Week 5 of lockdown saw some more impressive brand work aimed at helping consumers and the frontline – and in some cases, injecting much needed lightheartedness.

Dyson released 44 ‘Challenge Cards’ – engineering and science experiments for kids to do at home using household items (bridges made out of spaghetti and balloon-powered car races).  Over in banking, Nationwide launched a trio of ads in its ongoing “Voices” campaign, in which an engaged couple and individuals discussed what they would say to themselves six months from now.

Supporting frontline workers, Govia Thameslink Railway ‘rebranded’ the wording on some of its ‘hospital route’ trains to ‘NHS we thank you – key workers supporting key workers”, in homage to the 200,000 workers who rely on it each week.   Public Health England & The NHS joined forces to create the ‘Every Mind Matters’ campaign to support mental wellbeing with video narrated by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

And smaller brands played their part too. In a bid to find work for its 1,500 instructors, Red Driving School reached out to employers seeking temporary drivers to deliver food.  When Emily Crisps bought outdoor media space last December, it thought April 2020 would be ideal for its first outdoor advertising campaign. Realising the campaign wouldn’t be seen by many consumers during lockdown, it turned around new ads, with simple copy that included ‘Our first ever poster, seen by a runner and one pigeon. Typical’, and let it play out over social media.