Recognising the brands who left the biggest impressions on us this year.

2021 brought with it new challenges, but also glimmers of hope as the world collectively looked forward to the future. As borders cautiously reopened and Thailand took encouraging steps towards recovery, brands delivered some exceptional and creative marketing work on Thai Twitter. Whether it was wowing audiences with sincere campaigns that benefited society or strengthening relationships with their customers, brands remained resilient through adversity, never shying away from being creative as they sought to connect with their communities. 

Indeed, instead of bowing down to the uncertainty that shrouded much of the year, leading brands were unfazed and levelled up in 2021. From working with influential voices on Twitter to identifying cultural moments that resonated best, brands tapped on Twitter’s innovative solutions to launch campaigns and connect with their audience. Across Southeast Asia, marketers and advertisers showcased a wide range of new ideas this year, helping their brands secure a place under the spotlight.   

In recognition of this extraordinary work, and as we reflect on the toughest of years, Twitter today announced its #BestOfTweets2021 Thailand Awards to celebrate and applaud the brands that broke through the chatter to create standout campaigns. 

1. Best Campaign for Driving Positive Change in Society

This award goes to a brand that not only saves lives, but through their #เราเลือกได้ (We Can Choose) campaign, Bumrungrad Hospital (@BumrungradH) drove positive conversations that gave people the hope to fight cancer. Based on a true story, the gentle but powerful campaign featured a doctor who detected cancer early enough to treat it – and defeat it. The campaign asked people on Twitter to join in the conversation to cheer up and give encouragement to those who are suffering from the disease.

Embeddable Tweet: https://twitter.com/BumrungradH/status/1409759559091068929  

"We are honoured to receive #BestOfTweets 2021 for Best Campaign for Driving Positive Change in Society. Due to COVID-19 situation, more people have become aware of health and Twitter is one of the marketing tools that helped us to create real-time awareness and generate conversation. Bumrungrad International Hospital continuously pays attention to health literacy and through our #เราเลือกได้ campaign, we generated a lot of positive energy and encourage Thais to pay it forward and show others that they are not fighting alone," shared Teeraphol Ambhai – Senior Manager, Social Media Marketing for Bumrungrad International Hospital.

2. Best Brand Voice

Thai Twitter responds to brands that are human, genuine, considerate, bold and consistent. It takes an authentic and engaging brand voice to build a community and connect with people on Twitter, and this year's Best Brand Voice Award in Thailand goes to a bold beauty brand – YSL Beauté (@yslbeautyth) and their #YSLBEAUTYxBAMBAM campaign. One of the first beauty brands in Thailand to work with a male ambassador, the campaign distilled the essence of BamBam (@BamBam1A)’s personality and values to connect with fans, while BamBam's campaign motto of “I don't follow the rhythms, I create my own beats” reflects the brand's desire to push the boundaries and norms of beauty in everything that they do. 

Embeddable Tweet: https://twitter.com/yslbeautyth/status/1399623025683664898  

3. Best Use of Video

Video is one of the most effective ad formats available on Twitter and the winner of Best Use of Video in Thailand is Lay's (@laysthailand) for its Lay's Max campaign. There’s so much to love about the fun-filled campaign and its upbeat videos. First, it was a masterclass in video best practice, especially the effective use of short videos and the execution of the “plan with sound-off, delight with sound-on” strategy. Second, the campaign combines the power of always-on video and the power of KOL giants - Thai celebrities Bright (@bbrightvc) and Milli (@millimdk) - to bring sass and zing to the launch.

"‘Maximum Taste, Maximum Enjoyment’ is everything we describe for Lay's Max and today we achieved a maximum by winning this #BestOfTweets 2021 award. Through 2021, we have been connecting with Thai youth consumers on Twitter and as we go into 2022 stay tuned for much more maximum taste and Lay's Max enjoyment that will surprise you,” said Chonlakorn Apichattham - Marketing Director, Pepsi-cola (Thai) Trading Co.,  Ltd. 

Embeddable Tweet: https://twitter.com/laysthailand/status/1370358925049090048

4. Best Campaign from a Newcomer

Starting a new Twitter account and building a following may seem a little daunting, but the beginning is always the hardest. Best Campaign from a Newcomer in Thailand celebrates the efforts of new brands who have joined Twitter and this year goes to Simplus (@SimplusTh) and their #SimplusTH Super Brand Day campaign. Only on Twitter for less than three months, Simplus has already made a big splash among the young, savvy but price-conscious consumers, and their #SimplusTH Super Brand Day campaign ticked all the right boxes.

It connected with mega shopping moments and shopping conversations on Twitter to drive lower-funnel metrics such as consideration and conversion. The brand also tapped into the power of Twitter fandom, partnering with Win Metawin (@winmetawin) to introduce the brand in Thailand and drive top of mind awareness among its young audience. The results speak for themselves: record sales since the brand's grand opening in April; and 55% lift in their Lazada store with almost 10% of its online footfall coming from Twitter.

