When the COVID-19 lockdown hit, many companies had to change their marketing strategies ASAP. Some fumbled and blundered their way through, whilst others made the best of a difficult situation.
Some campaigns made people laugh, others captured the right emotional tone to tug at the heartstrings. A few were genuinely clever, packaging their product with a public service message seamlessly.
Here are some of the best lockdown marketing campaigns, in our opinion.
Getty Museum
As you can imagine, it must be quite difficult for a non-essential entity like a museum to stay relevant in people’s minds and newsfeeds during a pandemic. However, the Getty Museum came up a with clever little digital marketing campaign during lockdown that acted as a distraction from the grim news plaguing the media outlets. Plus, it kept people talking about them and about art.
The challenge called on people to recreate works of art at home and share pictures of the results online.
Some of the results were quite spectacular.
Emily Snacks
Pre the Coronavirus outbreak, Emily Snacks had planned the company’s first outdoor advertising campaign to go out in April. Who could have predicted a worldwide pandemic forcing people to stay at home?
2020 did, that’s who.
Instead of cursing their bad luck and continuing with (now) irrelevant ads, the company put out a series of tongue-in-cheek posters that mocked the timing of their first outdoor campaign.
Definitely one of the best lockdown marketing campaigns we’ve seen because of how situationally funny they were.
Nike
A brand known for its sportswear, Nike sent out one message that covered teamwork, potential for heroism and of course the instruction to stay at home. Simple, heartfelt, and well-liked on Twitter (130.3k-liked last time we checked!)
The message immediately made us feel like a part of something bigger, even though we were isolating ourselves.
Zara
Brands selling fashion clothing generally shoot them on models before they promote them. Obviously, social distancing messed up those plans. However, clothing brand Zara came up with a clever lockdown marketing idea of a quarantine shoot.
The company sent out clothes from its latest range to the models, asking them to wear them and click pictures of themselves. The result was high-fashion pics of models, without professional lighting and styling, getting creative in their own homes.
The campaign had all the ingredients of success – beautiful clothes, the #StayAtHome message, and a peek into the lives of glamorous women.
KFC
As you may already know, KFC’s slogan relies on the idea that their food is best enjoyed without a knife and fork… ‘It’s finger lickin’ good’.
Of course, COVID-19 has made putting your hand near your face something of a no-no, so the slogan was unanimously voted as a somewhat bad idea by their marketing team.
Instead, they came up with a clever variation that used their slogan but in a different way.
The reason they make the list of the best lockdown marketing campaigns is due to the simplicity of the messaging. They rely on their brand’s already established strapline and invite the customer to fill in the blanks.
Honda
When you’re shooting an ad for a car, you need lots of space and a large crew. It’s a car, and it needs a sizable area to be driven in, cameras that can follow it and crew that keeps it looking shiny, right? How else will you show its zippy acceleration and smooth turns and splatter-free body?
Unfortunately, a large crew coming together around a car was one of the things that wasn’t encouraged with an airborne infection going around.
And, with everyone being encouraged to stay at home, what kind of message would you be sending if you showed people outside?
With all these things to consider, Honda needed a very clever plan for its new ad – something that showed off the car and sent across the ‘stay at home’ message.
So, here’s the ad they created for Honda Civic, showing that everyone can stay at home!
So, there we have it, our list of the best lockdown marketing campaigns. Was there an offering that you particularly liked? Why not let us know in the comments below?
Also, if you need help with your COVID-19-friendly digital marketing strategy, we will be glad to help you, so just get in touch!
Further reading
What Financial Help Is Available During Lockdown
The Good, Bad, and Ugly Marketing Campaigns of 2019
