2019 was the year of rebrands. From the successful to not-so-successful, we’ve seen brand identities take new forms. With the reestablishment of some major companies with messaging, logos, color palettes and typographies, 2020 will be the year to convert these identities through marketing campaigns. If you’re on the horizon of launching a new brand (or you’ve just rebranded and don’t know where to go from here), we’re sharing our top tips for marketing campaigns in 2020.
Yes, really. Although the upcoming U.S. election may become one of the most heated and contested in history, there’s similarities that we should take note of when developing the goals of a marketing campaign.
Political campaigns include goals to:
Similarly, marketing campaigns – both B2B and B2C – aim to:
Consumers are driven through word of mouth marketing. Common mediums of receiving these referrals include online research, family, friend, TV and radio ads.
Word of mouth marketing shares themes of loyalty, authenticity, and a focus on the consumer. For example, Calvin Klein recently launched their holiday campaign helping shoppers find gifts for their loved ones. A handful of different strategies were used to help drive the tactical and operations side of this campaign:
Apple has seen its share of branding issues as they faced privacy concerns from their users. To combat this negative image and reaffirm their stance, Apple launched their “Privacy. That’s iPhone” ad campaign. Prior to the campaign launch, Apple sneakily started leaving breadcrumbs to start peaking interest through their marketing. Prior to the 2019 Consumer Electronic Show, Apply displayed a billboard that marked “What happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone.”
But the marketing campaign was just the start. Apple has been publicly fighting to defend its goal of reassuring the privacy rights of its users. This included a statement from its CEO, Tim Cook, which emphasized Apple’s belief that privacy is a “fundamental human right.” It may be difficult to attribute whether privacy is the contributing factor for its decrease in sales, but end-of-the-year stats look dismal as iPhone sales continue to fall.
According to BusinessDictionary.com, affinity marketing, in its most basic form is:
“A method of selling goods and services by creating partnerships with similar or compatible companies and brands. This increases brand loyalty for both companies and products and heightens market awareness of both.”
However, affinity marketing took a turn this year with a heated debate of chicken sandwich contenders including Popeyes and Chick-fil-A. In August, Popeyes saw its biggest success in the past 30 years with the launch of its fried chicken sandwich. With a similar target audience of chicken sandwich connoisseurs (although this may be arguable depending who you ask), Popeyes decided to take affinity marketing to a new level by taking jabs at their competitors. Chick-fil-A, notably known for their practice closing on Sundays, was featured in Popeyes’ campaign where an employee places an “Open Sundays” sticker on their window.
The campaign evolved into an apologies campaign later this year when the chain encouraged customers to BYOB – Bring Your Own Bun – and buy chicken tenders to substitute. Restaurant Brands International, their parent company, announced that Popeyes marked this year’s sales as best yet in nearly two decades. Only time will tell to see which restaurant chain will be next to join the affinity marketing ring.
Following last year’s “Stand for Something” marketing campaign, Nike continued to take the lead through its launch of their inspirational Dream Crazier promo video. Featured athletes include Ibtihaj Mohammad, Simone Biles, Serena Williams, and Marlen Esparza. The ads are noted by SBNATION as “…images (that)are definitely going to be on kids walls.” This campaign touches on the humanistic qualities to nurture, inspire, strengthen, and evolve the next generation of female athletes. The ads are simple but effective at their core. Designer and marketers alike need to take notice.
We shouldn't forget some of the marketing blunders we've seen throughout the years. Here are some of our (not-so-favorite) with lessons learned:
I'm excited to see what's in store for marketing campaigns in 2020. Share your goals for the New Year and we'll be there to help you launch!
