Which Content did In-house Teams Love in 2025?

This month is a slightly different edition of Unpacked.

In a remix of our own annual jealousy lists, we asked in-house marketers in content, Digital PR & SEO what their favourite content of the year was instead.

So keep scrolling for 15 of the most creative marketing examples of the year from some of the best marketers in the industry.

Director of Organic Marketing, Hallow

Hoop Hills by Vinicius Sueiro

“The NBA season is a grind. It begins with little fanfare in October, when the MLB season is reaching its (often) dramatic conclusion and the juggernaut that is the NFL is in full swing. The 82-game regular season ends in April and eventually, a champion is crowned in June. 

Hoop Hills is a stunning visualization showing the ups and downs of the six-month-long season, broken down by every basket, for every team. I was struck by how interactive it was – how many different ways they slice up the data, each painting an impressive picture.

I was also grateful this project does not seem to exist for baseball: Such a vivid depiction of the collapse of my New York Mets last season would be too painful!”

Media & PR Adviser, Plan International UK

The Career Shredder from Pregnant Then Screwed

“Charity content often follows repeated tactics and well-trodden approaches, so I’m always on the lookout for inspiration from campaigners doing it differently. This giant shredder destroyed thousands of CVs to symbolize the careers lost due to pregnancy and maternity discrimination. Instead of just doing a physical installation, this had a dedicated website and four-week livestream, also hosted on YouTube.

Visitors could ‘shred’ their own CV digitally and in turn received a shareable asset, turning awareness into engagement. The content was also underpinned by new research providing a more in-depth angle for media coverage. (Up to 74,000 women every year now lose their job for getting pregnant or taking maternity leave - an increase of 37% from 54,000 in 2016!). I really admire the use of a creative, tongue-in-cheek concept that confronts a serious issue – it's not an easy tone to strike.”

Brand, Content & Digital PR Lead, Lowell

The Story of Kerstin & Ruth by Tinder

"The campaign I want to highlight that I bloody LOVE is this piece from Tinder’s It Starts with a Swipe. It went a little unnoticed, but it uses ‘simple’ case studies of real relationships – focusing on Manchester City player Kerstin Casparij and her partner Ruth Brown – from matching on the app to moments shaped by the latter’s career.

Case studies aren't new in marketing, but it’s something I’ve worked on a lot this year and I thought it was a brilliant way of showing the benefit of the app.

I'm also always a fan of LGBTQIA+ representation, and this felt like a beautiful, authentic portrayal. The video and social assets were simple, effective, heartwarming, and couldn't explain the benefits of Tinder in any better way."

Founder, Sanganni 

Why do some people have curls and others don’t? by ARD

“In 2025, representation of textured hair in German media and education remains limited, leaving many consumers without reliable guidance. Against this backdrop, public broadcaster ARD released a Wissen vor acht – Mensch episode titled “Warum haben manche Menschen Locken und andere nicht?” (Why do some people have curls and others don’t?), offering a clear, accessible explanation of the genetic mechanisms behind curly hair.

In a landscape where educational resources on textured hair are still scarce, this scientifically grounded segment stands out, demonstrating the value of authoritative, engaging public-service communication and highlighting the growing need for trustworthy, inclusive information for textured-hair communities across Germany.”

Senior PR and Communications Manager, HomeServe UK

THE ESSENTIAL COLLECTION: The Fashion Collection That’s Saving Lives by Propellernet for Scrap Car Comparison with the University of Northampton

“I really love this campaign. It’s incredibly creative, resourceful, well thought-out and brilliantly executed with great attention to detail. It’s relevant to the client (cars are scrapped when they’re crashed) and it’s impactful and engaging, taking an insight into action & solution.

The team worked with fashion students – a target age group for the campaign – to make seatbelts the story. The message of road safety was clear throughout, even down to the price to buy the garments – £208 – to represent the number of young people per year killed due to not wearing a seatbelt. All proceeds went to Brake, the road safety charity. It’s so brilliant, my only dislike is that it wasn’t my idea!”

Senior Digital PR Specialist, KURU Footwear

IKEA’s Severance Campaign by IKEA Australia

“Severance was the first viral TV show of the year, and IKEA jumped in on the fun without hesitation. Literally everyone, everywhere was talking about it. You couldn’t walk into an office or look on social media without seeing memes.

I love that IKEA saw the opportunity and jumped on it while it was still in the cultural zeitgeist. A fantastic ad that perfectly jumped on the bandwagon at the perfect time, I really wish I thought of it! A reminder that simple is always best.”

Marketing, Ahrefs & Founder, Detailed.com

Inside Replit’s Breakout Growth: Lessons from $2.8M to $150M ARR by Craft

“I would like to submit two articles by Craft Ventures' Aaron Cort, who embedded himself in two fast-growing startups – Replit and Supabase – and shared the biggest marketing and growth lessons he learned from them.

To my knowledge, the articles didn't go viral or pick up a ton of links and press, but they helped cement the blog as one I'll keep coming back to to see what they publish next. That's not an easy feat these days.

I love that the reports weren't theory, but covered specific insights you could tailor to your own ventures. It's content that's hard to copy, and instantly positions the writer as an expert in their craft (no pun intended). 

