Effective Brand Messaging on Social Media in the Age of COVID-19: The Importance of the Brand Story
The global pandemic has altered American marketing campaigns since the spring of 2020. Organizations are struggling to deliver a call to action that resonates with consumers while still meeting their bottom lines (Ruch, 2020). Ad Age, a leading voice in the marketing industry, reported in May 2020 that “[f]or brands, there is a fine line between providing a public service during the pandemic, or being seen as exploiting it”. Now, more than ever, it is imperative that organizations connect with their consumers in a genuine and relevant way, built on consumer trust. Brands are demonstrating through practice that brand relevancy and consumer trust are established during COVID-19 when the brand story is shared on social media. This blog examines three organizations that demonstrate best in class examples of sharing their brand story in a genuine, relevant way: Ocean Spray by highlighting viral user generated content, Walmart by creating ad campaigns around their employees, and Soludos for featuring influencers.
Ocean Spray: Viral User Generated Content
The first best-in class example of an organization sharing their brand story on social media is Ocean Spray and the viral user generated content created by 420doggface208. Nathan Apodaca, known online as 420doggface208, created a TikTok video at the end of September depicting himself skateboarding to Fleetwood Mac’s music while drinking Ocean Spray out of the bottle (DrewFrog, 2020). This quickly went viral on all social media platforms. The Twitter user, DrewFrog, has over 500 thousand likes of the repost of Apodaca’s video (2020), the caption stating the video was a “whole vibe” (DrewFrog, 2020). Within a week, Ocean Spray had delivered a brand-new cranberry-red truck stocked full of product to Apodaca’s house (Schultz, 2020). Social media users from Mick Fleetwood to the CEO of Ocean Spray have replicated Apodaca’s video with remakes of their own (Schultz, 2020). This type of spontaneous content inspires dialogue between the organization and consumers while establishing brand relevncy. The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing states that “the top of the funnel is exposure” (Butow, et al., 2020, p. 49). Additionally, this type of content stays close to Ocean Spray’s brand story. Ad Age reports Rolling Stone and Vogue agreeing that Apodaca’s video went viral because the pandemic inspired consumers to desire simplicity (2020). “That is, of course, a nice tone for a beverage brand like Ocean Spray, which is an agricultural cooperative owned by more than 700 cranberry growers in the United States, Canada and Chile” (Schultz, 2020). The impact of this viral user generated content is that Ocean Spray cranberry juice is now top-of-mind to consumers while being relevant and accessible.
Walmart: Highlighting Employees
Of course organizations cannot wait for viral user generated content to shape their marketing campaigns during the pandemic. Walmart created their deliberate engagement through their “Hearts of Magic” campaign. One of the elements of this ad campaign was a poem written by store manager, Terrel “Trizz” Myles (Ad Age, 2020). The video shows the store manager in different locations in an empty Walmart store, reciting his poem (Walmart, n.d.). When analyzing this ad, Walmart clearly understands the playful nature of their brand, employing light-hearted messaging, as recommended in a 2019 research study (Davis, et al., 2019, p. 8). However, Walmart is also using the pandemic for brand storying-telling, drawing their audience and consumers closer to their unique offerings (Butow, et al., 2020, p. 50). Myles’ poem includes the lines: “I’m a Walmart wizard, an associate with heart of a magic / Like all my Walmart family, together we make it happen” (Walmart, n.d.). The first line establishes the Walmart employee as an every-man, someone consumers can relate, while also emphasizing the concept that Walmart employees can be relied on to meet their consumer needs, leaning on a connotation of the word “wizard.” The second line strongly shapes the Walmart brand and their brand story – that is, being an affordable one-stop-shop for families and communities. This campaign leverages internal resources to connect with consumers in a deep and meaningful way, allowing Walmart to be its own brand ambassador, a technique recommended by Martin, et al., in a 2020 study (p. 9).
