Noteworthy marketing campaigns of 2021

2021 is drawing to a close. Whilst this was yet another year filled with lockdowns and losses, the year still showed signs of recovery and hence we were able to return to some form of normality. As a result, some of our favourite brands enjoyed even more freedom for creativity to execute some of the finest marketing campaigns we saw this year in 2021, from the Black Friday sale to the Euro 2020 tournament. Here’s a round-up of some of these campaigns which caught my attention from the UK and the US, in no particular order. Love YouTube Rewind? This is a great way to re-live the year!

1. Campaign - “Jim Shark” | Company: Gym Shark

Source: Instagram / Gym Shark

Gymshark, one of the fastest growing brands in the UK and the world, pranked?celebrities into promoting their Black Friday sale by paying them to wish Happy Birthday to a fictional person, 'Jim Shark'.

2. Campaign “ Bothlands” | Company: Snickers

England was matched up with Scotland in the UEFA Euro 2020 Tournament. As a clever initiative, Snickers decided to sponsor both countries and put some fun into it, letting players from both Scotland and England stand together and show off the awkwardness of this.?

3. Campaign “#NothingsStoppingUs” | Company: Tesco

This campaign is about a Grandmother who is determined to make it back home in time for Christmas, without any barriers. This highlights the challenges brits have faced this year and last Christmas, such as restrictions and travel red-lists.

4.? Campaign “ForeverYoung” | Company : Airbnb

At the start of 2021, Airbnb announced that they were cutting costs to their sales and marketing. They then switched focus to brand equity.? They launched a marketing campaign ‘Made Possible by Hosts’. They created videos with content created by guests staying in Airbnb properties around the world. Their aim with this campaign was ‘to educate the world on the possibilities that our Hosts open up for our guests’.

5.? Campaign “FreeCuthbert” | Company : Aldi (Source Marketing Purks )

This was arguably one of the biggest marketing campaigns in the UK for 2021… Aldi’s #FreeCuthbert!

Marks & Spencer launched legal action against Aldi towards the beginning of the year and it could have been a nightmare for them, instead, they turned it around completely and boosted their social following and engagement massively.

The company has described the #FreeCuthebert as their most effective social media campaign in history and have carried on using it in its marketing, including in their Christmas ad where you can see Cuthbert the Caterpillar being taken away by the police in the background.

6. Campaign “Thursday Dating” | Company : Thursday

If you are reading this article on Linkedin, you should no doubt know who Thursday is. Successive yet cost-effective marketing campaigns have put Thursday at the top of my charts for 2021. They are a great example of how to leverage social media, with playful, witty social media and Guerilla marketing campaigns that show what is possible with free organic traffic.

The reward for their efforts is that Thursday and holiday company HomeExchange, have developed a partnership this December to recreate the movie ‘The Holiday'. They are giving two singles, one based in the UK and one based in New York the opportunity to swap homes for the holidays and find them dates for when they land. Genius.

7. Campaign “ Chief Tik Tok Officer” | Company: Nerf (A Hasbro company)

Who remembers those sponge toy gun guys?? The chief TikTok Officer initiative was a successful one for Nerf as it killed two birds with one stone: helped them to hire a Chief TikTok Officer, and also drastically improved their social media following and engagement throughout April 2021. The #NerfApplication hashtag had been viewed approximately 84 million times as of earlier this week.

Adrian is a SaaS ( Software-as-a-service) professional with six years experience in the industry. He currently works for a software subscription company,?iubenda, which focuses on helping over 80,0000 enterprise businesses and SMEs websites and apps stay compliant with the law across multiple countries and legislations with their 360 solutions. He also consults and has experience in the EdTech, Podcasting and Startup industry.