It’s been quite a year.
Though that phrase is tossed around every year, in 2020, it strikes a deeper chord. These past 12 months were dominated by the coronavirus pandemic—an episode that will continue into 2021, and with it, altered plans for everything from global events to how we shop for groceries.
Still, even amid all the chatter—and this year, there was plenty—certain brands managed to stand out and rise to the top of the cultural conversation. From those who went public to those who changed how we communicate to those who stood up for racial justice, brands certainly kept things interesting in 2020.
We’re recapping the brands that did just that with Adweek’s Top 10 most buzzed about brands of 2020, below.
The NBA
When looking back on 2020, there are a few cultural moments that signal the start of the pandemic—and the shutdown of the NBA season on March 11 is definitely one of them. Since then, the league has stayed in the headlines: For its “bubble” strategy that allowed teams to complete the season without any outbreaks of Covid-19, for the strike that left courts empty and saw the league promising to take greater action on social and racial justice. Part of that promise included the use of arenas as voting locations, which put the league at the center of the 2020 election, too.
Clorox
May 2020 be remembered as the year consumers really, really started to care about cleanliness. When the pandemic took hold in March, consumers were similarly gripped with a desire to get their hands on disinfectant of any sort—and Clorox’s famed wipes were at the top of the list. Since then, the brand has struggled to keep the product in stock, despite ramping up production. And the Clorox seal of approval has become one of the most coveted for brand partners, leading to partnerships with United and AMC Theatres.
Zoom
2020 brought nearly every event online, from weddings to conferences to everyday work meetings. And despite the competition—there are a lot of video chatting services out there, after all—Zoom emerged as the undisputed consumer choice. Zoom became so entrenched in the lives of average Americans that it went from just a platform to a verb in and of itself—how many times have you been asked “Should we Zoom?” this year?—and most of all, the default way that people communicate.
Peloton
Talk about a fortuitous business model. Peloton’s approach to at-home business was already taking off in 2019—it made our list of most-talked about brands last year, too—thanks in part to a buzzy-for-the-wrong-reasons holiday spot. But this year, as gyms closed their doors, Peloton came to save the day. By September, the company had seen its sales increase by 172%. It’s ending the year on a high note, too, with the announcement it’s acquiring Precor, a competitor.
Amazon/Walmart
It was a good year to be an essential retailer. Both Walmart and Amazon had banner years and continued to set the standard for retail innovation. Amazon opened its first Fresh grocery store with smart shopping carts, launched prescription delivery and a hand-scanning payment option and hired 100,000 more workers to deal with pandemic demand. Walmart launched a Prime competitor, Walmart+, as well as partnering with Shopify to debut a third-party marketplace. There were bumps: Amazon faced worker walkouts after internal comments about fired employee Chris Smalls were made public, and the response to Walmart+ was lukewarm. But still, if 2020 is any indication, when it comes to retail, we’re living in Amazon and Walmart’s decade.
TikTok
TikTok made last year’s list of most talked about brands. But any discussion about the platform in 2019 pales in comparison to how much it dominated the cultural conversation in 2020. Not only did TikTok hit new levels of popularity, becoming the most downloaded non-gaming app worldwide in August, but it also was the subject of government scrutiny. That was due to an executive order from President Trump that mandated the company’s spinning off from its parent, ByteDance. That order ultimately resulted in a preliminary deal with software giant Oracle and Walmart. That deal is currently stalled—which is a sign that the platform will remain at the top of the conversation in 2021.
Pfizer/Moderna
The past few years haven’t been great for the reputations of pharmaceutical companies, thanks in large part to the ongoing opioid epidemic. But this year, as Pfizer and Moderna produced ultra-effective (both about 95%) Covid-19 vaccines in record time, which offer a much-needed light at the end of the tunnel. With their FDA approvals, the two companies are ending the year as global heroes.
Aunt Jemima
In the wake of the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, protests erupted throughout the country demanding change in regards to racial justice. Those protests prompted near-immediate action from brands that, had, before, stayed silent about how they’ve been complicit, like Aunt Jemima, the PepsiCo brand featuring a mascot of a Black woman rooted in the “mammy” stereotypes. After 131 years, PepsiCo announced plans to drop the mascot in June. That news set off a domino effect, and brands like Uncle Ben’s, Mrs. Butterworth and Eskimo Pie followed, ushering in a new era for a number of brands.
Doordash
When restaurants shut their doors to eat-in patrons, it became clear that this was the moment for delivery services to shine. While it’s been a good year for all of them, from Postmates, which was acquired by Uber, to other players like Grubhub. But DoorDash’s 2020 was particularly impressive: The company went public, and saw shares surge 86% in its first day.
USPS
If the pandemic had occurred in a non-election year, the postal service would have already been overwhelmed. The closing of stores and stay-at-home orders meant that people began ordering online at unprecedented rates. But it was an election year, and that meant that the post office was not just responsible for getting people their Amazon packages, but also carrying out the electoral process. Funding cuts added to the strain on the organization, but also brought out public support unlike USPS has likely ever seen before. (The sight of USPS trucks brought out cheers in New York City on the day President-elect Joe Biden’s win was made official.)
