2020’s Best Bits of Marketing

By Equinox

Even though the first half of 2020 was one that many of us would like to forget, a plethora of brilliant marketing examples reminded us that, even in the most uncertain of times, creativity always has the ability to bring a smile to people’s faces.

Here are just a handful of creative marketing campaigns that have made us smile this year.

Before coronavirus hit, Emily’s original plan was to run an outdoor campaign with the strapline: Ditch dull, eat bold.

Not wanting to cancel the media space as a result of lockdown, the brand made the bold decision to turn a negative into a positive: by changing the copy into a series of witty, self-deprecating lines about how few people would now see their adverts. In doing so, they were actually able to create mass talkability through social media. Bravo!

Bold, powerful, honest, and visually breath-taking, Bodyform and AMV BBDO’s latest work is called #WombStories — and it was made on the back of striking statistics about women’s intimate experiences and the lack of conversation about them.

The result is not only a milestone in creativity, but in normalising and creating conversations about menstruation and beyond.

Driven by the same old clichés, voiceovers and cinematography style, modern-day car ads have a tendency to be pretty unoriginal and uninspiring. Which is why Skoda’s creative use of miniature models, stop-motion animation, and everyday household objects makes this quirky series of shot-at-home spots all the more refreshing — and enjoyable.

One of, if not the greatest response to a One Minute Brief of all-time, this ad from freelance copywriter, Luke O’Reilly, was created back in March as a way of encouraging people to stay at home. And it seems as though we weren’t the only ones that loved its on-brand simplicity: following the ad going viral, Guinness themselves used it on their Twitter.

Specsavers are never short of great reactive marketing ideas, but the brand’s response to Dominic Cummings’ eye test scandal at Barnard Castle is arguably their finest work to-date. The internet was flooded with humorous memes in response to Cummings’ notorious actions, many inspired by the brand’s iconic ‘should’ve’ strapline.

Recognising the collective efforts of people that made them, Specsavers decided to enter the general British public into the Marketing Week Masters Awards — taking earned media to another level in the process.

Humour is a brilliant way to make your message memorable. But when it comes to dealing with a sensitive subject – like a global pandemic – using it effectively becomes an even tougher task to master (some might argue that it should be avoided altogether).

Using an iconic horror movie character to put a comedic slant on the delicate issue of wearing masks, however, this PSA is a masterclass in how it’s done.

And finally, a piece of work we helped create for our newest client, S4C, one that carried an extremely important message: in the face of adversity, a small 'diolch' or ‘thank you’ can make a big difference to those around us.