What a start to the year! It feels like we’re pitching something new weekly and the team has been firing on all cylinders. Check out our recent AOR wins we’ve publicized for ReflexAI and Airalo! 

Additionally, we just got back from a great trip to visit the team in the UK…highlighted by some great planning sessions, prospect meetings, and surprising marksmanship from a few members of the team. Needless to say, we’ll be on our best behavior around them. 

Shameless Plug: Our VP of Enterprise, Meghan Matheny, wrote a great piece on her do’s and don’ts on what tech executives should consider when engaging with journalists and the mainstream media, given some recent changes from the new administration. 

This week, we’re highlighting the exceptional campaign from Duolingo (swoon), how the iconic National Geographic brand has approached social strategy, and how Lush took a COMPLETELY different approach and shut their socials down completely. There are some really interesting perspectives this week

Big news coming soon…stay tuned to the trades and our socials in the coming weeks!

With Love,

Greg & Becky

Kill your mascot: The pros and cons of Duo the Owl and Mr. Peanut’s deaths

TL;DR: In 2020, snack company Planters killed off its famous mascot Mr. Peanut for its Super Bowl campaign, Five years later, language-learning app Duolingo announced the death of its mascot Duo the Owl, which turned out to be a fake stunt to generate engagement – a whopping 346% boost in social media engagement in the days after its initial announcement.

Takeaway: Depending on who you ask, these campaigns can be impactful and brilliant or cheap and unnecessary. It certainly takes a certain brand personality and audience to pull off, so don’t expect it to work for every brand. And as we know, poorly executed attempts can be more damaging than not attempting such a creative campaign at all. That said, Duolingo is no stranger to drama. The strategic decision to close out the campaign after only two weeks is smart, so people don’t hang on too long. Plus, it’s a stunt you only pull once, so hopefully Duo the Owl is alive and well for a long while.

Consider:

• These grand stunts aren’t just for show – they’re deeply intentional and strategic. While they’re not for every brand, the intent behind the action can be more widely applicable. Are you trying to capture attention and attract wider audiences? What would your version of killing off your mascot be?

• With big moves comes higher scrutiny. Whenever you pull a stunt like this, you open yourself up to all the critics. Be prepared with a thorough comms strategy, know when to end the campaign before inciting mass hysteria, and know how to pull it back to avoid any truly negative press.

Strengthen internal comms: How National Geographic uses strong internal allies to improve its social media

TL;DR: National Geographic’s 18-person social media team aims to educate and entertain a whopping 279 million followers on its Instagram, in addition to its other social platforms. They attribute their success to regular communications and transparency with other departments, something that they believe is often overlooked in content strategy.

Takeaway: When content marketers and communications pros look to enhance their strategy, they often look inwards at the levers they can pull – what tweaks can we make to content? Can we tweak our mix of earned and paid media? Do we need to test different approaches? But perhaps, the solution is actually in leaning on your own colleagues. Plus, the NatGeo team says that transparency into the social process has helped buy-in across the organization. As their VP of Social Media says, “If you don’t know what social is doing, it maybe means you don’t know the impact, or you don’t know how it can help you.” Sounds like a win-win arrangement.

Consider:

• How can you provide more transparency and clarity into your social media process to internal stakeholders? National Geographic does this by sending weekly emails to the internal organization detailing social media trends and how the org can be a part of them – allowing internal folks to feel involved in the process, regardless of department.

• What internal stakeholders could be beneficial to your social process? For example, NatGeo works with the editorial department to prioritize detailed stories to complement full articles. Look for the collaborations that can provide value for you and others.

Take an offline approach: What Lush learned from three years of leaving social media

TL;DR: Over three years ago, natural beauty company Lush announced it would no longer post to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Snapchat from its brand accounts as part of an “anti-social” policy that was created in response to concerns over content moderation, addictive algorithms, and platforms’ data collection policies. It has also since stopped posting on X and has divested spend from Google, Apple, and Microsoft by 50%, but its affiliate and newsletter loyalty programs seem to be keeping business steady.

Takeaway: This was a big move at the time for Lush, one that was highly criticized – but its Chief Digital Officer claims that it was one that just made sense for the brand. He notes, “It’s very clear now to people why we’re doing this, and I think that’s been such an interesting transition. We were very early adopters in something that felt crazy [at the time], and now, social media feels crazy.” It’s a clear vote for doing things that align with your brand’s values, regardless of the status quo. It’s also not like they’re not marketing themselves at all, they’re simply investing in growing their owned platforms – their email newsletter now has more than 6 million global subscribers and its app has 1.75 million users, with around 60% opting to receive push notifications. Sometimes, it’s worth the investment to garner more engaged audiences.

Consider:

• What’s a move you’ve been considering that could seem controversial or contrarian? Does it make sense for your brand? If so, consider tuning out the naysayers and leaning into what your brand can uniquely do. You might just become an early adopter.

• As social networks are becoming increasingly more polarizing, you might want to consider investing more in your owned channels and less on borrowed land. You’ll never regret spending time and energy into your own growth.

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