From matcha trucks to marathon tours, here’s how 5 brands are turning fans into active participants.

Most marketing today barely gets a second glance. In fact, 99% of Gen Z will skip ads if they can, and 68% use ad blockers to avoid them. In today's world, it takes less than 2 seconds for a viewer to want to scroll, skip, and move on. It takes something engaging, innovative, even, to break through the noise and drive people to act.

Whether it’s signing up for an event, showing up to a pop-up, running a half marathon, or making an impulsive purchase, that’s the power of innovative brand marketing. 

So what makes marketing innovative in 2025?

Today, it’s not about having the biggest budget or flashiest ad; it’s about meeting your community where they are and designing experiences that make your audience feel something. It creates a lifestyle, builds community, and sparks that feeling of “I want in!”

Here are 5 brands that are nailing innovative brand marketing in 2025: brands that don’t just show up online but show up in culture.

Nike After Dark: Where Running Meets Culture and Confidence

Health and fitness content, from walking trends and pilates to marathon training, is dominating social feeds. Influencer content featuring weekly marathon training and post-run coffee rituals has reframed running as not just a fitness activity, but an aspirational lifestyle, equal parts performance, and aesthetic.

Nike took this “runner era” shift, a trend that perfectly aligns with their brand, and pushed it even further with the After Dark Tour, a series of races designed specifically for women to run together at night. 

It’s a time of day that, for many, hasn’t always felt safe. So Nike flipped that narrative. With live DJs, LED-lit courses, community, and custom gear, they made night running feel bold, empowering, and most importantly, fun.

The race feels more like a block party than a workout. It’s a standout example of innovative brand marketing, where Nike combines movement, culture, and safety into one immersive experience. One that everyone, runner or not, would want to join in.

Nike’s Lesson Takeaway: Innovative brand marketing isn’t just about products; it’s about creating experiences that people want to show up for. When a brand taps into emotion, shared values, and cultural energy, it becomes more than marketing. It becomes a movement people feel inspired to join.

Red Bull: Energy in a Can, Culture on the Ground

While wellness trends like matcha routines and morning pilates continue to rise, there’s also a growing segment of consumers driven by challenge, adrenaline, and spontaneity. That’s where Red Bull’s innovative marketing stands out.

The Red Bull brand plays right into that high-energy, adventure-loving mindset. But instead of shouting about their product, they show up with experiences that speak for themselves.

Through surprise pop-ups, extreme sports, or their iconic Red Bull car handing out free cans when you need it most. It’s innovative brand marketing that doesn’t just get noticed, it gets remembered.

At colleges, they’ve mastered presence with campus ambassador programs that keep Red Bull top of mind (and in hand) during late-night study sessions or daytime events. 

Beyond that, Red Bull sponsors and creates extreme sports competitions, music festivals, and pop-up events that feel more like insider moments than direct marketing. 

The brand doesn’t just follow trends; it creates them. And it builds hype by being the one brand that’s always there when something fun, fast, or fearless is happening.

Red Bull’s Lesson Takeaway: Innovative brand marketing works when you lead with experience, embed your brand into culture, and bring energy to where your audience already is, you don’t have to chase attention. 

Saie Beauty: More Than Just Makeup, It's a Vibe

Clean beauty is no longer just a pretty label; it’s a lifestyle movement, fueled by platforms like beauty TikTok and wellness Instagram. 

And right alongside it? Matcha. The drink has become a cultural symbol of balance, routine, and that soft wellness energy that so many people are after. Saie Beauty knew exactly how to tap into that.

The crossover between an aesthetic drink and an aesthetic brand took the internet by storm, with their PR package-style matcha kit sold out in just one minute. 

The collab with Rocky’s Matcha featured a branded matcha truck that toured major cities, serving iced matcha alongside Saie’s best-selling beauty drops.

The collab wasn’t just about skincare; it was about creating an experience people wanted to be part of (and post about). Through the pop-up and the release of a Saie-branded matcha kit, the brand made wellness lovers feel seen, included, and genuinely excited to engage.

Saie Beauty Lesson Takeaway: Innovative brand marketing is about meeting your audience where they already find joy, then making it feel personal. 

Rhode Skin: Feeding the Feed

Rhode has become a definitive case study in innovative brand marketing, especially in the beauty space. Hailey Bieber’s brand has built its entire identity around social-first storytelling, making every post feel like a moment designed for shareability.

Rhode taps into something bigger than beauty: our senses. Using food imagery like jelly, frosting, glaze, and honey, the brand blurs the line between visual and tactile, evoking a sensory response that resonates with their audiences.

It’s not just visual content; it’s sensory marketing. The use of drippy, glossy textures paired with minimal captions draws people in without saying much at all. It’s a slow-burning trope at its finest.

Even their viral phone case, designed to hold the Rhode lip treatment, plays perfectly into the brand. Something functional, aesthetic, and built for interaction. It’s a product that didn’t need to be pushed, because Rhode followers were already pulling for it from the start.

Rhode Skin Lesson Takeaway: The use of sensory in innovative brand marketing sells without saying a word. Rhode taps into our senses using glazed skin, food-inspired visuals, and touchable design to make you feel the product before you ever try it.

The Future Is Experiential

Across all five of these brands, one thing is clear: the most successful marketing doesn’t just promote, it participates.

Nike empowers. Red Bull energizes. Saie personalizes. Rhode seduces the senses. Each one of these brands creates a space where people don’t just consume, but connect.

The future belongs to brands that understand culture, tap into emotion, and design experiences people want to be part of. At the end of the day, people don’t remember the ad; they remember the experience.

✍️ Written by Lynn Nguyen