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How Unhinged Marketing is Changing the Future of Social Media Marketing
If you have been following Charli XCX’s BRAT summer, Kamala Harris HQ’s social media posts, Duolingo memes, or Wendy’s tweets, you may already be clued into the “unhinged marketing” approach.
This marketing strategy mainly targets Gen Z and Gen Alpha users, breaking traditional marketing ideals and embracing spunkiness, authenticity, and roughness around the edges.
What is “Unhinged” Marketing?
The internet is comprised of trends, coming and going, some with more weight than others. Brands have started to capitalize on these cultural moments, trending memes, and viral videos, to insert their brand into the conversation. This encourages users to share, comment, and recreate this content, amplifying their awareness and recognition.
Brands like Duolingo, Wendy’s, Ryanair, Croc’s, and Scrub Daddy pave the way for brands to understand unhinged marketing strategies, using humor, relatability, and irreverence as core tones for social media content.
After Charli XCX’s album BRAT was released, the internet exploded with brat memes, brat girl summer references, and how and isn’t ‘brat’. After President Joe Biden stepped down as the 2024 Democratic Presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris came into the limelight, sparking another pop culture moment. Charli tweeted, “Kamala is BRAT”, sending Kamala’s HQ page posting this on Instagram:
This is one example of how unhinged marketing is taking the internet for storm, demanding attention, even if slight confusion. However, it’s finally connecting with younger audiences, rather than staying inside the traditional marketing “margins”.
Does Unhinged Marketing Work?
Unhinged marketing may not be for every brand, but it may be something to look into if your business relies on social media marketing. As Gen Z and Millennials are most active on socials, you are most likely to reach these users on online communities.
However, Gen Z and Millennials are unique consumers, searching for brands that align with their values. These generations want to feel in control of their purchasing decisions, without being lied to, scammed, or tricked – a pattern unhinged marketing is trying to break. Consumers are more likely to trust brands that are willing to speak out on issues and make their values known.
Demand for authenticity and trustworthiness
One of the reasons unhinged marketing works is its demand for brand authenticity. Consumers want to be able to interact with real humans and grasp real stories, and not brands that rely on flashy ads to sell. Modern consumers use reviews, case studies, influencers, affiliates, and comments to gather information and research about products before buying.
The more transparent brands are about their customer’s journey, satisfaction with the product, and confidence in the brand, the better, regardless of how “polished” the content is. This allows consumers to resonate and connect with the brand more deeply. Along with authenticity, consumers want to feel they can trust brands and that their purchases have an impact, whether that be on their daily lives, the environment, teamwork, etc.
Rule-breaking and boldness
Millennials, especially Gen Z users, are already acclimated to internet chaos. It’s hard to believe what’s real on the internet with starking headlines, market saturation, misinformation, and the introduction of AI. Unhinged Marketing breaks the rules to say, “We see you, we understand the chaos, and are in this together.”
The lack of refinement, comedic relief, and spunky storytelling gets users stuck in the “doom-scrolling” rut and lets them see it’s not all bad, despite unprecedented actions at every turn. Memes, gifs, emojis, brand call-outs, and misspellings exemplify how Unhinged Marketing breaks the pattern, making it stand out even more on the internet.
Relatability
I’ve mentioned that Unhinged Marketing creates a sense of relatability, that brands are made up of humans after all. When brands let go of the idea that all content needs to be perfect, they can start having fun with online interactions. It brings about the idea that not all marketing needs to be serious, and people relate more when it applies to their lives.
This is where storytelling comes into play, addressing consumers’ pain points, frustrations, desires, and daily occurrences. This is why targeting your ideal audience(s) is important, creating realistic scenarios and addressing emotions humans deal with daily.
Unhinged Marketing Examples
Let’s now look at some brands that have incorporated and successfully carried out Unhinged Marketing practices across the internet. Not only has it improved their brand awareness, but made this chaotic energy part of their identity.
Wendy’s
Wendy’s unhinged strategies appeared in 2017, going viral for “roasting” brands on Twitter. This was at a time when brands were less likely to directly comment on brands and competitors, or directly mention specific users. Wendy’s approach relies on wittiness, humor, and engagement to drive its Twitter posts. Their X bio even reads, “We like our tweets the way we like our fries: hot, crispy, and better than anyone expects from a fast food restaurant.”
