As we continue to adapt and flex the way we live our everyday lives, from both a personal and business perspective, here at 1973 we wanted to understand the impact this fast-changing environment is having on marketers. Our curiosity to understand how marketing professionals are addressing these new challenges led us to review some of the top brand ad campaigns that have been running over the last few months. We wanted to see whether we felt they hit the mark or missed by a long shot. What do you think?
The pace at which marketers are having to modify strategies and transform messaging is immense, often changing on a fortnightly or monthly basis – which is no mean feat for even the best! Remodelling to fit with the current climate, within the shortest of time frames, can often lead to some poor choices. But it can also result in some amazing, innovative creations, the likes of which we may not have seen before. Here’s a selection of those we found interesting.
GoCompare Missing You
We all know that GoCompare has definitely failed in some of their earlier advertising campaigns, becoming the most-complained about advert in 2019 with their distressing car crash scene. However their latest approach, which includes Missing You, embraces the feelings we are all experiencing. Capturing that ‘stay at home’ feeling, they focus on things we’ve all been missing during lockdown. It’s a bit of a reality check! This latest series of ads demonstrates sensitivity, whilst still maintaining an element of humour – a key feature of their brand that we have all become familiar with over the years.
McDonalds Welcome Back
Who doesn’t love a Maccy D’s! And they’ve really scored with this one. After all the doom and gloom we’ve experienced over the past months, this campaign oozies pure excitement throughout every scene in the video. From teenagers to grandparents alike, they’ve captured a sense of hysteria as people anticipate the arrival of their meals. The music ‘Return of the Mack’ with it’s upbeat tempo, escalates this to another level really packing a punch and heightening the feeling of celebration. They couldn’t have picked a more apt song. Definitely one of my favourites.
KFC Finger Lickin’ Good
Having planned a Finger Lickin’ Good campaign back in March, KFC quickly realised how inappropriate it was as ‘hand washing’ became a critical factor in the fight against Covid. With the Finger Licking slogan way off mark, they paused it with immediate effect. However, they didn’t want to lose out on all their hard work and months of planning, so as lockdown restrictions started to lift they reintroduced it with a slight twist. Using the same ad they adapted it, blurring out the slogan and instead ended it with this message ‘That thing we always say? Ignore it. For now.” Suggesting this is a passing phase and things will return to normal at some point. Something we are all looking forward to.
Reunited with Buds – Budweiser
There’s nothing more adorable than a cute puppy, right? That alongside a galloping horse and Queens ‘Don’t stop me now’ blasting out in the background, makes this a very memorable and engaging promotion. Budweiser has truly captured the emotional connection of finally meeting up with our friends and the excitement that brings. And the clever thing is, they have reused dalmation dogs and horses from earlier ad campaigns, to remind us of pre-Covid times, helping emphasise the fact that things are gradually getting back to normal.
I hope you enjoyed looking through these digital ad campaigns as much as we did. Obviously there are many more great campaigns out there and we’d love to find out which are most memorable for you and why. Send through your suggestions here.
