A great example of social media listening: Ocean Spray on Tiktok

In the past 10 years social media have changed the way we interact with each other.  

I am sure you have noticed this too.

If this applies to all of us – as consumers – it is about time all brands understand social media have influenced the way we interact with brands too.

Surprisingly, many companies are still far from embracing a comprehensive digital strategy.  And too many companies who have some little social media strategy only post randomly on social media and using a lot of “we do this”, “we do that”. And there’s almost no interaction with their customers, and no engaging posts.

How do you like your friends always speaking like “me, myself and I”? It is not different for brands: if you just keep telling your clients how good you are, it is just not right.  

You’d better start telling your clients what you can do for them.

In fact, wiining brands that are getting the most out of social media are those who have started listening.

Social media is about being social, not about doing social.

(socialnetconomy.com, 2011)

Social means interaction. Interaction means mutual or reciprocal action or influence.

Brands want to influence customers. And for this to happen, brands need to get influenced by consumers.

The pandemic has increased uncertainty, and also our digital interactions.

 This latter is quite a challenge even for the most “digitalised” people.

In this unprecedented and challenging times, those brands able to show they are really close to their customers, will build successful trust and will act truly social. And they will become direct influencers of their clients.

This is the great opportunity that social media offer to brands nowadays.

There have been a number of great examples recently about great brand listening and understanding.

If you have lived on another planet in the past few years and you don’t know what is TikTok, it’s the preferred social media for teens.

It was Sept. 25, when Nathan Apodaca — also known to his fans as @420doggface208 – went viral on Tiktok.

Just as many other parents willing to better understand their teens’ world, Nathan joined Tiktok and started sharing about his daily routine. He posted video of himself while drinking his favourite cranberry juice – an Ocean Spray’s – while driving to work.

Videos were pretty much of this and dance moves, until Sept 25^th, when he posted a video of himself, skateboarding to work – yet sipping his favourite fruit juice – after his pickup broke and listening to his favourite song by Fleetwood Mac.

At that time, he had already hundreds of thousands of followers on Tiktok, so he was a potential influencer.

He got first engaged in conversation by Mick Fleetwood, the legendary band’s drummer, who posted on Tiktok his own version of the popular video on a skateboard, juice in hand. Tiktok has revealed great for the music business and many artists promote their music with challenges and by interacting with most followed “Ticktokers”.

Warner Music South Africa (who was also good at listening to the conversation, and better than the global twitter handle of Warner Music) shared Mick Fleetwood’s Tiktok on Twitter.

Google trends confirms the interest for both the song, the brand and cranberry juice – whose sales I am sure will spike this quarter.

Just a few weeks later, Ocean Spray bought Nathan Apodaca a brand new truck -a cranberry red truck. And the truck got delivered to him packed full of the brand’s juice.

He posted a video thanking Ocean Spray for the new wheels, and as of today that video has over 33M views.

Quite a deal for a $37K truck. And who knows they also managed to involve Nissan and get a better price?

Also, will Ocean Spray ask Fleetwood Mac to use their song in the coming commercials?