I'm a self-proclaimed marketing nerd. As such, one of my favorite things about December is reading the annual collection of the "Best Of" lists. This year, I wanted to create my own list of the most interesting marketing activations of 2014. It's clear to me that this has been THE year of content marketing and the following list of brands, executions, and ideas have inspired me by their non-traditional nature, powerful storytelling, and creative thinking. Hope you enjoy!

Burt's Bees' 30th Birthday Party

In honor of the 30th anniversary of the natural personal care brand's founding, Burt's Bees hosted a live web show on September 17 with founder Burt Shavitz reading aloud “birthday messages to the bees” chosen from social media posts tagged with#BurtsBeeDay. Filmed at his off-the-grid homestead in Parkman, Maine, the live event featured Burt in his every day surroundings along with the sounds of bluegrass band Tumbling Bones, and, of course, the buzzing of real, live bees too. It was a quirky behind-the-scenes look at Burt - a real guy whose face has become one of the world's most recognized brand identities - and a fantastic example of a brand using authentic content and social media to drive buzz with its fans.

MailChimp's Commercial for Serial

Serial, a brilliant piece of original programming from the producers of This American Life, is my new favorite show and it's not even on TV. The podcast tells the story of a real-life murder mystery via weekly installments and it's completely captivating. You should check it out....seriously, do it now. At the beginning of each episode is a 20-second ad for the email service MailChimp, the sole sponsor of Serial. So, why is a commercial for a podcast in my "Best of 2014" list? You'll have to listen to hear the reasons why it's so awesome (see link below) but it's safe to say that fans of Serialhave embraced the ad almost like it's one of the show's many compelling characters. There's even a meme "Mail....Keemp?" about the ad. Kudos to MailChimp for trusting their creative partners to produce such an odd-sounding and real spot. Thanks to that trust, their little, no-budget ad has eclipsed the mega-million Super Bowl Ads from 2014 as the year's biggest marketing win. High fives indeed.

Here's the ad.

The Lego Movie

As the dad of two boys (ages eight and six), there's nothing more beloved in our household than the simple Lego brick. That's why I was a little nervous when The Lego Movie debuted in theaters earlier this year. Would it cheapen the brand? Would it be poorly executed? Would we hate it? After seeing the film over a dozen times in the last year alone, the answer is an obvious "no" to each of those questions. In my opinion, The Lego Movie was a resounding success because it stayed so true to the values of the brand. As a Lego marketer put it, "What we’ve really found is that Lego is a medium… it’s not a toy, it’s a medium for other people to tell their own stories and create their own adventures." The movie worked as piece of branded content, yes, but more importantly, it worked as a piece of rich story-telling. Other brands should build on that concept.

Soccer.com's Brazil 2014 Goal Tracker

This summer's World Cup final drew more than 1 billion views from across the globe. Compare that to the estimated 112 million views for January's Super Bowl XLVIII and you'll soon realize which version of "football" is truly king. But, did you know that the world's largest distributor of soccer gear calls Hillsborough, North Carolina home? SOCCER.COM is a 30 year old mail-order business founded by Mike Moylan as a high school senior project that now generates close to $200 million per year in sales. During the World Cup, SOCCER.COM used on-the-field data to document which premium-priced cleats scored the most goals (the adidas F50 ADIZERO was the eventual winner, by the way) via their Brazil 2014 Tracker.For a soccer-obsessed kid deciding what cleat to buy before the start of the fall season, this information was worth its weight in gold. It's a great example of a retailer using engaging content to help push product. Goooooooaaaaallllll!

The Krispy Kreme Heist

My final example for the most interesting marketing of 2014 is one that hits home personally for me. You see, my friend Chris Rosati - a 42-year-old marketer, husband, and father of two - has been diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. When Chris first learned of his terminal illness, he did something quite unusual....he cooked up a scheme to steal a Krispy Kreme truck and deliver doughnuts to our hometown of Durham, North Carolina all in an effort to "make some people smile". Chris says if dying has taught him anything, it's about how to live. When Krispy Kreme learned of this extraordinary plot, they didn't press charges. In fact, they offered up a retro Krispy Kreme bus -- a bus fully stocked with doughnuts - and Chris along with his friends & family drove that bus all over town, handing out free doughnuts and smiles at schools, children's hospitals, and city parks. The Great Krispy Kreme Heist was featured prominently on the national newsand, as you can imagine, the story quickly went viral thanks to the power of social media. This is an example of a brand that stands for creating joyful memories partnering in an authentic way with a fan whose dream was to inspire others to do the same. Well done, Krispy Kreme. Well done.

What do you think of my list? Are there other brands that you think have done something really interesting in 2014? Put a comment below or hit me up on Twitter@gputman to let me know! Thanks for reading.