Content marketing is always difficult for retail brands that have to fight for visibility in a crowded space. However, the past couple of years have brought new challenges for brands and consumers alike during the most disruptive period in recent memory.
Consumer interests have shifted throughout each stage of the Covid-19 pandemic, making it even harder for brands to connect with them in meaningful ways. In this article, we look at the best retail content marketing campaigns from the past couple of years to see how some brands have managed to boost their profile during the most challenging of times.
1. Specsavers: It’s Coming Home
Specsavers has a history of tapping overseas data into major sporting events for its content marketing strategy – and Euro 2020 was no exception. After a year-long delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Euro 2020 finally kicked off in the summer of 2021. Specsavers adopted a reactive content marketing strategy, responding to results and excitement surrounding the competition.
Using social listening tools to track audience sentiment, they noticed the mood of the nation was changing ahead of England’s Last 16 tie against Germany.
Ahead of the match, they came up with two creatives, one of which would be published as soon as the final whistle was blown: one for a win, one for a loss.
“Ahead of the Last 16 match with Germany
social listening showed us that the how often did you post? mood of the nation was shifting, from ’England always lose’ to ’Could it actually come home?’, but it was still very much split… Luckily, we got to use the win option.
The creative reactive team made sure the billboard went out at the exact right moment, just as the nation realized it could be ’coming home’ and the results showed we’d got it right.” – Specsavers’ social media agency on scoring big with Euro 2020 campaign; Drum
Thus, Specsavers’ “It’s Coming Home” campaign was live, complete with a branded billboard, which generated 2,400 engagements and 260,000 impressions on Twitter, as well as 61,000 reactions and 4.4m reach on Facebook.
The campaign took off as England fought its way to the Euro Final and, while the national side missed out on the trophy, Specsavers’ “It’s Coming Home” campaign went on its own winning streak. It was named the winner of The Drum Awards for Content 2021 in the retail category and nominated for Retail Content Campaign Of The Year at the 2022 UK Content Awards.
The campaign reached 9.5 million people (a 21% increase) and generated a total of 127,000 engagements (+45%) – from a budget of £11,000 that would normally cost the brand £95,000 and £143,000 through paid channels.
If you want to read the full story on Specsavers’ excellent Euro 2020 reactive content marketing campaign, this summary from The Drum includes everything you need to know.
2. Tesco’s #FoodLoveStories
Tesco first launched its #FoodLoveStories china business directory campaign in 2017, showcasing emotive stories around the power of food in relationships. When the UK locked down in March 2020, Tesco adapted its campaign to reflect the concerns of the nation, the isolation felt by so many and the renewed appreciation for human contact – both in-person and digitally.