ThinkOTB Agency

The brands that have it – who is smashing it at the moment and what you can learn from them

May 26, 2020

We’ve all seen them. The lockdown TV adverts featuring employees on Zoom calls and brands proclaiming that ‘we’re with you’ and ‘we’re all I it together’.

Yawn.

It wasn’t long before we all got bored of brands pushing out forgettable content to the masses. It was either condescending, disingenuous or just plain patronising and dull.

But not all businesses have been boring during the pandemic with their marketing. Some have been using super successful branding and marketing strategies to stand out.

Here are some of the brands who have genuinely done some interesting lockdown advertising campaigns. They’ve stayed true to their brand voice and tried to engage consumers in memorable ways.

Paddy Power

Paddy Power are genuinely continuing their quest to be disruptive, engaging and entertaining as well as highlighting that you can bet on German football and host race nights with friends. They’ve used ‘fake news’ articles proclaiming that Newcastle United owner, Mike Ashley, vows to claim back the title of ‘Most Unpopular Man in the North East’ from Dominic Cummings.

Paddy Power have also delighted us with genuinely funny videos highlighting the ridiculousness of the whole Cummings story. The line, ‘Cummings is Goings’ was a massive hit with our writers.

Go check out what they’re up to on their Twitter account here.

Burger King

We’re not massive fans of their burgers here at OTB towers, we’re more a Byron Burger kinda marketing agency. But when it comes to their marketing our hats (and crowns) go off to Burger King. Their successful marketing strategies have displayed cute messages on their order screens to employees that have been written by customers when they order on the app. They’ve also produced genuinely reassuring videos and just fun content. Burger King make up for their inferior burgers with some truly superior marketing activity… and not a Zoom montage of all their employees in sights!

The social distancing Whopper advert is our particular favourite. Genius.

Go check out what they’re up to on their Twitter account here.

Trojan Condoms

This one made our list for one reason and one reason only. A bread making book. That might sound strange cumming (yes, pun intended) from a condom brand… but when you read ‘Rising Time’ and see the purpose behind the book then it’s easy to fall in love with it… even if it’s just for 60 seconds.

We particularly like the recipe for the Pump Her Nickel bread. Sorry!

Go Outdoors

When it comes to a piece of brutal simplicity and big thinking and also a gift of a thought then Go Outdoors rebranding to Go Indoors takes the gold medal… and probably the silver and bronze too.

They’ve totally remodelled their activity, celebrated staying indoors in a novel way that isn’t forced and is full of charm. And again, no cheesy ‘we’re with you’ statements and Zoom calls.

Go check out what they’re up to on their Twitter account here.

If you’d like some big disruptive thinking for your own successful branding, then get in touch with us here. We’ve learned a lot from these successful lockdown advertising campaigns that we can’t wait to share.