Despite the setbacks that the height of the pandemic in 2020 presented to the business landscape, many brands used this time to stay resilient and leverage their skills, all while putting their marketing efforts to the test. In this post, we’ll be outlining some of the best product launch campaign examples at the time of pandemic that you can take inspiration from in 2022 and beyond.

Twix’s Twix Meltdown Campaign

For coffee and chocolate lovers, this campaign was a dream come true. In April 2020, Twix took a unique step in confectionary innovation with a clever twist for their Twix Meltdown campaign . The new product, a device which allows fans to melt Twix chocolate into their coffee, was marketed as part of a social media contest on Facebook, Twitter and instagram. As the new Twix Meltdown device wasn’t being sold online or in stores, this meant that only select winners would be given one. This served to further boost the excitement of the campaign, encouraging people to become invested in what may be coming next.

It was only expected then that only a month later, Twix released Twix Milk, a chocolate milk with an added Twix flavour. In combination with the continued buzz from the Twix Meltdown news, this landed the company 17 million impressions online and 241 PR placements.

LEGO’S Braille Bricks Campaign

In August 2020, well-loved toy company LEGO highlighted the importance of learning with their Braille Bricks campaign. Compatible with existing LEGO products, the new Braille Bricks are being distributed free of charge, giving visually impaired children the chance to enjoy playing with this classic form of entertainment while learning letters and numbers along the way.

Their usage doesn’t just stop there - parents, teachers, and fellow students are also able to interact with the new Braille Bricks to support the learning of blind children. This campaign proved LEGO’s commitment to inclusivity among their customer base, helping to foster a sense of union among both their youngest and oldest fans.

MMB’s R180 Smart Toaster Campaign

If you’ve ever wanted to see different preferences of toast in the form of paint shades, then you needn’t look any further than MMB’s Toaster Swatches campaign. In a plan to promote their new touchscreen R180 Smart Toaster , MMB utilised both humour and creativity in their marketing campaign in March 2020. Their print advert featured the slogan “Finally, toast exactly how you like it.” and showcased the intensity of control customers could now have on their morning toast, ranging from untoasted, burnt, to everything golden in between.

The toast shades were displayed exactly how you’d expect to find paint swatches, each with their own creative name and code for comical effect, with the most burnt shade being labelled “Dewy Pavement.” While a simple idea, this campaign was certainly unique, sparking newfound interest among many and diverting new customers to their website.

Wild Roots New E-liquid Flavours Launch Campaign

In all the rush of a new product release, businesses may choose to release their products immediately without any source of anticipation, however it’s clear that eco-focused e-liquid company Wild Roots diverted from this strategy and was successful in doing so.

Marketing has become more interactive than ever before thanks to the presence of social media in our lives. In November 2020, Wild Roots encouraged their customers to tap into their creativity to guess their new e-liquids flavours Passion fruit, Wild Mango + Red Delicious Apple, and Mint Tea + Rhubarb in the form of a competition on Instagram and Facebook.

In exchange for guessing correctly, winners received £100 and a year’s supply of the brand’s e-liquids. As well as providing a fun challenge for their customers to pass the time while waiting for the new products to arrive, this served to build up a tremendous amount of excitement for the new flavours across both new and returning customers.

Nisolo’s Lima Slip On Shoes Campaign

In March 2020, e-commerce fashion brand Nisolo broadcasted their new Lima Slip On shoes in a subtle yet unexpectedly effective way. Nisolo is admired for its fair trade and living wage focused ethos, so it comes as no surprise that their newest product campaign featured their signature caring attitude. In their promotional email, Nisolo chose not to dive into the announcement of their new product, but rather express their genuine curiosity for their subscriber’s emotional wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The content inside was personal and uplifting, offering subscribers help resources in the forms of blogs, such as advice for working at home, yoga routines, and a top twelve list of Netflix series to watch in their free time. Their new Lima Slip On shoes were only announced at the end of the email, alongside their mission statement. On a whole, the email’s design was minimal, clear and purpose driven: to convey their commitment to their customers while adding the pleasant surprise of a new product reveal.