SOCIAL MEDIA

How TikTok Bolstered One Skincare Brand’s Entire Marketing Strategy

In March 2020, when we were worrying about the rotting fruit left on our office desks, acne care brand Peace Out had fresher concerns—TikTok and Gen Z.

• “With a bigger focus around the acne consumer, Gen Z is a huge focus for us,” Peace Out’s VP of Brand and Consumer Marketing Erin Murray told Marketing Brew. 
• The company started regularly posting on the platform in early 2020, focusing on recruiting nano-influencers and community growth.
• Soon enough, the brand “exploded on the TikTok channel with a Gen Z consumer in a crazy way,” Murray said.

Cut to March 2021: TikTok now takes up about 60%-70% of Peace Out’s marketing efforts. So you could say Murray knows a little more than the average marketer about why Gen Z loves TikTok—and what to do with that information.

TikTok ’round the clock

So how did Peace Out optimize its TikTok strategy...to the point where it became the brand’s dominant platform? 

• Murray said her team really got the hang of the popular app when it changed its influencer strategy to a TikTok-first approach.
• For its latest campaign, Peace Out is spending more than a third of the budget to work with a wide range of influencers and nano-influencers on TikTok, from dermatologists to models dealing with acne, to general “skinfluencers.”

+1: Murray said Peace Out’s had to figure out how to leverage branded content across both TikTok and Instagram. It’s seen success from reposting TikTok UGC on its Instagram account.

It’s working: According to Murray, Peace Out recently became Sephora’s top-selling acne brand.

Speaking of Instagram

Claremont Graduate University psychology professor Kendall Cotton Bronk recently told CNet that TikTok “largely caters to a younger demographic hungry for more authenticity.” A third of US TikTok users are between the ages of 10 and 19.

Instagram is a different story:

• “Instagram really started around this aspirational idea of creating content that was filtered,” Murray told Marketing Brew.
• She added that while Instagram became a hub for content that’s aspirational, attainable and relatable content feels more common on TikTok.

My takeaway: The reason Gen Z is the age group most interested in TikTok? That’s where the authentic and transparent content they respond best to thrives.

CAMPAIGNS

Satan Sneaks

Nike doesn’t endorse Satanism. And it’s filed a lawsuit to prove it.

Wait, what? Performer/icon Lil Nas X recently collaborated with art collective MSCHF on Satan-inspired Nike shoes that contain *checks notes* human blood. They sold out in under a minute. But Nike wasn’t given a heads-up—and definitely didn’t approve. Thus the lawsuit. 

Nike says the controversial shoes have caused confusion. So much so that people want to boycott the brand. 

“The NIKE word mark and Swoosh design are among the most famous, recognizable, and valuable trademarks in the world,” Nike argued, noting that it’s filing the lawsuit to “maintain control of its brand.”

Holy water > hemoglobin

MSCHF once created the Satan Shoe’s biblical opposite: the Jesus Shoe, whose soles held holy water. 

Then, MSCHF hoped Nike would disavow the product. It didn’t. But now, a week before Easter, the Satan Shoe was clearly a bridge too far for Nike, so it’s taking action.

• Upselling and modifying a product like a sneaker is (apparently) a bit of a legal gray area. But multiple trademark attorneys told CNN that Nike has grounds for a lawsuit. 

Step back: Whatever the outcome, MSCHF has come up with a stunt that’s created shock value for Lil Nas X—who’s already earned a scolding from Fox News and landed a swath of headlines. As for Nike, its carefully crafted brand reputation is fine with clout-chasing, as long as it's nothing sinister. 

SPONSORED BY THE TRADE DESK

Cookie Jar’s Closing, But You Can Still Eat

Simple truth: The Internet is built on free content in exchange for relevant advertising.

Complex problem: Third party cookies—which enable the value exchange of “relevant ads for content” to happen—won’t exist for much longer.

Easy solution: Check out the momentum behind Unified ID 2.0 (UID2) and learn how all marketers can prepare for an internet without cookies.

With 25+ partners on board, UID2 preserves the quid pro quo of information and entertainment on the internet.

UID2 is a broad industry collaboration that includes publishers, advertisers, and all the players in the ad tech ecosystem—we’re talkin’ The Washington Post, Nielsen, and tons of others.

This is vital info for the future, marketers: Get it from The Trade Desk here.

BRANDING

Voltswagen

We thought another auto brand was rebranding. Yesterday, Volkswagen said it’s changing its name to “Voltswagen” of America. Get it? Volts? Because the cars are electric? Haaa.

Turns out, it was just an April Fool’s stunt, according to a company spokesperson. It’s part of the brand’s campaign for its new electric SUV, the ID.4. 

It’s electric...boogie oogie oogie

While the April Fool’s Day stunt is a gimmick in the lowest form (seriously, don’t lie to journalists—it’s hard enough out here), the stunt worked because of so much activity in the industry.

Case in point: General Motors released a campaign (and a hot new logo) earlier this year called “Everybody In,” which plugs its “all-electric future.” The company aims to have 30 electric vehicles on the road by 2025. 

At the heart of both campaigns is an emphasis on accessibility and “mass adoption:” Electric vehicles aren’t just for Silicon Valley bros.

Bottom line: Legacy auto brands can see into the future—and they know where consumers are heading. But they also know there’s competition, specifically from a company led by Elon Musk that famously doesn’t spend a dollar on marketing.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Spotify is acquiring Betty Labs to further explore the social audio landscape. 
• Uber struck a deal with NYC’s Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade to run digital cartop ads...on taxis. Cue “Big Yellow Taxi” joke here. 
• Facebook Chief Revenue Officer David Fischer is leaving the company this fall.
• Peloton is partnering with livestream music platform Verzuz to add matchups between musicians to classes. 

SPONSORED BY BRIGHTCOVE

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AD FRAUD

Which headlines are real marketing news, and which one is fake?

1. Twitter Opens a Wholesome Videos Section Where Brands Can Feel Protected 
2. Furbies Made a TV Comeback for April Fool’s Day
3. T-Mobile Shuts Down TVision
4. Chipotle Gives Away $100K in Bitcoin for National Burrito Day

Keep scrolling for the answer.

FRENCH PRESS

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren't those.

Copywriting: Check out these helpful tips for A/B testing your copy—plus how to split test on different platforms. 

Instagram: Hootsuite recently shared an updated guide to getting your Instagram content seen according to the 2021 algorithm. 

Social audio: This v thorough article will tell you everything you need to know about Twitter Spaces for business. 

AD FRAUD ANSWER

We wish Furbies would make a TV comeback.

ICYMI

Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.

• Why media buyers are demanding flexibility ahead of this year’s upfronts
• This TikTok feature is spreading to other social media platforms
• No, lawyers probably aren’t taking our marketing agency jobs