The best digital campaigns of 2021

2021 has been another year with a digital focus. Companies have been fighting to maintain their relevance in a fast paced online world, and because of that, innovation has increased. And so has ad spending—with a budget increase of 49% year-on-year to £10.5bn at the beginning of 2021. As the year comes to a close, we’re outlining (in no particular order) some of our favourite digital campaigns of 2021.

Police Scotland: Don’t be that guy

What did they do?

In a hard-hitting campaign, Police Scotland challenged sexual violence against women. In an attempt to encourage men to have honest discussions about male sexual entitlement, Police Scotland released a short video campaign connecting misogyny and sexism as a gateway to sexual violence. The video shows different men asking a series of questions, all linked towards everyday misogyny. The questions escalate into more coercive behaviour, and ends with one saying: “Sexual violence begins long before you think it does.” Police Scotland then challenged  the viewer saying: “don’t be that guy”.

Why do we like it?

The video has 2.8M views on twitter and #DontBeThatGuy became a trending topic. It sparked widespread conversation on social media and news channels, about the reality of casual sexism in everyday life. The ad challenges the idea of following along with the crowd and calls for people to speak out against the injustice they see. It doesn’t blame victims, but instead targets violence from the source—the attitudes we hold about how we treat one another.

Nike: Ask our athletes

What did they do?

Nike showed that their staff know exactly what they’re talking about in their “Ask our athletes” campaign. Each video detailed the lives and achievements of their London-branch floor-staff, who are award winning athletes. Despite being a completely online campaign, the goal of the project was to bring more customers into their physical stores. Nike wanted to remind customers how much more of a quality service they will receive from talking to their team in person.

Why do we like it?

When we think of Nike campaigns we think of celebrity sports stars and well known athletes. This is the first time the company has turned the lens inwards. Employees are an essential part of any organisation, and very rarely do they receive the attention they deserve for their efforts in major brands. This was a great way to drive footfall into stores in an attempt to recover from covid’s impact on the high street. 

Spotify: Only You

What did they do?

Spotify is known for their unique campaigns and only you was no different. This campaign celebrated the individuality of every listener. The data-driven creative campaign featured an in-app experience, personalised playlists, and global marketing across 22 markets. The app released a series of videos mentioning fans of Harry Styles, SZA and Lil Nas X and their unique listening habits which drove users to the app where they could see: 

An audio birth chart

User data was displayed as a star sign birth chart. The sun sign detailed the artist a user listened to most over a six month period. The moon sign demonstrated an artist they listened to that best showed their emotional or vulnerable side. Finally, the Rising sign brings it all together with an artist they had recently connected with. 

A Dream Dinner Party

Users were prompted to choose 3 artists to invite to an imaginary dinner party. Once they had selected the trio, Spotify created a personalised playlist including each artist’s best songs.

Your Song Year and time of day

This showcased the period of time the music that users listened to was from. It highlighted how they traveled through different eras with music and showed their most active times on the app, giving them the title of early bird or night owl.

Why do we like it?

Spotify provided users with fun graphics, showing their unique data, which could be shared online. This became a trending topic and allowed users to find others with similar interests. Plus, the app timed this release at the same time as their new feature of blended playlists, where users could collaborate with each other to make a mix. 

Vienna Strips on OnlyFans

What did they do?

When we think about brand-friendly platforms, OnlyFans is not the first to come to mind. However, the Vienna Tourist Board took full advantage of this when they created a profile on the adults-only platform to avoid the restrictions of regular social media sites. 

The organisation was annoyed by platforms like TikTok and Instagram, continuously removing their posts containing artwork for breaking nudity guidelines. These repeat ‘offences’ caused two of Vienna’s most prominent museums to be suspended from the social media sites. 

In response, the Vienna Tourist board created an OnlyFans account. OnlyFans is one of the only social media sites which does not censor nudity. The board put pictures and videos of ‘Vienna’s 18+ content’ behind a paywall to both encourage tourists to learn more about the country’s artistic history and raise awareness of the censorship of art on social media.

To advertise this move, the board released a campaign with tongue-in-cheek phrases and questions to entice people to subscribe. The campaign went viral and the organisation said the move was “one of the most successful marketing campaigns in the history of [the] Vienna Tourist Board”.

Why do we like it?

It can be hard to stand out on social media as a brand. We assume that if we follow the right strategy and play by the site’s rules then the algorithm will work with us. However, that isn’t always the case. It’s great when organisations are daring and call out platforms for their inconvenient regulations. Plus, a cheeky campaign will always put you in the AD good books. 

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