The messages in these Black Friday Ad campaigns can vary from humorous to serious and even self-serving. Each one is trying to one-up the others out there. This means that you end up seeing a lot of creative content around this season. 

Even if someone does not indulge in the sales, they notice the creatives and the campaigns brands deliver. And that means it is huge for brand awareness and buzz creation.

Precisely for these reasons, it is beneficial for a brand to launch campaigns and take a slice of that attention towards themselves, too. Your social media metrics and brand mentions will thank you for it. 

Over the past few years, there have been some truly noteworthy Black Friday Ads that every brand and marketer can learn from. This can serve as an inspiration and help you understand the pulse of this unique sales event. 

So whether you are launching a campaign for the revenue numbers or engagement numbers, we are here to help you with inspiration. 

The Kimp Graphics and Kimp Video teams have curated some of the best Black Friday Ads of all time and takeaways from those for you. So, sit back, take notes, and get ready to create. 

Black Friday Campaigns 

With so much buzz around these campaigns, this question always comes up: Why do we spend so much on creating Black Friday Ads? And what makes a particular Black Friday Ad campaign stand out among the rest?

Let’s begin with the first burning question. We all know that people shop during Black Friday sales more than any other sale. Each year, this holiday tops the previous for sales and overall revenue numbers. So, does it really need elaborate campaigns? 

Well, the answer is yes. Black Friday Ads are more than just driving sales for your brand. And that is why brands without a particular product to offer also take part enthusiastically. 

Actually, even the weeks leading up to the Thanksgiving – Black Friday – Cyber Monday weekend will show you why the Ads are worth it. In 2020, brands recorded the following uptake in their social numbers even before the weekend sales went live:

• 968.5% increase in engagement on Black Friday related content 
• 175.5% increase in the content volume itself (both brand and user-generated combined) about Black Friday 

These numbers are between 2019 and 2020, showing how steep the growth curve is for Black Friday. Does it not feel incredible? The ability to tap into such a buzz-ridden environment. It sure does for us, and we hope you share the sentiment. 

Now, even looking at the holiday marketing for Black Friday in terms of the revenue, you will be happy to know that Black Friday weekend last year topped the best Ecommerce sale numbers in U.S., alone. That is huge. When the COVID pandemic rocked every industry, shoppers came out to support ecommerce businesses like never before.

We expect this trend to hold strong in 2021 and for many years to come. 

And with that, we move on to the next burning question.

How do you build the perfect Black Friday Campaigns? 

What does the perfect Black Friday Campaign include? And how do you build one that works for your brand while also aligning with your marketing goals? 

Before we tell you how you can ace your Black Friday designs, let us understand their objectives first. Your Black Friday Ad campaign must:

• Generate healthy engagement for your brand over social media channels and other indirect marketing channels, such as newsletters. 
• Build recognition and recall value for your brand in the market. This will help you grow your audience base and also make customer acquisition easier. 
• Achieve the clicks and sale targets you have set for the Black Friday weekend. Every campaign you create and release in November culminating in the BFCM weekend must tick all these boxes. And how can your Black Friday Ads help you do that? 

• Start by analyzing the trends, customer preferences, and overall sentiment about your brand in the market. Social listening tools and customer surveys can help you position yourself well when you campaign. 
• Create Black Friday Ads that connect with your audience, display your brand personality, and build brand identity in the market. 
• Leverage the power of visual marketing by creating Black Friday Ads that are visually stunning, engaging, and captivating. 
• Constantly engage in social media advertisements to boost the reach. 

Having said all this, let’s now move to the Inspiration Section of the blog. Yes, it is time to go down memory lane and look at some of the best Black Friday Ads of all time. 

5 of the Best Black Friday Ads of All Time 

After Superbowl Ads, it is Black Friday’s Ads that hold the entire world’s attention. What started out as very much an American Tradition is currently a global phenomenon. Brands everywhere take part in this sales bonanza and put their best foot forward in marketing and advertising. 

The Kimp Graphics and Kimp Video teams bring you the best of the Black Friday Ads in the recent past for your eyes only. These Ads will give you an inkling of what ruled the Internet and the world in general, so you know what to aim for.

1) Walmart’s Social media campaign 

There is a very popular notion that Black Friday is for brick and mortar stores while Cyber Monday is exclusive to ecommerce businesses. The COVID-19 pandemic blurred these lines and forced even stores that mostly stayed offline to enter the online game. Being a retail giant, Walmart could have stayed away, but they came down hard. 

Walmart launched a 6-day campaign in 2020 where they ran flash sales, discounted sale campaigns, trending and related content marketing, sale countdowns, and many other mini-campaigns within the main one itself. 

The team went all out and had a very versatile Black Friday Campaign. The Ads were especially:

• Straightforward – the deals were in focus 
• Available in both image and video format
• Effective in enhancing the brand’s visual identity 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CIFSWB0sRzz/

Takeaways: 

While these Ads and designs may look simple to someone used to wacky Black Friday Ads, you cannot deny the strength in simplicity. Especially coming from Walmart. 

So, this is your cue to design simple and clear Black Friday Ads with content that will make people come knocking at your door.

Choose a visual language that suits your brand personality, which your customers will expect from you. Take Walmart, for example. The brand has always been about bargains, so a fancy Black Friday Ad is not something customers expect from them. 

Kimp Tip: To maximize distribution and subsequent engagement, ensure that your Black Friday Ads work in more than one format. It must be adaptable enough to work across newsletters, billboards, social media platforms, and more. 

Book a demo to learn how Kimp Graphics and Kimp Video subscriptions can help you repurpose your content to the fullest.

2) Kopari’s Influencer Marketing push 

While Influencer marketing really caught on in the pandemic, the value in having someone relatable talk about your products was always there. Understanding this trend before it was everywhere, Kopari Beauty came in with an influencer marketing push to promote their products ahead of the Black Friday sales in 2017.

Even if it was unconventional as a Black Friday Ad back in the day, it truly worked, and the fact that it was accompanied by a gift guide was an advantage. In the category of simple Black Friday Ads that hit the bullseye, there is a lot to learn from this one too.

Takeaways: 

• Influencer marketing is a boon for brands in today’s world. Customers connect better with a brand when it is their favorite influencer speaking to them about it. But you have to pay attention to the end product to hold your brand’s image. 
• Always keep the product front and center so that it gets the maximum attention. In this Black Friday Ad, the editor takes the cake by blurring the surroundings and highlighting the product. 
• Another thing that makes this Black Friday Ad is that it capitalizes on a very popular content in the holidays – a gift guide. Educational and valuable content always wins, and this is a big example of it. 
• The natural beauty product brand from the UK, Kopari, also maintained a clear visual identity from the Ad to the landing page/gift guide.

Kimp Tip: Looking to launch an Ad similar to Kopari Beauty? Ensure that your content matches your brand. Develop a brand style guide to make your influencer marketing campaign shine.

3) Missguided Black Friday Ad

The fashion industry is not always the first one you think of when it comes to Black Friday Ads. Misguided had to make a big splash if they wanted to grab everyone’s attention. So they came up with an incredible discount campaign and made sure that their Black Friday Ads did their job of making people click. 

Giveaways are almost a staple during the Thanksgiving-Cyber Monday weekend. People like freebies and contests. While Misguided runs many throughout the year, they have much more in theirs then others do. Like this simple and attractive Black Friday Ad:

Takeaways: 

• It is a fashion brand, so bold is something people expect from them. And it looks like the team at Misguided is in complete agreement. The Ad captured the essence of the brand right from the style to the imagery in place. 
• While a pop of color works well, there can be magic in the Black and White color palette. It makes people notice you and helps you stick out on the Internet. 
• This Ad is a brilliant study in visual hierarchy. The visual flow of the image is very natural. It gently nudges people from the 15% text to the CTA button. 

Kimp Tip: Choose designs that complement your brand imagery and make the composition look complete. Your discounts are the central element here, so ensure everything else supports it well. 

Or you can simply work with the Kimp Graphics and Kimp Video team to get designs that get you results for your Black Friday Ads.

4) Playstation US TV Commercial 

If anyone in your family or friends circle is into gaming, you know how much they look forward to Black Friday. Brands in the gaming and allied industries tend to go all out during this time. They have some unbelievable deals, and it is also one of the most gifted product categories of all time. 

So this 2018 Ad from PlayStation originally meant for the TV circuit being popular won’t be a surprise. The visuals, the jingle, and the product placement – everything comes so close to perfection on this one. 

So how can you mimic the best of this for your brand? 

• Humor never hurts. It helps customers relate to you and your product in a more pure form. 
• Ad jingles are honestly the best part of the advertising industry. They become earworms and make people think of you all the time. Even if you can’t hire a songwriter, you can use catchy licensed stock audio that suits your brand the best. 
• Produce the video any way you want, but make the product shine. We can do this with image compilation or animations too, so the options are endless. 
• The last few frames of this Ad show you why you always finish strong. The end frames have the details of the product, the ongoing Black Friday sale, and the offers available. This will seal the deal, so get it right. 

Kimp Tip: Video ads can sound intimidating, but we are here to tell you it is completely possible, even within a limited budget. Take inspiration from here, but make it your own to create something that reflects your brand the most. 

With Kimp Video’s unlimited video design service that handles editing, intro, outros, text overlays, and audio, we’ve got you covered. 

5) Superdrug Black Friday Ad

Health and skincare are popular topics in the retail world, but designing an advert for them is not child’s play. Ads for this industry can get boring fast if not done right. And you may then lose any audience you wanted to attract, even if you hooked them at first. 

So what do you do? You make the prospect of health and beauty more fun than it is with your Black Friday Ad. And that is exactly what this Superdrug’s video does for all of us.

There are no fancy shots, no models, and hardly any dialogue per se. But, hey, it reels you in right from the beginning. 

Takeaways: 

• When the situation calls for it, do not be afraid of color. If done well, it can completely elevate the tone of your Ad as this commercial clearly shows us. 
• Animated videos have been very popular for the last couple of years, so give it a whirl. They are fun, versatile, and inexpensive to produce. 
• In a world obsessed with transitions, this video captures that trend very well understanding that the audience will appreciate it. That confidence comes in when you know your customers well, so figure out your audience’s preferences and tailor your ads to them.

Craft the best Black Friday Ads for your brand with Kimp

You must truly understand the value of Black Friday Ads since you stuck around to the end. And as a reward, we have one more piece of insider information for you. 

Your brand deserves the best this Black Friday. You have spent months getting the discounts, product catalogs, and store ready for this particular day. And it hinges entirely on the Ads you put out there. That is a lot of pressure that you should not shoulder alone. 

Let us be partners in design and get design off your to-do list. With Kimp Graphics and Kimp Video, all your campaigns are covered.

Sign up for the free trial now and experience our team’s commitment to making your brand look its best from the start.