"It is a great honour for Simplus to win the #BestOfTweets 2021 Thailand award. Simplus is a brand that targets the younger generation, and Twitter is the best marketing tool for us to reach the new consumer tribes. We are happy to partner with Twitter to communicate with our target audience. Simplus will keep growing and we look forward to creating more exciting activities on Twitter," said Emily Liu – Head of Marketing, Simplus.

Embeddable Tweet: https://twitter.com/SimplusTh/status/1452318971361902599

5. Most Tweeted about Brand

It's not always about what you have or who you are; equally important is how you use it. And the winner of Most Tweeted about Brand this year, Netflix (@netflixth), has developed a great knack for driving engaged – and oftentimes organic – conversations around their content. To drive awareness of new shows or movies, Netflix has launched many successful campaigns that intrigue and instigate people to watch the content – and then talk about them. They also authentically tap into cultural moments through Twitter, such as Songkran or that time a Thai Netflix documentary won at the International Emmys.

Across all their efforts, Netflix consistently puts their brand front and centre in a way that’s present but never intrusive, keeping the brand relevant, fresh and exciting – and ultimately a brand that people are excited to talk about!

Embeddable Tweet: https://twitter.com/netflixth/status/1456259377128611851 

6. Best Launch on Twitter

A returning winner; for the second year in a row, AIS (@AIS_Thailand) win this award with their #AIS5Gที่1ตัวจริง (AIS 5G is Number One) campaign. The Thai telco re-launched its 5G campaign on Twitter with the proven format of Tease, Reveal and Sustain, and took it to the next level with a whole lot of creativity. They connected to Twitter's fandom by engaging with K-Pop superstars, and also masterfully leveraged the content and creatives that fans truly loved. AIS combined that with the power of video and Branded Hashtag that triggered a custom emoji for the launch! 

Embeddable Tweet: https://twitter.com/AIS_Thailand/status/1443410277513539589

7. Best Connection to Culture

Twitter is what's happening in the world, and leading brands connect with people by aligning with passions that people care about. Winning Best Connection to Culture, Skinsista (@SkinsistaTH) leaned into the Thai Twitter beauty community and their desire for honest reviews, by launching the Skinsista #SSHonestReview campaign to promote authentic and honest feedback from their customers. Once the floodgates opened, the #BeautyTwitter community eagerly hopped on, with hashtag #SSHonestReview seeing 6.4 million engagements and nearly 170,000 reviews. Witnessing such great results, Skinsista sustained the conversations by Allowlisting those who Tweeted their reviews, creating a virtuous circle of positive conversations.

Embeddable Tweet: https://twitter.com/SkinsistaTH/status/1423872333530361862  

8. Best #OnlyOnTwitter

Celebrating the outstanding brands and campaigns that best leveraged the creative canvas of Twitter, this year's winner of Best #OnlyOnTwitter is Spotify Thailand (@SpotifyThailand) for #2020Wrapped. Every year-end, Spotify launches their tentpole campaign which unveils insights on everyone's favourite playlists. While in line with global themes, the activation in Thailand was highly localised so as to connect with Thai listeners in a way that was deeply relevant culturally and emotionally. 

Thailand’s #2020Wrapped campaign zeroed in on the trend that Thais are increasingly heading to Twitter to support local artists and talk about their music. To supercharge the campaign, Spotify Thailand used a combination of customised Twitter solutions, including Branded Hashtag, Like to Remind, Artist Allowlisting, and more, making it loud and clear that while everyone is unique, we are all connected by our shared interests.

Embeddable Tweet: https://twitter.com/SpotifyThailand/status/1333342042865369089  

“This year has shown us that creativity knows no bounds and we’re truly inspired by how brands throughout Southeast Asia leveraged our service to launch their campaigns and connect with their communities. The industry has shifted yet again this year; and marketers look to Twitter to break through the mold and drive conversations around their brands and products. This year’s winners raised the game on Twitter by tapping into insights from the talk on Twitter. They were not afraid to lead the conversations and not just follow. The winning brands also dialed up their innovation through experimenting with new features, as well as exploring bold and creative ideas. From groundbreaking launches to the most creative use of Twitter; these winning brands made us laugh, cry, reply, and Retweet. It’s one thing to be trending—another to leave a lasting impression. #BestOfTweets is our platform to celebrate those brands and we can’t wait to see what they do next in 2022,” said Avril Chua – Brand Strategist, Twitter NEXT, Southeast Asia. 

This year’s list shows that brands should not be afraid to be different among the pack. As long as you get the pulse of your audience and the message you want to share, conversations and connections will surely follow. Cheers to this year’s best of the best!