It Pays to be Disruptive
The era of traditional advertisements is over. Life has changed so much, so fast that it’s not entirely over yet, and the executives at fortune 500 companies are keeping the print, outdoor, and tv commercial industry propped up for another half-decade or so. But it is most definitely dying a slow death.
That is a widely agreed-upon statement by anyone who pays just a tiny bit of attention to consumer behavior on a grand scale. My parents do one of two things if a television commercial somehow appears on our screen: switch to Netflix or open up their phones. The same goes for the passengers in my car. They aren’t looking out the window; they’re on their phones. And don’t get me started on print media; it’s an absolute joke.
Let’s clear something up: those are traditional advertising environments. A critical fact is that these environments are a waste of money to get people to know about your business. Putting time, energy, and money toward any of those is suicidal marketing.
Migrate to where the attention is: social media.
That’s not a new concept- you’ve heard it a million times, “You gotta get on social media.” The real power plays come in what’s next.
Do you know what gets attention? Disruption, against-the-grain, on-trend, captivating, relevant content. It does NOT matter who posted it; if you can check those boxes, you will shine. So why not make it your brand? I, Chase Pickett, am here to champion the humanization of brands and fight the notion that we have to be overly politically correct. Brands like Barstool Sports have built their brand brick by brick by being unapologetic and against “the man” so to speak. They have remained very true to that style and are currently worth half a billion dollars and growing.
TikTok is a trendy goldmine. It quite possibly has the most relevant and fastest-moving culture on the internet right now. There’s this trend that looks like this:
It has been seen by millions and recreated by hundreds of thousands.
Coors Light brilliantly and successfully mimicked this mega-viral trend with their new seltzers. That video can be seen here:
This move keeps them relevant with modern, “in the now” culture. Someone at Coors was paying very close attention and saw an easy opportunity to capitalize. The same can be done for your brand. Millions of trends exist. Pick one and integrate it into your brand. Here’s the hard part: don’t be cheesy ;)
The problem is, companies are still trying to communicate with their audiences in the traditional sense- the same way they did on commercials, or billboards, or print media.
If you take nothing from this article except for one line, let it be this:
If it looks and sounds like an advertisement, it should not be on social media.
Be loud, human, and maybe even a little bit controversial. If you’re not comfortable with swimming in those waters, at least take a stance on something.
Having an opinion makes your brand much more informal and approachable. It doesn’t have to be political at all. You sell ice cream? What’s the best flavor and why? Talk about it, yell about it, make videos about it, write about it. Be authentic and be yourself.