This week is THE week, the week where we come out of another nationwide lockdown to go into, erm a weird hybrid tiered lockdown. Anyway, focusing on the positives, we’re taking the chance to reflect upon a few brands who have really nailed their lockdown marketing this year and why…

Tech steps up:

WhatsApp, already an infamous platform for being a hotbed of misinformation and FAKE NEWS (must be said in your best Trump voice or else it’s just not worth it) have actually stepped up to help try and dissuade people from spreading rumours during what is already a very turbulent and uncertain time.

Partnering with WHO, UNICEF, the UN Development Programme and the International Fact-Checking Network, WhatsApp have developed a Coronavirus Hub which enables users to verify rumours that have been spread via WhatsApp. This development is by no means an exonerating game-changer for social media falsities, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction against the spread of unsubstantiated claims.

Pizza Express remembered who TF they are:

It’s been a very tricky 18 months for our favourite pizza chain. Even before Covid-19 struck, the family eatery was already on the ropes and it looked like a generation of dough ball addicts were looking at a long stretch in pizza rehab. However, buoyed by the resurgence the business had after its first administration scare, a clever shift in content strategy during the pandemic saw it return as the tomato based apple of the consumer eye.

Fully embracing its identity as a family-orientated and trusted brand, marketing created activities and games for customers to try at home to keep children (and adults) entertained during lockdown. As a result, they have subtly promoted (and increased) their supermarket product range in the midst of all this chaos, and hopefully saved a much loved brand – and many jobs – from an unforgiving winter ahead.

Travel got creative:

Many sectors have been hit hard by lockdown, and none more so than the hospitality sector. As most travel has been banned, or is at least very strongly frowned upon (unless you’re an influencer in Dubai of course) then instead of encouraging customers to travel, the industry has had to adapt its marketing comms to focus on inspiring customers instead.

Leading the pack in this endeavour is everyone’s favourite staycation facilitator, Airbnb. The company is offering images of its most stunning locations and properties to people around the world for free to download and use for their creative projects. A great way of inspiring people to plan future trips as well as providing a much needed helping hand to all of the content creators out there.

Carlsberg – probably the best beer (campaign) in the world:

With pubs and bars being closed across Europe, and many looking likely to do so throughout December (welp), naturally Carlsberg were keen to help small, locally owned establishments who were likely to be hit the hardest. By asking customers to “adopt a keg”, Carlsberg encouraged people to fill their adopted keg virtually via an interactive animation and exchange it for real beer in the pubs once they reopen.

This was a theme employed by many brands in order to generate a ‘pay now, consume later’ trade off, but none executed it quite as well as the Carlsberg team did.

So, there you have it, our top picks of a few brands who’ve really nailed their marketing efforts this lockdown to help ensure business success and continuity. We know that things are tough for many brands at the moment, and with the future still being ambiguous, promoting your business in the right way is now more important than ever before.

To chat about how we can help you to communicate better with your audience and improve your visibility online, simply drop us a line today we don’t bite…promise.