4 of the Best 2020 Black Friday Marketing Campaigns
One of the biggest dates in the marketing calendar has arrived and we all know what to expect...right? Well, you might already be seeing a few surprises this year (it is 2020 after all) as brands react and adapt to the new and ongoing challenges presented to their customers. To kick off the Black Friday season, we’ve picked four of the best Black Friday marketing campaigns so far this year and taken a deeper look into their marketing strategy and what it means for Black Fridays to come.
What’s different about Black Friday campaigns this year?
Extended discounts
I think we can all agree that 2020 has felt like the longest year ever - from a pandemic causing huge economic uncertainty to an explosive US election causing some very real global anxiety, there’s seemingly a new hurdle at every turn. It’s no surprise then that brands have been moving their discounts forward and continuing them for longer (i.e. #BlackNovember) this year in an effort to recover economically, offer affordability for customers, and provide a much-needed lift to people’s spirits.
Digitalisation
With evermore customers moving online during lockdown, businesses have had to digitalise to stay competitive this year, with many turning to e-commerce if they hadn’t already. Social media has also played an increasingly important role in many brands’ marketing strategies as they shift to where their customers are. Social media and e-commerce have of course already played a big role in many successful Black Friday campaigns gone by, but this year online retailers are expecting a 45% Black Friday boost, making this possibly the most competitive Black Friday period ever from a marketing standpoint.
Ethical initiatives
It doesn’t stop at brands this year; even the social media companies themselves are playing an ever-greater role in Black Friday. Facebook, for example, launched their own #BuyBlack Friday gift guide this year which encouraged users to support black-owned businesses (which have been closing at twice the rate of other small businesses) in the US in the wake of the pandemic. Other initiatives showing awareness of cultural issues, such as showing solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter, tackling climate change, and supporting small businesses, are certainly demonstrating a shift towards more transparent and ethical business practices, too.
4 of the best 2020 Black Friday campaigns
1. giffgaff X LadBible: Check Your Drawers
Mobile phone company giffgaff have always been pretty good when it comes to community engagement and brand activism - look no further than giffgaff’s social media manager Lisa Boyles’ advice and case studies from her SocialDay session earlier this year. This Black Friday was no different for giffgaff; they collaborated with LadBible on an anti-consumerist ad campaign encouraging people to do their bit for the environment.
The ‘Check Your Drawers’ campaign, which was launched via a YouTube video and a range of social media content, aimed to get customers to check the drawers in their homes for old mobile phones. The initiative came after research by giffgaff and LadBible found that around 55 million phones are laying around homes in the UK and, if not refurbished or recycled, end up polluting the environment in toxic landfill sites.
There was even a financial imperative for customers, as giffgaff offered cash in return for customers’ old phones. “The mobile network run by you” has also been promoting its own traditional Black Friday deals too, with discounts on a range of new and refurbished phones. The campaign not only maintains giffgaff’s excellent reputation and relationship with their existing audience, but also promotes their values and products to LadBible’s young and very much digital audience, as well as serving as a unique talking point for both brands.
2. Gymshark: Big Deal Energy
We couldn’t leave Gymshark out of Black Friday, could we? This year, the sportswear brand utilised their signature influencer marketing strategy to deliver a star-packed Black Friday marketing campaign. Their three and a half minute YouTube video featured a range of hugely popular influencers including YouTuber-come-rapper KSI and associated YouTubers Behzinga (AKA Ethan Payne) and Calfreezy (AKA Callum Airey), among other big names.
The video featured several key clips which were delivered in smaller chunks on the brand’s social media platforms, one of which was a news-like format which saw Calfreezy announcing Gymshark’s early Black Friday deals as “breaking news”. This particular segment was featured in two posts on Gymshark’s Instagram account (which boasts nearly 5 million followers), racking up more than 700,000 views combined.
Gymshark also showcased their ability to speak the language of and appeal to their young audience, hijacking the term BDE in their marketing campaign to mean Big Deal Energy. Though their Black Friday campaign is more traditional in the sense that it doesn’t strike up a conversation about anti-consumerism or change the focus of Black Friday being about maximising profit, it does show the brand’s values of inclusivity and its ability to appeal to young people through featuring a diverse range of creators and uniquely recognisable content.
3. IKEA: #BuybackFriday
IKEA’s 2020 Black Friday campaign is yet another sign of the times; this year, the Swedish furniture brand has shown its commitment to sustainability by changing its tactic from pushing sales to looking to buy old furniture. The #BuybackFriday initiative is encouraging customers to trade in their old furniture at double its value for in-store credit. The move brings awareness to the importance of transitioning to a circular economy and becoming climate positive, issues that are also firmly on mobile phone company giffgaff’s agenda.
Though the #BuybackFriday isn’t running in the UK this year (and in some other locations due to coronavirus restrictions), according to global communications firm Edelman, who worked with IKEA on the launch, the campaign has reached 37 markets and achieved a 96% neutral to positive sentiment so far. The #BuybackFriday initiative is set to reach the UK in 2021 and, as is tradition for the company, IKEA won’t be participating in Black Friday deals this year either. Though a bit disappointing for the bargain hunters among us, it does speak volumes about the brand’s culturally aware, eco-friendly, and proactive ethos, something which has been proving particularly popular among younger customers.
Above: The markets IKEA’s Buy Back initiative currently operates in across the world
4. Amazon: Black Friday Live events
This year even sees a shift in marketing strategy of the Kings of consumerism. For Black Friday this year, Amazon is not only delivering its huge discounts and savings as usual, but is also dipping its toes into the world of free entertainment and more “ethical” (note the quotation marks) initiatives. From the 20th to 30th of this month, Amazon is running a 10-day Black Friday Live event series which delivers “workshops, entertainment and reasons to smile” for free to its customers. The star-studded events, which include a read-along bedtime story with David Walliams, a craft session with TV personality Stacey Soloman, and a cocktail-making session with Britain’s Got Talent’s Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon, can also be watched back on-demand via the Amazon website.
The live events drive customers to the Amazon site where they can view a list of the products they will need to participate in the events, for example, the alcohol used in the cocktail-making session, and provides them with the option to purchase these items.
And the “do-gooding” (yes, the quotation marks again) doesn’t stop there. This year, Amazon has also launched its own small business category to encourage customers to shop with and support small businesses through the site. Of course, any attempt at “ethical” initiatives need to be taken with a pinch of salt when it comes to Amazon; the trillion-dollar company has had its fair share of scandals and criticisms and is certainly not an “ethically sound” brand by any means. However, these initiatives do very much signal a shift in Black Friday marketing trends and reflect an audience with changing priorities and increasingly ethical demands when it comes to the companies they choose to buy from.
What are your thoughts?
Will you be shopping the Black Friday sales this year or will you be searching for brands that are giving something back? Let us know what your thoughts are on Black Friday in 2020 and your favourite campaigns of the year (even if they’re not in our list!) via SocialDay’s social media channels or join our Social Media Marketing Facebook Community for more topical discussions from the marketing world.
