Happy New Year!
We're back again with another roundup of our favourite purpose campaigns, this time taking a look back at the whole of 2021.
The brand purpose 'sh*twagon' -- as Mark Ritson so eloquently put it -- really gathered pace in 2021, as more and more brands brought purpose to the forefront of their ad campaigns.
There was a lot to pick from but here's our top five purpose-powered ad campaigns of the past year. Enjoy!
5. Brand: IKEA
Campaign: Fortune Favours the Frugal
A brilliant campaign that perfectly highlighted IKEA's commitment to tackling climate change.
As well as a one-minute ad -- which emphasised the urgency of the matter through a huge meteor hurtling to Earth -- the multi-channel campaign also featured a landing page on the IKEA website that shares how they plan to be a fully 'circular' business by 2030.
4. Brand: LEVI'S
Campaign: Buy Better, Wear Longer
Charity Partner: Various eco-charities, including River Cleanup, The Jane Goodall Foundation, Viva Con Aqua, Green Kayak and Forest of Marston Vale.
Levi's has made significant strides over the last decade in reducing the amount of water used in the making of its denim products. Since rolling out its Water<Less Innovation in 2011, Levi's has saved more than 3.5 billion litres of water from the finishing process, enough to fill 12 Olympic swimming pools, and has recycled over 5 billion more.
So with clothing consumption doubling in the last 15 years, Levi's released a campaign on Earth Day (April 21) to showcase its commitment to creating a sustainable future.
The fashion brand partnered with Good-Loop on a series of purpose-powered adverts that enabled consumers to donate money to a range of sustainability charities simply by watching the brand's ads.
3. Charity: Refuge
Campaign: Domestic Abuse Is Getting Smarter
This brilliant (if slightly unsettling) campaign from Refuge featured in last month's best-of round-up. And for good reason.
Created to highlight the alarming increase in the number of abusers using the latest technology to control their partners, the ad looks and sounds like an ad for the latest smartphone.
But it could not be more different, highlighting key features of the phone that can be used to control your partner. An incredibly innovative campaign.
2. Brand: MG Motor
Campaign: MG ZS EV
Charity Partner: Various tree-planting causes
If you're a regular visitor to our blog, you'll know digital advertising leaves a surprisingly large carbon footprint around the globe. So to ensure its online display campaign for its new electric SUV, the MG ZS EV, didn't have a negative impact on the environment, MG Motor became the first brand to use our new Green Ad Tag -- which is like a viewability tag for our planet that enables advertisers to measure and offset the carbon cost of their online campaigns in real time.
The climate-friendly ad also helped to plant over 43,100 trees. How? Well, firstly, the Green Ad Tag is bought on a 'Tree-PM' model, which means for every thousand impressions served, Good-Loop plants one tree.
The climate-friendly campaign also included a video ad, which unlocked free donations to plant trees around the world every time someone watched it. Tree-mendous (sorry!).
1. Brand: Budweiser
Campaign: Bigger Picture
Charity Partner: COVID-19 vaccine education and awareness
You've got to hand it to Budweiser. The US beer brand somehow managed to win the Super Bowl without buying a single second airtime during the big game for the first time since 1983.
Instead, Bud invested their Super Bowl budget in a one-and-a-half minute video called "Bigger Picture", narrated by actress Rashida Jones, to raise awareness and education of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Rather than being shown during the big game, which attracts more than 100 million viewers each year, the PSA-like spot generated millions of views and shares online, while a spokesperson said parent company Anheuser-Busch's total donation to vaccine education and awareness would amount to "a multimillion-dollar commitment".
Well played, Budweiser.
