For many marketers, the first half of 2025 summoned unwelcome parallels to the early days of the pandemic. The rush to batten down the hatches, trim budgets and adjust media plans on the fly returned in force — and even included another on-again, off-again TikTok ban — but this time the scramble came in response to careening tariffs rather than a public health crisis.  That said, marketers entered the latest bout of chaos with several years of navigating historically choppy waters under their belts. As some brands went silent, others jumped on the opportunity to drive home resonant messages around pricing, inclusion or humor, better girding themselves for the uncertain months ahead.  These strategies, however well-executed, have not always resulted in the expected performance bump as tariffs rattle businesses reliant on global trade and consumer sentiment remains low. Regardless, they provide brands with solid foundations to build upon once stability is back in play. For some, culturally tapped-in marketing has also helped enshrine category dominance while rivals flounder. Below, Marketing Dive has brought together the most eye-catching marketing from H1 2025, spanning tactics including experiential, rebranding, packaging and good old-fashioned TV ads. Assessing what worked about these efforts, many of which pushed against the industry grain, could help inform planning around an H2 that will carry high expectations and a strong need to differentiate amid a proliferation of generative artificial intelligence and samey messaging. Best creative comeback: Nike’s “So Win.” A lot remains up in the air regarding Nike’s turnaround, but the sportswear icon proved it could recapture its old marketing magic at Super Bowl LIX in February. Returning to the big game for the first time in nearly 30 years, the brand and creative agency Wieden+Kennedy Portland delivered the type of showstopping spot that has become rare in an advertising slate that generally skews toward celebrity cameos and humor.  “So Win.” not only cut through the clutter of TV’s biggest night, securing the Super Clio Award, but also demonstrated Nike can balance leaning on legacy while offering consumers something fresh. That’s an important needle to thread as the brand looks to correct course after years of overfocusing on performance marketing. “It felt very reminiscent of the way that Nike used to advertise,” said Devon Archbold, director of campaign strategy at Movers+Shakers. The 60-second commercial, shot in cinematic black and white, stars athletes including Jordan Chiles, Caitlin Clark and Sha’Carri Richardson as rapper Doechii rattles off all the things women supposedly “can’t” be and the defiant attitude it takes to overcome such adversity. “So Win.” capitalized on a groundswell of interest in women’s professional sports, but also could be interpreted as a deeper rallying cry given the political climate. As other marketers pump the brakes on purpose in response to diversity, equity and inclusion backlash, Nike showed how to stay the course while remaining rooted in brand fundamentals. “What was really cool was that Nike went all in, proving that purpose and performance can coexist,” said Archbold. Chili’s Fast Food Financing pop-up emulates a cheap payday loan retailer to knock the rising prices at fast food rivals. Courtesy of Chili’s Grill & Bar   Best value-driven play: Chili’s Fast Food Financing Inviting comparisons to scuzzy payday loan retailers probably isn’t the wisest strategy for most brands seeking to promote a message around value. For Chili’s, the outside-the-box concept was an ingenious way to extend its battle against fast food titans. In April, the dine-in chain opened a Fast Food Financing pop-up next to a McDonald’s location in Manhattan to herald the launch of its Big QP burger, a rival to the Quarter Pounder. Videos styled after chintzy daytime TV ads helped raise awareness for the activation, which let visitors fill out forms to receive gift cards to cover their meal costs and included a speakeasy serving up the beef-heavy menu addition. The experience, which was executed with agencies JM&D and M ss ng p eces, drew a three-hour line at the peak of its popularity while generating over 6 billion earned media impressions, according to a representative for Chili’s.    “Creativity shouldn’t be budget-constrained, and this is an amazing example of something that wasn’t grand on a large scale but was incredibly thoughtful and ended up getting a lot of buzz,” said Nick Valenti, CEO at Mādin, of Fast Food Financing.  Other marketers can take a page from Chili’s, which has seen eye-popping sales growth in an otherwise fallow period for restaurants. The brand has tackled marketing around value — a ubiquitous tactic at the moment — in an atypical fashion, hounding fast food rather than the companies that make up its direct competitive set, like Applebee’s. The approach has resulted in something that feels more distinctive than the usual tit-for-tat category squabbling, opening an opportunity for Chili’s to not only drive home a pricing-focused message, but also its positioning as a third place to gather and enjoy meals.      “It’s a clever way to capture an audience that’s looking for somewhere else to go, and so they’re providing that unique answer,” said Valenti. Best case of brand agility: State Farm’s “Batman vs. Bateman” The amount of investment that goes into a Super Bowl ad can be astronomical. What happens when those plans have to be overhauled on the fly? That’s the situation State Farm found itself in at Super Bowl LIX, when a superhero-inspired spot was put on the back burner as the insurer dealt with fallout from California wildfires. Rather than viewing its big game campaign as a sunk cost, State Farm called an audible, moving the ads to March Madness in a standout example of how brands can be agile as the world around them is frequently thrown into tumult.  “We’ve learned around the Super Bowl to not have a one-size-fits all-mentality with it, and we’ve learned that you can pivot if you’re smart and you’re paying attention,” said Alyson Griffin, head of marketing at State Farm.  “Batman vs. Bateman,” developed with agency Highdive, bears a simple logline: One’s

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