It’s been a funny old month, hasn’t it? But during these uncertain times it’s even more important to try and stay positive and stay connected … or in the loop, if you like! These are some of our fave marketing campaigns from March.
Well, it’s the end of March and you know what that means… it’s time for the next instalment of our ‘In the Loop’ blog series!
It’s been a funny old month, hasn’t it? But during these uncertain times it’s even more important to try and stay positive and stay connected … or in the loop, if you like!
We know everyone is pretty news-d out when it comes to Covid-19 but it’s been impossible to ignore the way that organisations and brands have been adapting their marketing in unprecedented times.
Some of the campaigns we talk about are Coronavirus related, but we promise they all have a positive message to share! Every cloud, right?
Free Remote Working Tools
There are so many tools out there that make remote working easier – Asana, Microsoft Teams and Zoom are just a few of the more popular ones.
A lot of these tools have free and paid versions but given the current circumstances, some tools that would usually cost are being offered for free!
Two big players that have cut their prices are Microsoft and Google. The Microsoft Teams premium platform (a chat-based collaboration tool) is currently being offered for free and Google are allowing free access to the enterprise version of Hangouts (their video conferencing tool) too.
It’s nice to see big companies helping out where they can!
Tackling Fake News
Unfortunately, fake news is all too common these days. And with misinformation surrounding Coronavirus being so dangerous, social media platforms and other apps have been doing their best to put a stop to it.
Facebook say they’re working to remove any posts promoting dangerous false information and conspiracy theories. They’re working with leading global health organisations and health authorities to guide their decisions as to whether content needs to be taken down.
Twitter are simply directing any searches about Coronavirus to the Government information.
LinkedIn have a banner at the top of their desktop site to share the latest government information with everyone who logs on.
Instagram have been blocking or restricting hashtags that promote false information and routinely ‘sweeping’ their platform to remove as much false content as possible. They’re removing Coronavirus accounts from recommendations and hiding virus-related content from the Explore tab unless it comes from a credible source.
WhatsApp have confirmed they’re looking to launch a new feature that’ll prompt users to search for context on a message through a Google search. They hope that by looking at other information being discussed online, it’ll be easier to separate fact from fiction.
WhatsApp has also recently launched a World Health Organisation chatbot to provide official information and offer a new source dedicated to official Covid-19 updates as they happen.
But are these measures working? Have you seen any fake news circulating on social media?
Social media platforms are encouraging people to stay in
Social media has come to form such a huge part of many peoples’ everyday lives and it’s becoming even more important as we rely on digital connections to facilitate our work and social lives.
This week, Instagram released their ‘Co-Watching’ feature which means friends can look through the posts they’ve liked or saved together via video call. It’s turning an individual experience into something more sociable.
Instagram also launched their ‘Stay at Home’ sticker for people to use in their stories to promote staying indoors under the government guidelines.
Snapchat also launched similar filters for their users to encourage staying at home where possible.
Netflix Spolier Alert
Speaking of staying in, we think this concept campaign for Netflix is hilarious. If you’re half-way through watching any Netflix series’, we wouldn’t recommend watching the video below…
The campaign isn’t ‘real’ in the sense it hasn’t actually been put out by Netflix. Miami Ad School, Thailand created it because they thought an effective way to get people to stay at home would be to fill the streets with spoilers from some favourite Netflix shows.
Whilst it’s a bit of a light-hearted attempt to discourage people from going against government advice, key workers who still have to leave the house aren’t so keen on it!
What do you think – is this campaign a good idea? Or should the idea be scrapped?
Live Streaming on TikTok
TikTok was already gaining popularity and the extra time indoors seems to only have helped! The social platform has really taken off, with TikTok challenges and dances going viral all the time. In fact, according to Steven Bartlett of Social Chain, their global downloads were up a huge 5% from 1st-23rd March, compared to the same dates in February.
Now, they’ve introduced live streaming. The new feature will allow brands to create engaging content that changes in real-time without needing human involvement.
We’re excited to see how this one plays out – it has potential for huge engagement!
Brands are bouncing back in China
And some nice news… Brands are starting to bounce back from Coronavirus in China as social distancing regulations are being lifted.
Companies are starting to think about how they can get themselves in front consumers again and spending money on creating new, innovative campaigns.
But their world has changed a little after lockdown – technology has forced a bigger place in everyone’s lives. It’ll be interesting to see how this affects marketing approaches and perhaps gives us some insight into what it might be like for us soon.