The Top Video Marketing Campaigns of 2020 to Inspire Your 2021

We are nearly there, we have almost made it to the end of the turbulent year that was 2020! Shops and restaurants have been shut, reopened and then shut again, and for a short period of time, we had to say goodbye to some of our favourite brands.

When the world was stuck at home, the world of marketing was driven entirely online to social media as the most successful way to interact with potential customers. This means that now more than ever, the competition to create innovative and engaging social media campaigns is fierce.

When it comes down to engaging social media content, video is king. In fact, a strong majority (64%) of consumers claim to have made a purchase directly after watching a branded social video (WordStream). Don’t expect an image to engage because there will be no cut through and film is 400 times more likely to sell your product (Forbes)!

Amongst all the chaos, there’s been some amazing video marketing campaigns we’ve taken note of at Ideal Insight. Here’s a countdown of our top 5 social video marketing campaigns from 2020 to provide some inspo and demonstrate the power of video:

5. Burger King - The Mouldy Whopper

You’ve heard the saying ‘there is no such thing as bad publicity’, right? Meaning that as long as your brand is sparking conversation, your marketing is working. It’s a controversial approach, but we saw Burger King’s bravery rewarded this year with an unforgettable video campaign. 

Highlighting the fast-food giant’s shift away from using artificial preservatives, the video showcased the classic Whopper burger. In a time lapse of 30 days, it documented the burger ‘gracefully’ descending into a pile of mould. On the first day alone that the video was released, over 50,000 people took to social media to express their disgust at the video. On this day, over a ‘whopping’ 60% of all Burger King mentions across social media were negative (Brandwatch).

However, boasting almost 2 million views on YouTube and over 21 million impressions on social media… is there such a thing as bad publicity? Time will tell, but to us, making your products’ quality memorable can only be a good thing…

4. McDonald's - Return of the Mac

Not to be out-done by BK, McDonalds flexed their marketing muscle as one of the beloved foods of the nation. In the UK alone McDonald's claims to serve on average 3.8 million people per day. McDonalds was just one of the huge brands that we had to say goodbye to in March, and three months later in June the McDonald’s doors were still closed. 

The announcement many Brits had been waiting for in July finally came in… that McDonald’s was to reopen. The day was anticipated by many (maybe too many?), and as it grew closer and closer, the reopening movement began trending on social media. Over 16,000 McDonald’s fans tweeted that the fast food giant should make their comeback incorporating the song “Return of the Mac” by Mark Morrison.

And McDonald’s certainly did not disappoint. Announcing their reopening with a social campaign video, the chain conformed to their fans' requests, with “Return of the Mack” being the name of the iconic come-back campaign, as well as of course as Morrison’s smash hip-hop hit. Listening to your audience is key, and sometimes the best ideas are right in front of you…

3. Gillette - The Best a Man Can Be

Shortly after the rise of the #metoo movement on social media in early 2020, Gillette sparked controversy when they launched their #thebestamancanbe campaign in response to the movement.  

The video followed a series of men reacting to the many headlines surrounding toxic masculinity, and whilst some people complained the video was too political, Gillette received more love then hate for the campaign. Gillette were praised for taking a firm stance on the highly topical social issue. 

The video encouraged men to stand up to toxic masculinity, and call out toxicity to inspire the younger generation of boys, who are of course the future generation of men. In just the first 24 hours of the video’s release, it was mentioned on social media over a million times and now sees itself firmly cemented as a popular, if not controversial, meme format – the holy grail for many social media marketers!

2. Netflix - Stay at Home

During March when the first lockdown measures were introduced across much of Europe and the world, Netflix launched a campaign to encourage people to stay home to reduce the spread of the virus. Wanting to discourage people from visiting popular hangout spots, Netflix launched a campaign by decorating many of Europe’s largest cities with billboards with spoilers from some of the platform’s most popular shows. 

Key spoilers from Stranger Things, Narcos and Love is Blind were used in the UK to decorate London, being shown in key spots such as the London Underground. The spoilers turned out to be a hilarious and creative way to promote the ‘stay at home’ message and bring humour to a tough time for many people. Similar to the BK campaign, we loved watching the effectiveness of Netflix publicly ‘spoiling’ their products!

TOP SPOT - Samsung - Galaxy Note 10

During the global pandemic, brands have been extra creative in reaching out to customers in a personal and engaging way. There were many inspiring campaigns to choose from, however we couldn’t possibly put anyone in our top spot apart from Samsung, who in January launched their immersive Bandersnatch-style Instagram story campaign. Harnessing the power of the Instagram platform, Samsung executed an absolute masterpiece in coordinating video content across social media.

The campaign spanned 20 Instagram accounts and 50 stories, where the audience engages on a mission to carry the latest Samsung Galaxy Note 10 to its destination. Inspired by Netflix’s Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, the immersive videos allow you to make choices and navigate your own way through the story. The choices you make become increasingly important as on your way to the destination a bandit snatches the case you are transporting the tablet. Shot from a first-person perspective, you navigate an urban landscape, jumping from ledges and navigating obstacles to retrieve the case. 

Whilst well put-together, it’s far from super-complex on a video front, instead perfectly demonstrating the power of well deployed video content. The interactive campaign is still live & ‘playable’ so if you’ve not tried it out, we’d absolutely recommend giving it a go. 

What do you think? Did we miss any of your favourites?

Social video is dominating video, and this is only expected to increase as we move into 2021. Is it time to step up the use of social media management services?