5 Innovative Marketing Campaigns that will Inspire You in 2021

What makes a campaign innovative is not its ability to draw in more sales but its ability to captivate its audience and inspire. These featured campaigns inspire us to do more and try new creative avenues when creating a marketing campaign.

Marketing Campaign #1: Facebook Does More Together

Facebook has found a new and innovative way to highlight its app's features. Their unique approach doesn't just showcasing a feature, instead Facebook is showcasing how their features can be impactful and bringing people together.

Facebook's More Together Campaign was first launched in 2019.  Now in 2021, we see the next phase of their More Together campaign as they utilize influencers, celebrities, and ordinary people using Facebook to "do more together." 

The most impressive part of this campaign is Facebook using its groups that provide support and inclusivity as a way to bring everyone together.

With the recent events of Covid 19, many were affected and left feeling alone. Facebook understood this and created a campaign around the most inclusive Facebook feature to help its users overcome this through community support.

Marketing Campaign #2: Nike’s Toughest Athletes

 Nike’s Toughest Athletes Campaign was launched as a tribute to all women who are either mothers or expecting. This innovative campaign was launched to coincide with International Women’s Day and Mother’s Day within the United Kingdom. 

Nike used an innovative approach to address its niche customer. They did more than just showcase their maternity line; they displayed inclusivity, women who are pregnant, mothers breastfeeding, mothers that are athletes still performing and showing what a tough athlete looks like.

Through this marketing campaign, Nike was able to elevate the voices of women who experience discrimination or have been ridiculed for simply being a mother.

They're aligning their values with their customers' values to help women fight against gender roles and stereotypes.

Marketing Campaign #3: Netflix Celebrates International Women’s Day

Netflix’s 2021 International Women’s Day Campaign paid homage to women who were the first to spark change and paved the way for those who came after. 

As part of this campaign, Netflix created a watchlist of inspirational and empowering movies, documentaries and series; all of which share the stories of women in history.  The campaign features a powerful message that inspires young women to be the next ones to be “The first “.

Netflix was not only able to get customers to pay attention to movies and shows they may have previously ignored, but was also able to connect with their customers by taking a stance on a value integral to their culture.

This allowed them to distinguish themselves as more than just a streaming service which is more important now than ever as competition rises in this space. Consumers purchase from brands whose values align with their own and Netflix this highly mission-driven campaign increased their brand favorability.

Marketing Campaign #4: Alexa’s New Look is What You’ve Been Waiting for

Amazon caught our attention with its 2021 Superbowl ad campaign launch: Alexa’s Body Campaign. Sex sells and Amazon found a way to make mundane technology wildly sexy.

The purpose of this campaign was to highlight the new design of Amazon’s echo and partnership with famed actor Micheal B. Jordan, who was recently awarded the title sexiest man alive.

The innovative marketing campaign features an ad in which Micheal B. Jordan is the new Alexa body and utilizes both a comedic and relatable approach. When consumers picture Alexa, we picture a dull device. Now Amazon has given us a far better image to replace that one with.

Another innovative aspect of this campaign was Amazon’s choice to use an African-American male to portray the sexy lead versus a female. This highlights the brand’s values on inclusivity, reverse gender roles and equality.

To date, the ad has generated over 78 million views. It has also led to an interactive social media response as actor Kevin Hart decided to take part in the campaign and fuel a friendly competition with the actor in deciding who should be used as the new body for Alexa. 

Marketing Campaign #5: Black Beyond Measure

Target’s  Black Beyond Measure Campaign is an annual campaign that coincides with black history month. The campaign elevates the voices of black women and men while promoting equality through the use of merchandise, content and ads.

This year, Target took it a step further, in seeking community engagement to share their stories and inspire others. Target hasn’t previously used such an integrated omnichannel strategy to this degree.

Target also featured the designs of three Black College students who won a competition through the company’s African American Business Council. They also increased their product assortment to include more black-owned businesses and celebrate black creators. You can now "Shop Black" on Target.com.

For a big brand such as Target, this speaks volumes.

Target is truly stating what their brand values are and letting their African-American audience know that they support them in more ways than one.

Author - Kia Laws