2024 Mid-Year Intake. Applications for mid-year intake are now open. Apply Now!.

Advertising during a pandemic: Brands that got it right!

Advertising during a pandemic

ALRENE COETZEE, Social Media Manager at Digital Content Lab shares a light-hearted review on how some brands broke through the noise of COVID-19 advertising by showing us the funny side of the pandemic.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit South Africa at the beginning of 2020, a full national lockdown began at midnight on Thursday 26 March. Many brands had to make rather big adjustments to their marketing strategies in order to reach their customers at home using digital marketing tactics.

So here we are, almost a year later, and still stuck with endless adverts from brands who seem to have gotten the same memo to bombard us with their sombre piano music and empty roads, reminding us THAT WE CANNOT BE TOGETHER, but at the same time WE ARE NEVER APART.

But just when we thought it was time to zone out of these depressing ads, something unexpected happened…

Saved by humour
Here are four brands who thankfully took a different approach and changed the game completely by appealing to our sense of humour through clever and engaging content.

Chicken Licken SA (84,713 Youtube views)

Chicken Licken SA really did their slogan “Soul Food for a Soul Nation” justice with their COVID-19 campaign video portraying South Africa’s unique sense of humour amidst the pandemic. The video includes snippets of how South Africans try to outsmart the COVID-19 rules along with the famous zol-song and the president’s struggle with his mask. They made sure to keep things on the light side.

Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjly7EsmUYY

King Price Insurance (3,381,998 Youtube views)

King Price Insurance had some fun with their hashtag “#UnapologeticallySouthAfrican”. Their COVID-19 campaign video opens with a woman approaching a roadblock where a police officer continues to check her temperature and asks for her permit. A funny series of misunderstandings take place pointing out the struggles we face in a light-hearted way. The traffic officer takes her temperature and tells her she is ‘very hot’ to which she responds that she is married.

Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M35_uhXFbmE

Nando’s SA (18,159 Youtube views)

Nando’s SA took the jolly “We wish you a Merry Christmas” carol and turned it into a funny, witty song introducing their “Say ‘tsek to 2020 Fed-up Festive Feast”. They sure made us realise that even though we have our downs, our truly South African sense of humour cannot be taken away from us.

Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g25anWNqwkk

Castle Lite SA (515,455 Youtube views)

Castle Lite’s intro to their #HitRefresh on 2020 played on that one phrase South Africans know all too well… “My fellow South Africans”. In their video there is a small town called Hotazel where the temperature gets, well… hot as hell. They used the COVID-19 nation address and turned it into a fun commercial, making us feel refreshed for a 2021.

Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlDIgsLiM8c&feature=youtu.be

Even though the COVID-19 pandemic is no laughing matter, at least these brands managed to lift the spirits of the nation while promoting their brand.

Jokes aside
If you or the marketing team in your company is not geared up to drive your digital marketing strategy this year, then consider the IMM Graduate School’s Applied Digital Marketing Certificate course. In 10 months, you could be upskilled with some of the latest strategic thinking and best practice from the industry.

This course promises to be the most up to date course available as it is continuously reviewed and updated by our tutors that work in the digital marketing industry. Here’s what one of our students had to say about this course:

“Thank you so much for the ADMC course, it was really an eye opener to what I thought I already knew. This course was really what I needed to enhance my marketing qualification and added to my understanding of digital marketing.” Tokologo Mokoena (Marketing Manager – SABC – Ikwekwezi FM)

Being a digital marketer in 2021 means you need to have a wide range of skills; from technical know-how to content creation. In this practical, hands-on course we introduce you to the tools required to be a successful and efficient digital marketer. If you would like to apply for this course or would like more information, follow the link to our website https://shortcourses.imm.ac.za/online-course/applied-digital-marketing-certificate/.