Brand Assets of 2020
2020 was weird for marketing.
As a consumer, we all weren’t just looking for content anymore, we were looking for authentic and real social opportunities as we continued to hide ourselves inside lockdown homes and distanced interactions. I was suddenly paying more attention to the little details that took place within our social and digital space. Five second pockets of information. Tone of voice on tweets regarding change and patience. Emails that make you feel confident for the day ahead.
For the first time, I’ll be documenting and celebrating marketing assets that defined my year. Each of these assets come from a wide range of businesses and industries, but in their own way have made my year less daunting, more inspired, and better informed. There’s something that we can learn from each of these assets, something that applies both to strategic marketers and creative professionals. Because 2020 sucked, and yet - these marketing assets made it feel less so. That itself deserves a celebration.
Genshin Impact
Behind The Scenes YouTube Series
When Chinese developer miHoYo released Genshin Impact out of closed beta and launched the title on September 28, it came with an extravagant marketing campaign to help promote the title. They went all out with takeovers of MRT stations and buses matched with aggressive social and YouTube buys. And it was a complete success, acquiring 17 million players at launch and broke even their development and marketing costs in two weeks.
But amidst all of the posters and videos that they published, it was a single video on YouTube that caught my attention and demonstrated their sharp strategy and comprehensive approach to consumer marketing. Uploaded on September 9th as part of their Behind the Scenes series, miHoYo shared a recording session of one of their battle themes, composed by Yu-Peng Chen and performed by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.
Their video and invested focus on music shows that they're serious about RPG. It provides an avenue not just for casual players to appreciate Genshin's cuteness and fun, but old-school veterans of RPG that grew up with Nobuo Uematsu and epic battle scores. That's the best part about their promotion - they leveraged every aspect of the development process and used it to present themselves to the wider community. And I was struck by the music, an epic series of melodies influenced by Chinese scores that ends up inspiring me to download and give Genshin Impact a go.
Insight: It’s basically old-school PR. Make every part of the development process count. Because there’s probably an audience for it.
The Singapore Government
Gov.sg Telegram Channel
Telegram isn’t the kind of place you’d expect for trust-worthy, public information. The channel has had it’s fair share of open-sourced chaos from terrorist links, anti-government protesting to to child pornography. And yet, Telegram is used by millions of people around the world - and even more so for a large community of youth and young professionals in Singapore. The Singapore government then worked with Telegram to make an official channel account on the platform, and to this day has become a go-to resource for citizens in the community.
To me, the Telegram channel has become a point of reference for key updates on COVID-19 case numbers, phase developments, support grants, and more. It’s become a resource of credible, and trustworthy information, the kind that you just need to glance for a few seconds to get the right information you’re looking for.
The Singapore Government took a risk in making this channel. But by doing so, it’s successfully found a way to be closer with their constituents, providing intimate content experiences to minimise disinformation and confusion within the community. And now the channel is my go-to point for information on COVID-19 and major community activities. It’s amazing that now I can find all this information from a single chat window.
Insight: Take a risk. Don't allow the brand to be defined by historic best practices and safe success. There’s value in being closer to the consumer.
Morning Brew
Email
One of the best discoveries of 2020, Morning Brew was recommended to me by Twitter after following avid marketing profiles such as Julian Lehr, Jack Butcher and Jack Appleby. The product couldn’t be any more simple; a daily email providing updates on business, COVID-19, and what’s happening around the world. It sounds just like any other email subscription - and that’s probably true. But read one of their emails and you’ll see why they’ve managed to receive over 2.4 million subscribers (and probably more) to date.
Morning Brew represents the best kind of email marketing and content experience you should expect from the platform. Copy and information is clear but they’re accompanied with GIFs that make it all feel so current. They’re shameless with their links, putting click-through opportunities to everything from big-name features to downloadable reports on marketing metrics. And all of this creates an experience that makes me feel ready - better informed to tackle conversations, and confident enough to touch into subject matter with colleagues and acquaintances.
Morning Brew was recently acquired by Insider. Inc and now have separate emails for Marketing, Retail and Tech. They continue to grow their subscribers and it’s pretty exciting to see. All this time we often look at email as such an old-fashioned platform. But Morning Brew made it fresh and different, a welcoming change to show just how strange and confusing 2020 can be.
