Our favourite digital marketing campaigns of 2020
Dee Overfield - 16 December 2020
2020 has brought with it a lot of uncertainty and change, but in doing so, it has also paved the way for great innovation, creativity and growth. Businesses across the world have used these unsettling times to connect with customers, give them something to smile about and show them that they are, and will always be, there for them.
We’ve pulled together five of our favourite digital marketing campaigns from 2020, which we felt embodied the feelings of trust and connection that we all needed this year.
Tesco’s multi skin plasters
Back at the beginning of the year, Tesco developed a range of multi skin tone plasters. The move was in response to a tweet from a black American man talking about how it felt to finally find a plaster that matched his skin tone.
The first retailer to launch such a product, Tesco was praised for its recognition of the need for more racial diversity and inclusivity. The development of the plasters was supported by the BAME at Tesco staff network, who helped with testing and feedback and had an input into the product’s final design.
The retailer shared a video alongside the product launch, featuring a series of individuals of colour, talking about the plasters. The news spread far and wide, with coverage in every single national title. It also went viral on social media, with #skintoneplasters trending on Twitter that day, and Tesco’s video receiving 1.5k comments, 2.5k retweets and 12k likes. In the campaign messaging, Tesco even acknowledged their own failings in not creating the plasters sooner, showing the world that they were committed to establishing a more diverse and supportive outlook for their customers and colleagues.
We loved this marketing campaign because it shows how even the simplest of ideas can be unbelievably effective in creating a positive brand response. Speaking directly to customers on a very prominent topic, the campaign put Tesco at the heart of the conversation. It also inadvertently called upon other retailers to step up their game, positioning Tesco as the most diverse and supportive supermarket brand out there.
Heinz to Home
The COVID-19 pandemic saw acceleration across the direct-to-consumer (D2C) industry, with a number of big brands joining the movement.
Heinz was one of the first to get on board, launching their direct-to-consumer service, Heinz to Home, with a new business model that circumvented traditional retailers.
Recognising the need to move fast on the project, the brand worked alongside an ecommerce agency to create the Heinz to Home website in less than three weeks. Launching a minimum viable product as quickly as possible, and improving their proposition every day from launch, Heinz added themed offers for Father’s Day, students returning to college and key workers over time.
The campaign achieved widespread PR across national titles, with the shop still going strong today. We think it’s the perfect example of a brand understanding the changing needs of its customers and reacting efficiently to provide a solution, in a fun and sustainable way. It’s also a way of further futureproofing the brand, supporting customers to shop direct long term.
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YouTube’s stay at home campaign
The message on everyone’s lips at the beginning of lockdown? ‘Stay at home’.
YouTube jumped on the back of key messages from the government to create their own stay at home campaign. Promoting the hashtags, #stayhome and #withme, YouTube reiterated the important message, whilst encouraging content creators to club together and provide entertainment to the masses.
With almost 25 million views of their promo video, YouTube became the epicentre of lockdown fun, supporting people to feel connected in their daily activities. In only a week, daily views of videos using the hashtag ’#withme’ increased by 600% and uploads, by 590%. Content such as ‘cook with me’, ‘workout at home’ and ‘home office’ saw their average daily views grow by 100%, 200% and 130%, respectively.
Evidently this campaign was a huge success, setting out to achieve its objective of supporting the nation through an extremely difficult and lonely period. It provided alternative means for fun through user-generated content, whilst supporting and encouraging content creators to grow their following and establish themselves on the platform. We know how much time we’ve spent on YouTube this year… so it definitely worked!
Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Bandersnatch-style chase
One of the most innovative uses of Instagram stories we’ve seen to date, Samsung promoted their new Samsung Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10 + 5G through a Bandersnatch-style chase. Followers were encouraged to take on a mission, choosing different options (using different Instagram accounts) to complete the task. Those who were smart enough to finish the mission, unlocked a special feature at the end – which just so happened to be a link through to the new phones.
Instagram stories have grown massively over the past few years, and yet, brand campaigns on the whole tend to be more geared towards the use of the feed, with stories being used as a supportive tool. This campaign shows the value of using those less conventional channels and being creative when using them. People were talking about the campaign across the industry and it certainly positioned Samsung as an innovative, forward-thinking and technologically creative brand. Digital marketing at its finest!
You can still take on the mission now via Samsung’s Instagram page highlights.
Did somebody say Just Eat?
Just Eat’s well-known theme tune was taken over by Snoop Dogg this year, as the delivery service moved its messaging away from a focus on convenience, to an emphasis on delivering happiness and smiles.
The move came in response to a survey of 500 consumers to see if the public were open to some light-hearted advertising during the pandemic. With an overwhelming majority voting yes, the brand created an ad, alongside 15-second digital teasers and bespoke content across Snapchat, YouTube, TikTok and gaming platform, Twitch, which complemented the TV push and wider sponsorship strategy.
A huge success, Just Eat saw UK orders during Q3 increase by 43% year-on-year to 46.4 million. In addition, YouGov BrandIndex ad awareness scores rose from 29.4 in May to 37.1 by November, overtaking its rivals, Deliveroo and Uber Eats (27.4 and 18.5 November ad awareness scores). On YouTube alone, the video has been watched 9.5 million times.
This is a perfect example of how valuable market research can be for creating successful campaign strategies. Just Eat knew what their customers were looking for and they hit the nail on the head. Everyone was talking about the ads, singing the theme tune and ordering through the suppliers. It was certainly worth the investment of £5.3 million to get Snoop Dog on board!
If you can’t tell from this blog, the team at Wagada love digital marketing campaigns that bring something new, exciting and different to the table.
Our team is made up of a mix of digital marketing specialists, designers and strategists, so if you’ve got an idea and want us to help with bringing it to life, get in touch today.
In the meantime, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Wagada!
