What do Fleetwood Mac, Tik Tok and Ocean Spray have in common?
They each effectively tapped into user-generated content to run a brand-new campaign from the outside-in.
Ocean Spray’s marketing teams were focused on their smaller brands for their social media strategy. Until Nathan Apodaca came along[1].
Late last September, Nathan Apodaca was on his way to work when his truck stalled. Instead of waiting for help, he got out of the truck, grabbed his skateboard and a bottle of Ocean Spray Cran-Raspberry juice, and rolled out. Along the way, he made a TikTok video of him drinking and lip-syncing to Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams. It now has more than 60 million views and has generated more than a billion impressions under the “Dreams Challenge Meme”.
A post shared by @Doggface208 (@doggface208) on Sep 25, 2020 at 2:32pm PDT
It was not long before celebrities jumped on the bandwagon:
A post shared by Courteney Cox (@courteneycoxofficial) on Oct 15, 2020 at 11:26pm PDT
A post shared by Shakira (@shakira) on Oct 14, 2020 at 8:31am PDT
This campaign was not planned for, yet it spontaneously turned into a groundswell of memes and conversations about Ocean Spray. So why can outsiders like Nathan help brands engage better than marketers?
Often, outsiders can provide a spontaneous, fresh perspective or in this case, an initiative that may not have been thought of by an internal team, accustomed to see their job and priorities in a specific way.
Ocean Spray’s first reaction was to help Nathan, and to join the conversation alongside the vibe that Nathan was taking. They didn’t just jump in to capitalise on the buzz and kept their cool until over a week later when they gave him a new truck filled with Ocean Spray! Their CEO, Tom Hayes then released this, earning them very positive comments:
Did we just become best friends? @mickfleetwood @420doggface208 ♬ Dreams (2004 Remaster) – Fleetwood Mac
It is also widely known that user-generated content helps brands engage more with their audience because it feels more authentic and trustworthy than going through the manufactured happiness of the usual brand content.
Anecdotally, the feel-good vibe resulted in the doubling of Dreams sales and the tripling of streams, achieving its best streaming week ever![2] Mick Fleetwood and Stevie Nicks helped sustain this trend with their own #dreamschallenge posts, which will also help the Fleetwood Mac brand as they rerelease a few more tracks.
As for TikTok, Nathan’s post helped them to reinforce their role in providing feel good content, which helps them stand apart from Instagram or YouTube. As a result, they recently launched their Good Vibes ad.
A post shared by TikTok (@tiktok) on Oct 8, 2020 at 8:00pm PDT
There are many more ways crowds and outsiders can help brands connect better with consumers. Let us share them with you.
[1] Source: Entrepreneur, Ocean Spray Seized Its Viral Marketing Moment Like It Makes Its Juice: Naturally, October 2020
[2] Source: Billboard, Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’ Surges to Biggest Streaming Week Ever After Viral TikTok Video, June 2020