#SocialThrowback: Top 50 social media campaigns in 2016

The evolution of social media can be evaluated with every year, with velfie overpowering the trend of 2015, it comes to content marketing - 2016 has been brimming with brands putting out immense creativity, thought and emotions in their product.

Social Samosa looks back and (to be clichéd) takes a #SocialThrowback of the campaigns in no particular order, that had a thorough impact on social media and escalated the concept of business on digital platforms.

Paperboat

Re-creating the reminisce of ‘Hum Honge Kamiyaab’ Paperboat through their campaign early last year, the brand enriched the New Year spirits by celebrating the stars of start-ups.

BIBA #ChangeIsBeautiful

Cutting through the old school traditions of marriages that are rusted on our land, BIBA got our attention towards the issue of gender equality through their campaign, #ChangeIsBeautiful concluding with smiles on both ends.

MTV #DunkThatJunk

Attempting to bring about a transformation in the mentality from the root, MTV through their campaign #DunkThatJunk raised the issue of cleanliness.

.@iamsrk @Varun_dvn @kritisanon have something really important to tell you! #DunkThatJunk @RedChilliesEnt pic.twitter.com/sAPJEEv2Ye

— MTV India (@MTVIndia) December 21, 2015

.@IAMSUNNYDEOL has a special message for you! #DunkThatJunk pic.twitter.com/lOa5HnYf6a

— MTV India (@MTVIndia) December 29, 2015

British Airways #FuelledByLove

Putting on our screens an absolutely  unexplored relationship between a cabin-crew member and an elderly Indian passenger, British Airways through their campaign #FuelledByLove knitted a heart-wrenching tale.

Nivea #BanBodyOdour

Sprinting beyond the cliches, Nivea's campaign took a humorous take to Body Odour.

Royal Challenge #PlayBold

Back in March, when the country couldn't get enough of cricket, Virat Kohli and Mahindra Singh Dhoni, Royal Challenge came up with their campaign titled, #PlayBold, built on aesthetic visuals and bang on topical content to garner all the attention on social media.

Hitachi #NothingDirty

Collaborating with rapper Baadshah for their campaign, Hitachi produced a music anthem titled 'Cool it Down' and this groovy campaign stuck with netizens for quite sometime.

Lipton Ice Tea #100DaysOfSummer

Becoming the knight in shining armour this summer and acing on topical content creation, Lipton Ice Tea conducted a lengthy seasonal campaign, #100DaysOfSummer.

Fastrack

The youth apparel and accessory created a bold, sassy and absolutely quirky campaign around the famous drinking game Never Have I Ever.

Adidas #FeelLoveUseHate

Visually enticing and flawlessly imbibing animation within their campaign, Adidas fueled the on-going cricket zest in the country through #FeelLoveUseHate and what made it better? Virat Kohli.

Durex #D20 premier league

It was that time of the year when India was going gaga over cricket, out of the plenty brand hoping on the topical bus, Durex through their campaign introduced their own #D20 premier league, not to mention it was absolutely kinky.

P&G Olympics #ThankYouMom

An ode to all the mothers, during the Rio Olympics, the brand P&G dedicated a campaign saying #ThankYouMom.

ShaadiCares #NotForSale

Fighting the social evils or dowry through their campaign and producing content that resonates with the brand's personality ShaadiCares, a leg of Shaadi.com voiced the opinions of eligible men who speak up that they're #NotForSale.

BBlunt #DirtyLittleSecret

Getting a bunch of bloggers under the umbrella of their campaign, BBlunt spoke about the #DirtyLittleSecret back in May, the secret? Their product, the dry shampoo.

KFC #PlateOfHope

The global food chain emerged on social media with their campaign to end the hunger crisis in our country through their initiative of #PlateOfHope

Surf Excel #ReadyForLife

An extension to their 'Daag Ache Hai' Surf Excel tugged our hearts with their campaign #ReadyForLife by portraying the act of giving through a little child.

Vodafone #HakkeBakke

Indian summers are dedicated for the Indian Premier Leagues and to fruit this cricket frenzy in the nation, Vodafone through their digital campaign got all over the internet with their #HakkeBakke dance step. Getting influencers from different fields on board to boost their campaign.

Exide Life Insurance #DhoniKaSaath

#DhoniKaSaath by Exide Life Insurance was a high scale campaign, which portrayed the brand's collaboration with the celebrated captain of the Indian cricket team and this campaign gave a new light to the vital relationship of the brand with their ambassador.

Del Monte #DontBeASucker

When Baba Sehgal rapped for us saying #DontBeASucker, Del Monte quickly got into limelight with this quirky and satirical campaign and the internet couldn't get over the tune.

Nike #DaDaDing

It's safe to say that this year Nike's #DaDaDing campaign shone the brightest in the social-verse through both its audio and visual. With its captivating tune and the presence of Deepika Padukone with other fierce Indian sportswomen of varied fields.

Reebok #FitToFight

Giving a tight fight to Nike's Da Da Ding, competitor Reebok, too keeping Kangana Ranaut as the face of their campaign was appreciated, making it one of the finest campaigns of the year.

Lee #RefreshTheCity

Giving city-life a fresh zing, Lee took up the campaign #RefreshTheCity and encouraged the concept of recycling.