Wendy’s even created their own #NationalRoastDay, encouraging users to comment “Roast Me” to be shouted out by the account. For many years, Wendy’s also offers a free medium fry with an in-app purchase, booting sales, and app downloads.
When Aflac’s account commented, Wendy’s account clapped back without missing:
Wendy’s tweets are daring and witty, provoking users to engage, share, and continue the conversation. This has also led to increased brand loyalty and authority, with 3.7 million followers on X.
Duolingo
The free language-learning app has transformed its interactive learning sessions to personify app characters and its mascot, creating hilarious online stories, irreverent responses, and entertaining videos. Duolingo’s TikTok account took off when it started posting videos of its mascot, “Duo” in 2021, now reaching over 12 million followers.
23-year-old Zaria Parvez was the mastermind behind this account, bringing ‘unhinged’ behavior into the limelight. From this, Duolingo revamped its social media marketing strategy, helping the brand reach success. They accomplished this by bringing their product to life and adding an edge to their content, raising awareness about language learning in a fun, encouraging way.
Users can start Duolingo “streaks”, similar to Snapchat’s friends’ streaks. They use this to poke fun at Duolingo users who miss their notifications or break their streak.
@duolingo sad g(owl) hours #duoplushie #duolingo #languagelearning #emo ♬ Rio romeo – .𝖒𝖊𝖓'🎧★
Similar to Wendy’s X account, Duolingo uses pop culture references to relate to social media users. This works to engage audiences and relate to their daily lives while keeping their product at the forefront.
Ryanair
Ryanair has completely shifted how flyers view airline brands. Its TikTok account is infamous for using plane models to be the star of its silly, irreverent marketing strategies and using its platform to tap viewers into pop culture moments.
Being a low-fare airline from Ireland, they are often criticized for charging customers at every turn. The brand has embraced this reputation, creating content that pokes fun at traveling on a budget and targets younger audiences to connect with their experiences.
The account features younger actors to resonate with viewers and mentions common frustrations and limitations customers experience. This works to make audiences aware of Ryanair’s customs while poking fun at the ridiculousness of some rules. Many videos feature Ryanair planes with faces, filters, and personification elements to bring their brand to life, similar to Duolingo.
Scrub Daddy
Lastly, we have Scrub Daddy, “America’s Favorite Sponge”. In 2012, Aaron Krause took his smiley face sponges to the test after appearing on Shark Tank. Although the business growth was stagnant at the beginning, Scrub Daddy’s marketing strategies kept it alive.
While the product itself is powerful, sponges aren’t necessarily seen as ‘fun’ or ‘enticing’. However, Scrub Daddy added just these elements to resonate with audiences. Targeting Gen Z audiences on TikTok and Instagram has allowed them to experiment with unconventional marketing ideas and experiment with jokes, memes, and trends. And it’s worked.
With over 4 million followers on TikTok, users can interact with funny videos and buy products in-app. The brand has expanded its product line, continuing the word-play theme, featuring products like “Scrub Mommy Sponges” and “BBQ Daddy Grill Brush”.
@scrubdaddy Wowzers! What a great product! 😀. #scrubdaddy #smile #cleantok #cleaningtiktok #americasfavoritesponge #scrubdaddycif ♬ Christmas Sleigh Bells Orchestral – Minister_of_SOUND
You can see special edition products on social media, where Scrub Daddy collaborates with popular brands like Crocs and Dunkin’ Donuts.
Conclusions
Unhinged Marketing may be a “trending” strategy, but it has already been implemented by major name brands and products. It seems that this approach works best on Instagram and TikTok. While Threads and X can also be interesting platforms to test out this strategy, it is dependent on a brand’s target audience.
Before implementing an “Unhinged” marketing strategy, analyze your social media metrics and see which content has performed the best. Understand what your competitors are doing in the market to differentiate your brand online.
While marketing will continue to evolve, this approach is taking the internet by storm, allowing brands to get creative, experiment, play, and have fun with their content. Even if your brand doesn’t take a fully “unhinged” approach, you can use these examples to connect and resonate with audiences on a deeper level. To learn more about social media marketing in 2024, read this guide below: