Dive Brief:

• Home security firm ADT has launched a new TV and social media campaign using user-generated footage to help promote a feel good message during the coronavirus pandemic, according to materials the company shared with Marketing Dive.
• The "Safe at Home" campaign imagery includes user-generated videos of people during lockdown and includes parents teaching and entertaining housebound kids, video chatting with older relatives and making safe-distance visits to the elderly by showing them signs or playing music outside of their windows.
• The campaign was created in collaboration with Bear in the Hall, and ADT's in-house media buying team assembled and executed the media plan in less than a week.​

Dive Insight:

ADT is taking a stab at a tried-and-true media form — user-generated content — to connect with consumers with emotionally charged footage depicting people during the COVID-19 shutdowns. Using user-generated footage could be a new workaround for ad production teams that have been limited to older footage and voiceovers to make ads while productions are shut down to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Marketers have been experimenting with how to generate their own new content at a time when employees cannot leave their homes to work in a studio. DTC coffee brand Trade created a coronavirus-inspired ad using Zoom, highlighting the joys of getting together for a virtual coffee. Toyota, Hyundai and Ford are among companies to release new ads with earlier footage​.

The tone of the ADT ad creates a more emotional connection with people during the pandemic by highlighting the ways that people are getting by during lockdown. Videos of parents playing with babies and teaching young children and kids playing music and sharing art with older people are aimed at tugging on people's heartstrings during this difficult time. Consumers are interested in brand messages during the pandemic, and two of the first brands to address the virus and its associated illness in their ads — Ford and Guinness — both elicited strong positive responses from consumers.

The quick turnaround of the campaign — which was not originally planned, according to materials shared with Marketing Dive — demonstrates how the coronavirus pandemic could cause marketers to increasingly rely on in-house teams. Frito-Lay debuted a 60-second ad last week that was created by an in-house team and highlighted what the brand is doing to support coronavirus relief. Similarly, Chipotle had to quickly pivot its messaging when the pandemic hit, CMO Chris Brandt recently told Marketing Dive.