Technique
Real-time and newsjacking
Ads and posts that respond to live events, news or culture as it happens.
All ads
-
2024All the Ads
The prize list grows live as each new ad airs, turning attention other advertisers paid for into DoorDash's own entertainment.
-
2022World Cup Delivery
Sent as Argentina wins, the notification opens the app's tracking screen to follow the trophy's flight home from Qatar live, plotted from public air-traffic data.
-
2022A British Original
Digital boards rewrite their copy to suit location, weather, time of day and the news, so each line feels written for that moment.
-
2022Bring Home the Bud
Answers a last-minute stadium beer ban within a day, promising the stranded stock to whichever country wins the tournament.
-
2021Superb Owl
Made within days of a Reddit forum fuelling the GameStop share frenzy, the spot rides a live news story onto television's biggest night.
-
Duo the Owl on TikTokDuolingo2021
Duo the Owl on TikTok
The team takes its cues from trending sounds, memes and its own comment section, reacting to the platform as it moves.
-
2018Keeping Fortnite Fresh
Joining a live in-game food fight event, the brand streams itself smashing every freezer in sight, turning its fresh-beef promise into gameplay.
-
2018FCK ("We're Sorry")
A single full-page newspaper ad answers a national news story about restaurants without chicken while it is still unfolding.
-
#NuggsForCarterWendy's2017
#NuggsForCarter
A throwaway reply to a teenager's tweet becomes a national event as the brand moves the goalposts live, setting him the retweet record to beat.
-
2016Hungerithm
An algorithm reads thousands of social posts a day, and the angrier the internet gets, the cheaper a Snickers becomes, updating over 140 times daily.
-
2016Thanks 2016, It's Been Weird
Lines pegged to the year's moments, such as Britons streaming an end-of-the-world song on Brexit day, make the boards a knowing commentary on 2016.
-
2015The Greatest Interception Ever
Whenever another carmaker's commercial airs during the big game, viewers are prompted to tweet live, and every tweet gets an instant automatic reply.
-
2014Experience the Power of a Bookbook
Released just as Apple unveils a new iPhone, the parody borrows a bigger brand's cultural moment to get people talking about a catalogue.
-
2014I Will What I Want (Gisele Bündchen)
Real reactions to her signing, supportive and vicious, are projected around her, and a companion site streams fresh commentary live so every viewing changes.
-
2013Melbourne Remote Control Tourist
Helmet cameras stream the explorers live for five days, so viewers watch the city respond to their instructions as it happens.
-
Power out? No problem. You can still dunk in the dark.Oreo (Mondelēz)2013
Dunk in the Dark
Within minutes of the stadium blackout during the big game, a pre-approved team posts a lone cookie in shadow, responding to the moment as it happens.
-
2013Magic of Flying (#lookup)
Live aircraft data triggers the screen only when a real British Airways plane is visibly passing overhead, naming its flight and origin.
-
2012Daily Twist
For 100 days a newsroom-style team recasts the cookie in light of that day's news or cultural moment, from Pride week to a Mars landing.
-
2011Last Dictator Standing
Turns the year's fall of dictators into a festive-season offer, riffing on current affairs in the way the brand is known for.
-
2010The Man Your Man Could Smell Like
The agency then answers fans with nearly 200 personalised video replies from the spokesman in character, responding to the conversation as it unfolds.
-
1966The Amul Girl Topicals ("Utterly Butterly Delicious")
Fresh hoardings pegged to whatever the country is talking about, from elections to cricket, let the brand comment on the news week after week.
-
An epoch making eventSelfridges1909
Blériot's monoplane at Selfridges
Puts the aircraft from the first Channel flight on show within a day, making the shop floor the place to witness the summer's biggest story.
Real-time and newsjacking: how it works
Real-time marketing means responding to what is happening right now, such as a live broadcast, a news story, a viral moment or a competitor's move, quickly enough to join the conversation. Social media made it possible at scale, but the idea is older than the internet: newspaper ads have long responded to the headlines.
How to spot it
- A reaction to a specific moment that the audience is already watching or talking about.
- Speed: the response lands while the moment is still live.
- A brand voice that sounds human rather than corporate.
Why it works, and the risk
Riding a moment borrows attention that the brand didn't have to buy. It needs judgement, because a misread moment or a tasteless joke can spread just as fast.