Tata Salt #NamakKeWaastey

Keeping the buzz of Rio Olympics 2016 in mind, Tata Salt introduced a patriotic campaign, boosting the spirits of the Indian athletes.

TE-A-ME #TeaForTrump

Amidst the intense American Presidential election season, tea brand TE-A-ME managed to bring smiles on our faces with their campaign when they got some #TeaForTrump and personally got delivered to him.

Dove #RealBeauty

Taking ahead their #RealBeauty legacy, Dove even this year initiated a campaign around the same hashtag, this time to break the stereotypical ideas of beauty.

Budweiser #BrewedTheHardWay

Creating three tales of inspiration of people from different walks of lie, Budweiser through their campaign #BrewedTheHardWay celebrated a footballer, a fashion designer, and a music artist.

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Culture Machine #ChangeTheRhyme 

Challenging the root of beauty stereotypes through their campaign, Culture Machine asked us to #ChangeTheRhyme of the nursery rhyme we've grown up humming.

Micromax #RoarForHelp

For International Tiger Day, Micromax through their campaign, #RoarForHelp gauged our attention towards the deteriorating digits of tiger population.

Red Label 6 pack band

Red Label raised voice for the gender we conveniently ignore in our routine - the transgenders. The campaign even won hearts at Cannes Lion 2016.

MakeMyTrip #BefikrBookKar

Starring Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh, MakeMyTrip produced a thoroughly engaging campaign.

Ariel #ShareTheLoad

Keeping alive the legacy of Ariel's #ShareTheLoad, this year too the campaign hinted towards gender equality.

Del Monte #WorksEveryTime

Del Monte introducing their range of flavored mayonnaise created a campaign titled, #WorksEveryTime and made use of beautiful visuals and GIFs to garner attention.

Amazon #MomBeAGirlAgain

An inspiring story where kids encourage their moms to relive their childhood dreams, Amazon portrayed this through their campaign #MomBeAGirlAgain narrating a warm tale of this mother-child bond.

Woodland #BeyondOrdinary

Strengthening their position on Instagram, Woodland created a unique, interactive campaign leveraging the features of this photo-sharing app and going #BeyondOrdinary.

Johnnie Walker #KeepWalking

Restoring the faith in humanity and narrating a tale of a far off land, Johnnie Walker introduced the social world with a campaign which spoke about the misery of Syrian refugees and how an entire village emerged as a Messiah to them through a film titled An Ode to Leavos.

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#ClubMahindraTurns20

Granting the wanderlust wishes of plenty, Club Mahindra celebrated their 20th birthday with a glorious campaign.

Mia by Tanishq #BestAtWork

Uplifting the spirits of working women, Tanishq revealed their new jewelry portal titled Mia by Tanishq through a campaign, #BestAtWork

Deepika Padukone #DobaraPoocho

Being a victim of depression herself, Bollywood diva Deepika Padukone introduced her Live Love Laugh Foundation through a campaign which left all of us teary-eyed.

Ola Cabs #GiveWayGiveLife

Clinching on spot on content marketing, Ola grabbed our attention when it asked us to #GiveWayGiveLife through their campaign holding a strong message.

Sprite #FakeOff

The recent campaign by Sprite stood by its moto of Seedhi Baat No Bakwaas and took a humorous take on pretense in our society with #FakeOff

Double mint #StartSomethingFresh

Rekindling the adored Bollywood-y love story through their campaign, #StartSomethingFresh, Double mint stepped on the digital portal and left us absolutely aww-struck thus being one of the finest campaigns to have released this year.

Paperboat Rizwan

Emphasizing on their tagline on drinks and memories, Paperboat released an emotionally overwhelming animated film of Rizwan back in May this year.

Vim - Afroz

Taking the route of story-telling, the brand gleamed on social media when they narrated the story of Afroz.

Amazon #BadeDilwale

This Diwali Amazon created a story filled with such smile-worthy emotions, winning hearts all over social media with their campaign,.

Axis Mutual Fund #DoYourHomework

To prepare parents to support their child's dreams, Axis Mutual Funds churned out a campaign that somewhere encouraged their viewers to fuel their kids' career choices.

Bajaj Electricals #RightfullyHers

An ode to all the mothers this Mother's Day, Bajaj Electricals rolled out a heartwarming campaign, breaking the traditions and adding their middle name as that of their mother's instead of their father's.

Foster's #HaveYouSeenIt

Creating a campaign which focuses on product marketing and building the face of influencer marketing on the digital portals, Foster's got its name for its uniqueness and humor on the list.

Would you like a small, medium or Foster’s mate? #HaveYouSeenIt? pic.twitter.com/T60b6ANQ44

— Foster's India (@FostersIn) May 31, 2016

Maggi #NothingLikeMaggi

Maggi was extensively the talk of the social media town last year, so this year yet again the brand built their content hooks on nostalgia.

Zivame #SalesmanWaliBra

Raising the unanimous concern of the women around, Zivame created a brand recall through their campaign.

Turtle #TheBlindSpot

The apparel brand, on World Turtle's Day created a campaign for the visually impaired, where they handed the kids with stationary like drawing papers, colors, and play dough asking them to sculpt or paint a turtle straight out of their imagination.

The article is a part of our #SocialThrowback series, which takes a look at the social media highs and lows of the 2016. Stay tuned for as we rewind further.