Argos is a stalwart of the retail scene - positioning itself for a long time as a place for affordable goods and good value. However in 2025 they have been keen to draw attention to their more premium product line ‘the A-List’. They were looking for something eye-catching and buzzworthy, and their collaboration with influencer agency Billion Dollar Boy delivered just that…
The resulting campaign, running throughout 2025, is a mockumentary-style, satirical take on art galleries and general art culture, with the A-List premium products appearing as luxurious art pieces on plinths in the fictional gallery Arghaüs.
Billion Dollar Boy pulled in well known creators such as Chris Hall, Abi Clarke, Paul Olima, Ella Willis, Em Walbank and Luke Millington-Drake as fictional gallery staffers and art press. Their combined following approaches 18 million.
Another feature of the campaign was an episodic style, inviting audiences to tune in and follow the capers over time. Episodes drew on deadpan humour, awkwardness and cringe comedy; featuring opening night chaos, press conferences, and dysfunctional team building exercises.
The format is a good reflection of changing social algorithms that deliver sequential content to interested viewers; perfect for an episodic style and well suited to the increasingly popular ‘reels’ style of social consumption.
A favourite episode of mine featured a cameo from British TV comedian Asim Chaudhary, playing a workshop facilitator called Achänlèy Chardonnay. His chaotic workshop episode was well received by the audience, and tested extremely well in Element Human measurement, which supported the campaign throughout 2025 and assisted Billion Dollar Boy in optimising episodes and cut-downs for maximum impact.
The comedic power of Asim’s content was on full display with our Attention & Emotion measurement. In one clip Asim grooves with fitness influencer Paul Olima, causing huge spikes in Happiness (yellow line) and Surprise (white).
These were seeded out as discrete cut-downs to serve as traffic drivers to the full episodic content. EH testing showed they delivered big spikes in brand awareness for Argos, despite their short duration.
In Asim’s full episode, the cringe comedy hits its straps, with the motivational workshop quickly descending into chaos.
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The emotional reaction from the audience kicked off particularly when Asim started using some of the A-List products in the session; using a fan to create a mystical experience for a nearby security guard in an ‘Ambient Wind Dance’.
This got audiences laughing, with a sharp jump in Happiness (yellow) and this engagement continued as an awkward conversation during a ‘sharing session’ turned into a passive aggressive score-settling siege that had the bystanders awkwardly sinking into the couch cushions. I’ve been measuring emotional reaction to content for a long time, and the levels of Happy emotional response during this episode are rarely seen this high.
All of this comedy gold delivered gold for Argos. Element Human testing showed 90% positive sentiment, and an 8-14% uplift on ‘top of mind’ brand awareness across the creators. The episodes achieved an Attention Score between 84-91% based on our eye-tracking.
Emotional reactions are often tied to the creation of long term memory associations for the brand involved. In this campaign, the key associations created were ‘On Trend’ and ‘Relevant’, and ‘Trust’ also got a boost for good measure.
All in all, a successful ongoing campaign, using star power, creativity, entertainment, and some innovative new approaches to deliver benchmark beating outcomes for Argos.
The campaign continues, with a Xmas special planned for December that will no doubt do its utmost to top its already fantastic achievements.
