Newell Ran LinkedIn User Ad Campaign in Times Square
The pen brand turned social media submissions into billboard advertising to reach premium customers.
Updated on Sept. 25, 2026 in Marketing
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Newell utilized a LinkedIn user-generated content challenge to source marketing materials, eventually displaying winning videos on digital billboards in Times Square. The brand selected 10 creators for compensation after receiving approximately 350 total submissions.
Why it matters
The strategy allowed the company to source creative content while engaging directly with an audience interested in high-end pens. By leveraging professional-network participants, Newell aimed to boost brand awareness and favorability through authentic peer endorsements.
Newell collected roughly 350 entries from participants across 8 countries for its LinkedIn challenge. The brand ultimately selected 10 creators to receive financial compensation for their work.
The players
Newell
A consumer goods company that manages a portfolio of brands, including Parker.
Parker
A heritage brand specializing in high-end writing instruments.
Kushagra Oberoi
A creator who submitted an unsolicited spec advertisement for the Parker brand.
One Minute Briefs
A creative community platform that hosts challenges for marketers and designers.
The details
Newell partnered with the One Minute Briefs community to launch an open 'sell me this pen' challenge on LinkedIn. The brand screened submissions based on relevance and brand fit before using consumer testing to determine which ads would resonate most effectively with broader audiences. The resulting winning clips were then transitioned from social media feeds to high-visibility digital billboard advertising in Times Square.
Timeline
September 2026: Newell released details regarding the performance and execution of the campaign.
Market Landscape
This campaign reflects the growing industry shift toward leveraging B2B social platforms for consumer-facing brand engagement. It follows a pattern set by companies prioritizing authentic, user-generated content over static corporate advertising to reach specific professional demographics.
Small-business owners should evaluate whether their product category supports community-led content sourcing instead of traditional agency production. Consider testing small-scale creative challenges on professional networks to gauge audience engagement before committing to paid media placements.
The takeaway
Authentic user-generated content can serve as a cost-effective bridge between digital engagement and physical brand presence. Monitor the campaign's upcoming performance metrics to determine if consumer-tested social content translates into long-term customer conversion for your own product line.
Further reading
For more on strategies to scale brand presence, see Marketing.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Chief Marketer.
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Do you feel more positive toward brands that participate in online community social media trends?
