Brands are leaning into their personalities
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??The team behind the ‘White Lotus’ TikTok account is embracing its inner fangirl
Tapping into fan culture can be tricky and look inauthentic, like the brand is trying too hard. Memes and gifs that are shared globally cannot be ‘created’ - they just appear and go viral (or not) and it’s outside the brand’s control. There is no real science behind it.
The White Lotus does have an advantage in that the brand has a well-defined meme culture already, but we’ll have to see if fans see an official account as suitably authentic. This isn’t the first time that event television has leaned into memes and the partnership between long-form and short-form content is one that can be mutually beneficial.
“Mia and Lucia know what I’m talking about.”
?Mary Jo (MJ) Behrman, Head of Customer Lifecycle Management Designit
?? How are Elon Musk’s antics impacting his electric car business?
In my years as an advertising creative, we always said that one had to be very careful with the use of famous personalities associated with brands. Behavior from that person that deviates from the brand's values could irreparably damage it.
In the case of Tesla, already facing a highly competitive EV market where other brands have wiped away its first-mover advantage, this association is natural and indissoluble. It makes it difficult to defend brand values different from those of Elon Musk himself.
As a member of a government that renounces and even condemns sustainability policies, how will Tesla's positioning in the minds of consumers evolve?
Eduardo Hernández Vicario , Lead Brand Strategist, Designit
Duolingo ‘killed’ its mascot and it’s going weirdly well
Unlike Tesla, where a single person drives the personality of a brand, Duolingo is driven by its culture. It allows the social media team to lean hard into pop culture - not least via the dreaded Duolingo owl - and now it’s calling out Cybertruck / Musk with the alleged demise of the brand mascot.
The social strategy is one to watch. It's authentic, it never feels forced and it doesn't tie itself up in knots about brand messaging. It’s also a bit mad, frankly. Good for them.
Nicholas LaManna , Brand Strategy Lead, Designit
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