The 10 Best Marketing Campaigns in Orlando This Week (May 2025 Edition)
- Grandeur Marketing
- May 5
- 4 min read
If you're a marketer, creative, or entrepreneur in Central Florida, knowing what’s working right now in your city can give you a competitive edge. This week, we tracked down the top 10 most engaging and creative marketing campaigns in Orlando, from social-first events to community-led grassroots movements.
Below is a breakdown of each campaign, why it worked, and what you can learn from it.
🏀 1. Orlando Magic – “Everybody In” Playoff Campaign
🔗 (Campaign ended due to playoff elimination)
Why It’s Great: This campaign unified the city around a shared moment—Magic’s return to the playoffs—with consistent branding across social, digital, merch, and in-person experiences.
Why It Works: It taps into civic pride, community spirit, and FOMO. The slogan "Everybody In" makes fans feel like part of the team. Throw in free T-shirts, a fan fest, and banners across the city, and you’ve got a full sensory experience that drives loyalty and shares.
🥒 2. Orlando Squeeze x Orlando Magic – “Court Crossover” Pickleball Event
Why It’s Great: Unexpected, fun, and purpose-driven. Merging two sports (basketball and pickleball) with celebrity players for charity was instantly shareable.
Why It Works: It’s a perfect example of cross-brand synergy. The collaboration gave both teams new reach, added excitement through novelty, and deepened audience connection through charitable giving.
🌏 3. Visit Orlando – AAPI Heritage Month “Unbelievably Real” Storyboard
Why It’s Great: This immersive storytelling campaign offered an authentic, insider’s view of Orlando’s Asian-American communities.
Why It Works: It’s a blend of content marketing, influencer strategy, and DEI storytelling done right. It celebrates real people and places—not tourist clichés—and hits the mark with a mobile-friendly, scrollable experience that encourages time-on-page and social shares.
🏳️🌈 4. LGBT+ Center Orlando – Grassroots Fundraising Drive
Why It’s Great: A heartfelt appeal rooted in real community impact. With federal funding cut, the Center turned to locals—and they showed up.
Why It Works: It’s a case study in authenticity and urgency. The campaign focused on storytelling, not stats, and invited allies and supporters to become part of the solution. The result: fast momentum, strong word-of-mouth, and a wave of organic support.
🎭 5. Orlando Fringe Festival – “Let Your Fringe Flag Fly”
Why It’s Great: Bold visuals, quirky branding, and unapologetically weird energy that aligns perfectly with their audience.
Why It Works: Fringe used a powerful emotional hook—freedom of self-expression—to unite artists and audiences. Add a great hashtag (#FringeFlagFly), preview events, and countdowns, and you’ve got a masterclass in festival marketing.
🍗 6. Flex Eats – R&B Wing Festival Recap
Why It’s Great: An unexpected fusion of food and music culture, hosted by a local influencer who knows his audience.
Why It Works: It tapped into hyper-local identity and niche appeal—two things that dominate social algorithms. The post-event recap used crowd shots, testimonials, and energy-packed editing to keep momentum alive long after the event.
🎉 7. Boxi Park – Triple-Themed Weekend Bash
Why It’s Great: They stacked three major themed events—Cinco de Mayo, May the 4th, and Derby Day—into one high-energy weekend.
Why It Works: This is brilliant event stacking. By diversifying appeal, they attracted broader foot traffic and created multiple marketing moments from one strategy. Families, Star Wars fans, and partygoers each found a reason to visit.
🦍 8. Gatorland – Viral “Skunk Ape” Reels
Why It’s Great: Low-budget, high-creativity content. Gatorland's “Skunk Ape” mascot is weird, funny, and perfectly Floridian.
Why It Works: This campaign leans into character marketing and consistency. People know what to expect, and they keep coming back for it. With 3.9M views, it proves you don’t need a big budget—you need a strong brand voice and entertaining content.
🌌 9. Disney World – Star Wars Day Merch Drop
Why It’s Great: Disney turned a simple merch launch into a city-wide, gamified experience.
Why It Works: Using a virtual queue system, Disney created urgency and exclusivity. The limited-time offer, plus massive fan anticipation around May the 4th, generated online buzz and made even merchandise feel like a major event.
🏆 10. Orlando Weekly – “Best of Orlando 2025” Nomination Blitz
🔗 Nominate or Vote
Why It’s Great: They turned an annual list into a city-wide co-marketing engine.
Why It Works: It’s crowd-powered marketing. Local businesses promoted their own nominations using Orlando Weekly’s assets, resulting in free reach and viral shareability. Everyone had a stake, and that kept the campaign hot across all platforms.
🔁 Key Takeaways for Local Marketers
✅ Tell Real Stories – The campaigns that went viral didn’t just advertise, they shared stories.✅ Leverage Moments – Whether it's the playoffs or Star Wars Day, tap into cultural timing.✅ Create with Community – Collabs, local pride, and audience participation are huge engagement drivers.✅ Don’t Overthink Production – Viral doesn’t mean polished. It means relatable, fun, and shareable.
Ready to Level Up Your Local Marketing? At Grandeur Marketing Group, we help brands of all sizes tell stories that stick—through content, strategy, video, and creative campaigns that cut through the noise. Work with us →
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