of ‘stop the boats’ dominated the press, The Refugee Nation was born. For the first time ever, a refugee team could compete in the Olympics and get recognised around the world. And Amnesty delivered a striking campaign ‘This Is Our Flag’ to share the news. One of the reasons this campaign stayed with me all these years was due to the impactful, clean and quickly recognisable design that lands the movement; the defiant orange flag was inspired by the life-vest, the beacon of hope out of nightmare situations.
What I also love is that, at its core, refugees created the campaign elements that mattered the most. From the flag, to the anthem, to spreading the word around the world. In advertising we should champion real people, real insights and real movements that are out there, but just need help shouting louder.
Oyin Omiwade (She/Her) – Junior Planner
Barbie: Give Limitless Possibilities
As a continuation of Barbie’s legacy which began in 1959 with ‘You Can Be Anything’ and ‘Imagine the Possibilities’ and in celebration of their 65th anniversary in August they launched a new brand campaign titled “Give Limitless Possibilities.”
The campaign celebrates the lengths that parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and other loved ones go to support and nurture the dreams of the children in their lives. With the question, “If you could give the kids in your life anything, what would you give them?” The heart of the “Give Limitless Possibilities” campaign lies in the acknowledgment of a child’s greatest superpower: their imagination. Imagination allows children to view the world in ways adults often cannot, helping them build self-esteem, foster creativity, nurture empathy, and develop a sense of endless possibility.
While Barbie has always shown that we can aspire to any role, this campaign reinforces the message that a child’s determination and imagination coupled with the love and guidance of their loved ones can allow them to achieve anything they have their minds set on.
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