LOOKING BACK AT THE CONTENT MARKETING OF 2020
1. Anheuser-Busch - Hand Sanitizer
At the start of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States, Anheuser-Busch created its own hand sanitizer to distribute to those in need. This was not a switch from their beers to hand sanitizer, but a move that sets an example for their audience. They are spreading the message that we all need to keep each other safe while still painting their brand in good light. Content marketing at its finest.
We have a long history of supporting our communities and employees - this time is no different. That’s why we are using our supply and logistics network to begin producing and distributing bottles of hand sanitizer to accommodate the growing needs across the United States. pic.twitter.com/nqImcE5WJP
— Anheuser-Busch (@AnheuserBusch) March 22, 2020
A tweet from Anheuser-Busch announcing their hand sanitizer manufacturing.
2. Lunchables - New School Rules
Lunchables is already a great easy lunch option to pack for students, but Oscar Mayer wanted to ensure that they would be trustworthy during COVID-19 as well. Calling their 1-877-BTS-RULZ hotline provides a choose-your-own-adventure experience that allows callers to explore their day while learning new COVID-19 guidelines for their 2020 school term. In addition, they have a video series that shows characters following these new rules.
This sort of content is geared toward kids to be both entertaining and educational. And with parents having to supervise their children, they can also be aware of ways to keep their children healthy and makes Lunchables more reputable to them. They would not mind to purchase more Lunchables.
One of the videos a part of Lunchables’ “New School Rules” video series.
3. F*ck It Won't Cut It
A student-led group at Boston University took the nature of some and turned it into a bold message. “F*ck It Won’t Cut It” uses college student lingo and profanity in order to get the attention of students who may not care about the situation surrounding COVID-19. They create their own posts that shorten the information on the Back2BU webpage for easier reading.
Maybe it’s the curse word catching your attention or the formatting of the graphics, so someone is bound to take a look. Anything blunt that that can further the spread of information to keep many safe.
Move-in period is back, and the Back2BU website is still ...long 😳
— F*ck It Won't Cut It (@fckitwontcutit) January 16, 2021
Here’s the deal: once you get to campus, EVERYONE needs to stay-in-place (aka stay home) for 7-8 days while you get 3 negative tests (2 for graduate students) so we can have a great semester ON campus 😉 pic.twitter.com/4vk2nfn17q
A tweet from F*ck It Won’t Cut It that summarizes Back2BU’s guidelines.
4. Chipotle - Tony Hawk Burrito and Twitch Integration
Chipotle using Twitch allows for them to create content that connects to a younger audience. A way that they linked their food and this content creation platform was by introducing their new Tony Hawk Burrito. The launch kicked off on Twitch with Tony Hawk, Jagger Eaton, and Finn Wolfhard playing the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2 Warehouse Demo.
During this stream, they gave free burritos out to the Twitch viewers. Following this launch, a limited amount of purchases of the Tony Hawk Burrito would grant access codes for the redemption of the demo game. This allows them to engage on a newer platform to be able to constantly remind people of their brand and they can create partnerships with other brands and companies. Staying ahead of the curve when it comes to content marketing.
5. NBA - Black Lives Matter
The support for Black Lives Matter from the NBA reflects their solidarity and support for their position in diversity and ethics in sports. This commercial that aired shows basketball players and staff voicing that Black Lives Matter and presents images and text reflecting the moods of the Black community in the wake of the deaths of 2020. This content marketing reflects the organization’s values and calls attention to the racism in the United States.
6. Dove - Courage is Beautiful
Dove is known for their campaigns that aim to boost the self-esteem and beauty of individuals no matter what they may look like and no matter what circumstances they have faced in life. As a reflection of the times, Dove launched the Courage is Beautiful campaign.
This content marketing not only highlighted healthcare workers in their garb with mask lines, but also made donations to organizations for front-line health care workers, hospitals, and communities in need in the United States. This furthers Dove’s values, including more people that may feel extremely underappreciated.
7. Caveat - Sh*tty Times
In the face of the COVID-19, many brands and organizations created the same type of ad, telling us that everything will be okay. However, Caveat took all this to create a parody, Sh*tty Times. They inform viewers that they should stand out with their content marketing in a time that is clearly hard for everyone.
Placement of logos, meta talk about how the logo moves apart, use of hashtags, links to websites – these are all things typically found in ads, but Caveat uses each to jab at brands’ use of each.
8. Chiquita Bananas
This past year, Chiquita’s bananas had scannable stickers intended for fitness. Scanning one of these stickers would give you fitness routines, Spotify playlists, and healthy banana recipes. This content marketing promotes fitness and well-being during quarantine.
Their bananas are already easy to grab in a supermarket, but by pairing these bananas with some fitness tips and motivators makes the brand more reliable in the eyes of an everyday consumer.
9. Mailchimp Presents
Mailchimp Presents created their own TV series prior to the outbreak of the pandemic here in the United States. Werrrk is a piece of original content marketing where experts help small struggling businesses.
It is quite fortunate that they created this reality series at the start of the pandemic in order to shed some light on the struggles small businesses may have. This type of content is also entertaining, which makes it a simple thing to market.
10. Asana - We Love Teams
Different uses for different people. Asana wanted to highlight the different kinds of users and also show the use of their platform. They took pictures of actual teams that use Asana to help their brand. This is a type of empathetic content marketing that shows the results of their mission.
As was mentioned, many of these examples were and still are a product of their time.For this reason, we can still look to these examples for how to not only create content but make better content for your content marketing purposes. Keeping people entertained by the originality of your content will drive your numbers up and retain your base. However, it is up to your brand or company to figure out how that content marketing will reflect your mission and values.
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