Soludos: Featuring Influencers
The final best in class example is from the footwear company, Soludos. Soludos’ tag line is: “Inspired by our travels, made for yours” (Soludos About Us, n.d.). The current challenge for Soludos is that their target market is young travelers. This demographic is not able to travel during the pandemic and does not have a motivation to invest in photogenic, comfortable footwear. Because of this, Soludos has had to shift their marketing messaging. In line with the recommendations of Pan, et al., Soludos wisely centers this campaign on their consumer as they are a consumer-focused organization (2019, p. 12). Their social media accounts repost the images shared by influencers and role models wearing Soludos shoes. The images still fall into Soludos’ aesthetic, but feature these influencers in their hometowns rather than emphasizing travel during the pandemic. An October 9 marketing email communication featured the subject, “You may be inside this email” (Soludos Personal Communication, 2020). The email headline read, “You wore it best” (Soludos Personal Communication, 2020). The email included images of several images of influencers wearing Soludos shoes, but in casual, everyday looks. At the bottom of the email, Soludos encouraged the recipient to submit their own photos on social media for the chance to be reposted. This language with the strong consumer focus stays close to Soludos as a travel footwear brand while pivoting this messaging during the pandemic. In their 2020 50 Best Practices for Email Marketers, the marketing giant Salesforce recommends that organizations tell a story in their communications. Soludos successfully stays close to their brand story while featuring the stories of their consumers.
Conclusion
During the pandemic, it has been imperative for brands to share their brand stories on social media in order to remain relevant and build consumer trust. Brands have successfully done this in a number of ways. Ocean Spray leveraged spontaneous viral user generated content while Walmart intentionally crafted ad campaigns featuring the human element of their organization. Soludos, a smaller company, shifted their marketing messaging to showcase their consumers. While the delivery was different for each of these organizations, they each used these methods to share their brand story, connecting with consumers and building consumer trust. This, in turn, positively impacts the organization’s bottom line.
References
50 Best Practices for Email Marketers. (n.d.). Salesforce. https://www.salesforce.com/eu/form/marketingcloud/50-email-marketer-best-practices/
Ad Age. (2020, May). How marketers responded to the coronavirus in the first three months. https://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/how-marketers-responded-coronavirus-first-three-months/2244251
Butow, E., Allton, M., Herman, J., Liu, S., & Robinson, A. (2020). Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing. Entrepreneur Press. Kindle Edition.
Davis, S. W., Horváth, C., Gretry, A., & Belei, N. (2019). Say what? How the interplay of tweet readability and brand hedonism affects consumer engagement. Journal of Business Research, 100, 150–164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.01.071
DrewFrog [@DrewFrog]. (2020, September 25). I don’t use this verbiage often but this is a whole vibe. simple as that. [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/DrewFrogger/status/1309531633545089024
Martin, N., Rice, J., & Arthur, D. (2020). Advancing social media derived information messaging and management: A multi-mode development perspective. International Journal of Information Management, 51, 102021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2019.10.006
Pan, Y., Torres, I. M., & Zúñiga, M. A. (2019). Social media communications and marketing strategy: A taxonomical review of potential explanatory approaches. Journal of Internet Commerce, 18(1), 73–90. https://doi.org/10.1080/15332861.2019.1567187
Ruch, J. (2020, June). ‘Covid’ is a word most of us dread. But some think it could make a good branding opportunity. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/covid-is-a-word-most-of-us-dread-but-some-think-it-could-make-a-good-branding-opportunity/2020/06/12/c63aaeee-75be-11ea-85cb-8670579b863d_story.html
Schultz, E. J. (2020, October). Ocean Spray seizes on viral TikTok video, gifts its star a truck and some juice. https://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/ocean-spray-seizes-viral-tiktok-video-gifts-its-star-truck-and-some-juice/2286306
Soludos. (n.d.). About Us. Soludos. https://www.soludos.com/pages/about-us
Soludos. (personal communication, October 9, 2020).
Walmart. (n.d.). Hearts of Magic. https://one.walmart.com/content/usone/en_us/company/news/walmart-world/hearts-of-magic.html
Appendix 1: Three Screenshots from Soludos Personal Communication
Below are three screenshots from the Soludos marketing email communication received in my personal email address on October 9, 2020. The first two screenshots are from the top of the email and the last screenshot is from the bottom of the email.
