5 Brands That Have Already Nailed Their Marketing in 2021

Marketing has changed over the years. The marketers back in the Sales Era saw tactics like aggressive promotion to sell goods, followed by the Marketing Era, which focused on products that people actually want.

Today, marketing acts on a broader interest.

With the advent of social media and an increasingly content-polluted environment, brands are realising that it takes more than a big advertising budget to be taken seriously. Luckily, the world has the available marketing tools and channels for businesses to utilise to create a killer marketing strategy.

Plus, there are a ton of brands that run successful campaigns yearly to get you inspired.

As we take on the second half of the year, we look at 5 brands that have already nailed their marketing in 2021.

Acer

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Work-From-Home became the default for workplaces around the globe, including in Australia. Amidst this lockdown, brick-and-mortar businesses saw sales plummet as consumers stayed home and started spending consciously.

For many, work-from-home meant juggling work and children, chores, impractical desk setups, and stressed family members under the same roof. To alleviate these new-normal woes, Acer started a social-first campaign, “Acer Home Office SOS”. The campaign encouraged Australians to share their most chaotic, albeit hilarious, home setups to stand a chance to win a home makeover, Acer products and a Harvey Norman voucher.

Helping audiences embrace work-from-home in a light-hearted way led to Harvey Norman selling out the Acer Swift 5 within two weeks of the campaign going live and gave Acer an extensive email database.

Dunkin’ Donuts

Dunkin’ has had a lot of success with the millennial crowd through a partnership with TikTok star Charli D’Amelio. This time, their outreach focused on Dunkin’ fans and their home makeovers. The lockdown-driven craze of home remodelling had soared during the global pandemic as people wanted to beautify the spaces they spent most of their time in.

Leveraging on these numbers, Dunkin’ partnered with paint brand Backdrop to launch a limited edition print in pink and orange – their iconic brand colours. This unique collaboration not only tapped into the millennial remodelling boom but also the focus on minimalism that is part of the brand image at Backdrop. Despite being a beloved food chain, partnerships such as ‘The Charli’ and can help reposition Dunkin’ as a lifestyle brand.

Häagen-Dazs

Socially conscious buyers want to purchase from brands that hold the same beliefs and back the same causes as them. In March this year, Häagen-Dazs launched a marketing campaign that pledged $1.5 million to support a diverse group of creators over the next three years. #TheDazs aims to address the social issues that are apparent today, where marginalised creators are underappreciated and overlooked.

The ice-cream brand will donate to up-and-coming creators and organisations that train and support them. With authenticity and social issues a huge marketing trend in 2021, Häagen-Dazs has set a precedent for delivering what they have promised through this campaign and stepping out of their comfort zone to play their part in a better world.

McDonald’s

McDonald’s is no stranger to artist collaborations, having worked with Travis Scott, reportedly making him $20 million in sales. Following the success of the Cactus Jack meal, which caused ingredient shortages in outlets everywhere, they announced their upcoming partnership with sensational K-pop boy band BTS. The menu would begin their “tour” in the United States, just like the chart-topping boy band would during performances, and make its way around the globe. Featuring iconic menu items like nuggets, fries and a medium coke, McDonald’s also brought in two new Korean-inspired sauces.

A tweet posted by McDonald’s announcing the collaboration garnered over half a million likes on Twitter. Diehard fans all around the globe have voiced their excitement leading up to the debut of the BTS meal, proving once again that McDonald’s is the best fast-food chain.

Lyft

As vaccinations bring back in-person activities, people are understandably facing a hard time getting used to functioning outside. Returning to their daily lives before the pandemic could create problem spots from running late to human interaction. The new Lyft campaign, ‘How to Human Again’, empathises with the post-pandemic learning curve and placing their service as a solution.

Following a partnership with Tinder to promote post-lockdown dating, Lyft launched a series of videos to help audiences who find their social skills a tad bit rusty. The campaign not only used a popular YouTube concept, “How-To” videos, they also capitalised on the shared experience of awkwardness that riders may feel from the period of social distancing.

In the new digital era, creativity is vital to success when it comes to marketing. Which one of these creative campaigns is your favourite?