They'll appeal to a specific type of reader more than another (specifically, people working on growing startups themselves), but for me, they were the perfect articles at the perfect time.”

Marketing Program Owner, Finder Australia

Sydney’s the property underquoting capital: How does your suburb compare? by The Sydney Morning Herald

“The Sydney Morning Herald did a fabulous 18-month research piece analyzing more than 36,000 property auction campaigns in Sydney and Melbourne. It found that 50% of tracked sales sold for at least 10% over the price guide in Sydney (equivalent to an average of $165,000). 

Underquoting is a huge problem in the city, which is one of the most expensive housing markets in the world. I love this content as it’s an example of good old-fashioned research executed well. The hero research was used to power a series of articles with clear data visualizations, including the suburbs where underquoting is highest and the specific real estate agencies that are most likely to underquote. 

Talking about property prices is basically a national pastime here, and the research hit just before the busy spring selling season. The state government last week actually announced some planned reforms, mandating price guides on all advertising and a statement of information offered to buyers backing the estimated sales price claims. It was a 10/10 for me.”

Head of Digital PR, Remitly

Cost of Unused Subscriptions by Self Financial

“I like this campaign because they are owning their own data for the third year running. I feel like it's becoming a bit rarer to see these annually updated campaigns, but this example proves why it's so valuable, and the likes of Vice seemed to agree too.

The three-year changes allow them to give unique data for 2025, but also maybe for the first year, start to highlight trend patterns, that hook would crush another business wanting to talk about the same topic.

The brand cares about people making smarter financial decisions so its audience would also enjoy the content, helping them to save some cash too, making it highly relevant. Overall, they own the topic annually and consistently offer unique data in a level of depth that ensures journalists, especially those writing about finance, have enough to report on confidently.”

Content Marketer, Ahrefs

HR Meeting Goes Hard series by ClickUp

“The ClickUp team have created a library of frankly hilarious social media corp content – namely their “HR Meeting Goes Hard” series. Their approach is unlike any other business I’ve seen: they went to L.A. to find talented yet out-of-work actors, then trained them up on ClickUp and the SaaS world. They have built a full-on creative team – complete with a writer’s room – to produce funny shorts that anyone with a corporate job can hard-relate to. 

Co-founder, Chris Cunningham, was a guest on the Ahrefs Podcast and told us that the shorts alone have driven in excess of 150 million impressions a month, between 20 and 50k signups, and are tied to some of their biggest client wins.

I think this kind of branded content is so important – especially in the context of AI. Brand building and creating positive, memorable experiences count for so much more when it’s such a struggle to cut through everywhere else.”

Head of PR, Carmoola

Hello Stranger, by The Pudding/Alvin Chang 

“I’m a little obsessed with – and oddly confronted by – 30 Minutes with a Stranger by Alvin Chang for The Pudding (hardly a shocking or novel source for excellent, visual content, but they do it so well). It’s such a simple idea - two strangers, talking - yet it lands so deeply. In a media landscape driven by malgorithms and outrage that constantly tell us we’re more divided than ever, this piece reminds us how much we actually have in common. 

I embody many of the cliches attributed to Swedes, particularly an aversion to small talk (Swedes even, rather disparagingly, call it kallprat “cold talk”, or dödprat “dead talk”), so the idea that conversation can genuinely shift how we see each other fascinates me. It’s beautifully made, quietly emotional, and proof that great content doesn’t need to be over-engineered or polished as long as it's based on sound insights, with a clear narrative that's delivered with honesty, curiosity, and a clever format. And this piece does all of that and then some. 

To give it the highest praise possible, as we say in Cardiff, it's half tidy.”

Director of Content Marketing, BuzzStream

Backblaze Drive Stats: Hard Drive Failure Rates by Backblaze

“I’m not sure this actually counts because they’ve been doing this for 12 years. But to me, 2025’s content shows the results of an awareness campaign that’s been going on for over a decade. At the end of the day, it’s not rocket science either. They provided something genuinely valuable for their audience. 

They not only have tons of links for this content, but they’ve also generated their own search volume. They’ve tweaked the presentation a handful of times, both visually and in format. Now they even allow users to download the data and do whatever they want with it. 

This is how you create brand awareness.”

Senior Content Marketer, FinanceBuzz

The 2025 Cost of the American Dream by Investopedia

“This is the exact kind of piece my team and I wish we’d come up with first: full of data from high-authority sources mixed to create an easily digestible original metric with a great hook. 

These kinds of campaigns are super repeatable on an annual basis. If you’re lucky, they earn enough cachet to become something reporters and news outlets look forward to publishing every year, as is the case with this consistently excellent piece of content from Investopedia.“

Senior Lead PR, LLMO & Online Reputation, Preply

Cities in Reverse by LEGO

“Hey adults! The piece of content I’d make when I grow up is LEGO’s Cities in Reverse. On World Play Day 2025, LEGO invited children everywhere to redesign their cities with a focus on creating safe, playful spaces for kids to just be kids. They used the findings to create headlines and make cities more child friendly.

What made it special was how effortlessly it connected its community and brand. And digitally, it was a masterclass. Authentic UGC, search visibility, and brand authority all working in harmony to cement LEGO as the defining voice of childhood creativity for Search Engines and LLMs.”

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