Sunday, October 11, 2020

Dreaming of Ocean Spray

 This week, Tik Tok debuted a new ad campaign that leverages the footage from a recent viral Tik Tok video. The video was made by user Nathan Apodaca who was lip-singing the Fleetwood Mac song "dreams" while drinking from a bottle of Ocean Spray cranberry juice. The commercial "duets" Apodaca's video with Mick Fleetwood's remake of his video. Since the original video went viral, Ocean Spray's sales have spiked and Fleetwood Mac's song is at its all time high on streaming platforms. 

Neither Ocean Spray nor Fleetwood Mac could've engineered this viral moment, but both got very lucky that their brands / bands happened to be front and center at the latest cultural moment on Tik Tok. Ocean Spray even gave Apodaca a free truck filled with a supply of Ocean Spray because of how well their brand has been doing since the video. A few interesting digital marketing components stand out here: 

First is that this seems to be Tik Tok's attempt to create more goodwill for the brand, and position Tik Tok as pivotal to current pop culture as they try to stop Trump from banning the app in the US. However, I wonder if Apodaca or Mick Fleetwood are being compensated for being in this ad campaign, or if Tik Tok has structured their platform such that they own the rights to all videos on their platform. If they are in fact not paying either of them for being featured in the commercial, wonder if this ad campaign will lead to the intended good will Tik Tok is seeking.

Second is that Tik Tok seems to be a platform that is redefining organic marketing. Historically, organic marketing for brands happened through word of mouth - where friends share with their friends their recommended brands and at a much slower pace. With the advent of Tik Tok, many brands can be benefit from viral videos that can leave to instantaneous organic marketing benefits. It will be interesting to see if brands try to engineer these viral moments by creating unique Tik Tok ads that they hope can get the same reach / create the same buzz.

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