Marketing hits + misses | February 2026

Marketing hits + misses | January 2026

Laura Hill, Senior Growth Manager

February belonged to the Super Bowl—but also to something bigger: a reminder that in high-stakes industries, marketing doesn’t operate in a vacuum.

This month’s marketing hits and misses reinforce a familiar truth: audiences reward brands that balance boldness with responsibility—and penalize those that let ambition outrun alignment.

Here are four campaigns that defined February 2026—for better and for worse.

Marketing hit

Novartis brings humor to prostate cancer awareness

Healthcare advertising during the Super Bowl is a delicate balance. Too clinical, and you lose the room. Too comedic, and you risk trivializing the issue

Novartis managed to walk the line.

Its Super Bowl campaign enlisted NFL stars in a cheeky but purposeful push to normalize prostate cancer testing. The humor was undeniable—but it never felt dismissive. Instead, it humanized an uncomfortable topic and made preventive health feel culturally relevant.

The strategy worked on multiple levels:

• Humor supported the mission instead of overshadowing it

• The NFL partnership felt contextually smart and culturally aligned

• The message remained clear and medically responsible

• The tone invited conversation without sacrificing credibility

In a category where health messaging can easily feel heavy or overly clinical, Novartis showed that levity—when executed thoughtfully—can expand awareness without diluting trust.

Why it worked:
Humor can drive health engagement—but only when it’s strategically grounded.

Marketing miss

WHOOP’s FDA warning shows what happens when marketing outruns compliance

Health tech moves quickly. Regulators don’t.

WHOOP’s recent FDA warning letter serves as a reminder that in healthcare, marketing language cannot move faster than regulatory reality. When product claims outpace clearance, credibility—not just compliance—takes the hit.

In regulated industries, trust compounds slowly and erodes quickly.

This situation highlights several critical lessons:

• Claims must align precisely with regulatory status

• Growth ambition does not override compliance

• Marketing and legal teams must operate in lockstep

• Short-term buzz is never worth long-term trust

This isn’t simply about one company—it’s about the structural tension in health tech between speed and responsibility.

Why it failed:
In healthcare, compliance isn’t a constraint. It’s a strategic foundation.

Marketing hit

Florida Panthers show the power of community-first branding

Not a healthcare brand—but an instructive example for every regulated industry.

The Florida Panthers’ approach to fandom underscores something many brands overlook: loyalty isn’t built through reach. It’s built through identity.

Rather than chasing surface-level engagement metrics, the Panthers leaned into understanding who their fans are and what belonging means to them. The result is community-driven growth that feels authentic rather than transactional.

The repositioning reinforces:

• Audience identity over vanity metrics

• Emotional alignment over volume

• Long-term community over short-term engagement spikes

In healthcare, biotech, and medtech, it’s easy to default to product features and technical proof points. But brand equity still grows from human connection.

Why it worked:
Engagement captures attention. Community builds loyalty.

Marketing miss

Nationwide’s infamous Super Bowl ad still offers a cautionary lesson

February also brought renewed discussion of Nationwide’s “Dead Boy” Super Bowl ad—a reminder that some marketing lessons don’t expire.

The ad generated attention through emotional shock, but at the cost of brand alignment. In industries connected to safety, protection, and care, provocation rarely ages well.

What went wrong wasn’t boldness—it was misalignment:

• The creative leaned on shock over strategic fit

• The emotional intensity clashed with brand positioning

• Attention was prioritized over long-term trust

Years later, it remains an example of how creative risk without brand grounding can undermine credibility.

Why it failed:
Shock without alignment erodes trust—especially in care-centered categories.

January 2026 takeaways

Across these four campaigns, a few patterns stand out: 

• Humor requires restraint In health categories, levity works—but only when anchored in credibility.
• Compliance drives credibility Marketing ambition must move at the pace of regulatory reality.
• Community beats metrics Loyalty grows from identity, not impressions.
• Shock rarely ages well Provocation without brand alignment weakens trust over time.

As 2026 unfolds, the brands that win won’t just be the most creative—they’ll be the most aligned.

And the misses? They’ll continue to remind us that strategy is what separates bold from reckless.

Make your next campaign a marketing hit

The difference between a hit and a miss is rarely luck. It’s alignment—between brand, audience, compliance, and creative execution.

If you’re planning a 2026 launch, awareness campaign, or repositioning effort and want it to land in the “hit” column, KNB can help you get there—with PR, marketing, and creative built for high-stakes, highly regulated industries.

Because in today’s market, being bold isn’t enough.
You have to be right.

Let’s make your next campaign one people talk about for the right reasons.
Contact us now to start the conversation.

AI disclosure: In alignment with our commitment to transparency, we want to disclose that this blog post was substantially generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence technology. Our team of healthcare experts collaborates closely with AI to ensure accuracy and relevance for our valued readers in the health tech and life sciences sectors.