Recently, brand communication has become impressively well-behaved. Precise, careful, predictable—yet, increasingly similar.
Especially during the holiday season, when everyone is trying to say the right thing, many campaigns end up saying the same one.The result is a growing sameness in advertising. Safe templates and familiar story structures make it harder for brands to stand out or leave a lasting impression.
Industry research increasingly shows that emotional, distinctive ideas, not formulas - are what actually drive effectiveness. Emotional, standout ideas contribute far more to ROI than formula‑driven ads. According to WARC, creative quality drives up to 50–70% of a campaign’s effectiveness, far more than media targeting or a high budget.
Using this observation, Bickerstaff.734 and LOKO, a Ukrainian delivery brand, chose low-stakes humor, avoiding templates.
“At first we thought that New Year salads were missing ingredients, but then we realized: New Year salads were missing a joke,” says Katia Barbalat, Creative Group Head at Bickerstaff.899.
“LOKO is a rebellious brand that likes to break the rules a little—and our communication is no exception. When people are in the middle of cooking, something gets forgotten, everything turns into chaos… and that’s when LOKO shows up with the missing ingredient, helping them pull it all off in time.”, says Mykyta Barkov, Brand Lead at LOKO.
The campaign ”You’ll make it with LOKO” tapped into a uniquely Ukrainian holiday tradition: New Year salads. Many households prepare these dishes with ingredients like herring and crab sticks—unmissable staples of Christmas and New Year celebrations. These salads are beloved, but they often require multiple components—and sometimes, the crucial ingredient is missing. These missing ingredients became main characters of the campaign:
Humor worked and had a measurable impact:
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CTR was 19% above the target
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The number of clicks on ad links rose by 22%
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Long-term ad recall showed an absolute increase of +4.1%
“They say humor extends life. But as we can see, it also boosts CTR, brand recognition, and the overall effectiveness of marketing investments—but only when a marketing team truly values its people and doesn’t underestimate the audience’s intellectual capacity”, says Ilia Anufrienko, Creative Director & Founder at Bickerstaff.734.”
LOKO’s campaign proves that standing out doesn’t require bigger budgets or glossy storytelling. Sometimes, all it takes is a well-timed joke.