Insight: Never underestimate the relevance of any platform. Maybe it’s not the channel that define the times, but rather how we use it.
President-Elect Joe Biden
Official Transition Website
Democracy was pulled into the spotlight in 2020, as the world stood on the sidelines just waiting to see if America would end up electing President Trump to proceed for a second term. Throughout the race there were countless videos, tweets, and imagery that supported the campaigns. Some highlights for me include Taylor Swift's montage and that incredible, timeless GIF of Kamala Harris.
But nothing was as good as the way the Democratic nominees introduced their transition process. When Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the 2020 Presidential Election in America, they started their transition with a digital-first outreach programme that included an official website. Released on day one of the transition periods, the website starts by housing key information on topics we've all heard before; biographies of Biden and Harris and their core presidential priorities. It's the kind of website you know is simple and accessible, providing white/black themes and text size options for accessibility. And as the transition continues, the website regularly updates with new appointments and nominees, as well as official statements from the President-Elect and the team.
They knew exactly what they were doing. After having gone through four years of ambiguous leadership, contradicting statements and a sheer lack of trust, President-Elect Joe Biden made sure that their administration was different.
And it starts with a simple principle of providing an accessible, and trustworthy touchpoint of information for the community. Statements are made public and easy to read, immediately adapted and distributed across both their media and social channels. Everything was in sync, no matter which touchpoint you'll end up arriving at this website for everything you needed on their plans and updates. It makes a solid impression for their administration simply because they understood the value and integrity of sharing the right information to the public.
Insight: Sometimes providing a focal touchpoint for your consumers to read your updates - just simply works.
Best Brand Asset of 2020
Xbox
Digital Asset Ecosystem
It's strange that after so many years of playing on the PlayStation that I would end up even mentioning Xbox without featuring any glimmer of dissent or tribal criticism. So much of my childhood and gaming experience took place on the PlayStation platform, from the discovery of Final Fantasy world map music to the nuanced emotional rides of single-player storytelling with Uncharted and The Last Of Us.
But 2020 has been a strange year nonetheless, and moments of lockdown and insular socialisation has lead me to look at gaming in a different light. After buying a gaming PC, I no longer am bound by the myopic ideals of tribal gaming culture. My gaming experience doesn't have to be defined by a singular system. And it's because of this that it lead me to explore Xbox and its Xbox Game Pass service as a way of accommodating my changing perspectives for my next-gen console.
This is where it all started. I was just like any other customer in 2020, looking from afar as I noticed the interesting things they were exploring. And thus began my journey into their ecosystem.
YouTube Video
Xbox delivered a better campaign video than the PS5 for their next-gen adverts. It's well-made for online brand recall, showing the Xbox logo intro with an immediate visual and musical hook. There's a moment in the video where it's shot in first-person, as you take on the helm of Master Chief. It's the perfect way to invite new players such as myself into a world we're about to create.
Mobile Apps
Xbox has its own separate mobile apps to manage both your console and your Game Pass subscription. I love that the touchpoint is actually part of the process, as I used the app to help set up my new Xbox console. On top of that, they recommend games that you can remotely download into the console anytime. And with copy like Jump Back In, they're being casual about it all. Friendly speech to kickstart your next game session.
Social Media
Both Twitter and Discord needs to be highlighted here for being able to engage with a community Xbox knows is alive, and always looking for more. The brand likes to play on Twitter, showing cryptic imagery to tease new games added into their Game Pass library. Discord is organised and moderated by the Xbox team, managing a community that invites others to learn from others and get the latest news on game and hardware updates.
Xbox knew that for their upcoming next-gen launch that they had a chance of inviting new players into their world. Every single touchpoint of their digital ecosystem played a role in not only making new players like myself feel welcome, but also celebrated our own unique interests in gaming. Their narrative wasn't defined by blockbuster AAA gaming titles. Instead, they positioned their marketing experience to give players a chance to find their next favourite game, whatever that may be. Each touchpoint had its own flavour and tone, different enough to make each channel valued but coherent enough to know you were talking to the same brand.