Viral here, viral there, viral is everywhere
Learning from the top viral 2024 moments and testing the new Oatly before everyone else
Being back in Europe, I am back in my habit of listening to 5-10h podcasts a week. That’s a lot of information. I thought I share three things that I learned listening to my wild mix of marketing, tech, motherhood and entrepreneurship
1. Somewhat fascinating: The healthiest food based on nutrients is liver (coming from a longevity episode). Unfortunately not a very ethical solution, I know :(
2. Somewhat fortunate: Anguilla, a self-governing Carribean island owns all urls ending in ‘ai’ which due to the rise of Artificial Intelligence startups have seen a crazy increase in demand. The small island nation has made $32m alone last year selling its two-letter url ending.
3. Somewhat shocking: Gen-Z is not as (equality) progressive as we might think. A new study found that amongst the Gen-Z males 31% think that a man is ‘less of a man’ if he stays at home with the children.
And now after a bit of random information that you can use at your next dinner party, let’s continue with some nuggets from the marketing world:
3 viral moments of 2024 and what we can learn from them
A bit more than 3 months into 2024, and we have already seen a lot of viral moments.
Let’s talk about 3 in particular. Each went viral… for an entirely different reason.
One: a genius launch
Second: an iconic pose
Third: the random one
1. Rhode skin followed by Heinz ketchup
The (Gen Z and US) internet exploded earlier last month because Haley Bieber’s beauty brand Rhode launched a new lip product together with a phone case slash lip gloss holder. It’s almost too simple. Why did nobody think of this product combination before (especially the beauty nation of Korea)? So what’s even better then the sales figures of this new product combo? The reaction of ketchup brand Heinz!
The brand launched their own version of a limited edition phone case perfectly crafted to hold a single sachet of tomato ketchup. Yet another creative adaption of the idea came from female-founded App Peanut (see below) who added a condom to the occasion. What we can learn from the ‘viral phone-case moment’: Sometimes ‘simple is key’ and you can jump on the bandwagon if you are fast and clever.
2. Calvin Klein’s iconic product
Another brand that went viral in January was Calvin Klein with its massive billboards featuring “The Bear” star Jeremy Allen White in their probably most iconic product. The combination of the ‘very true to Calvin’ pose, the boxershort and the man caused the viral reaction of the mainly (female) internet, followed by lots of comments at the Golden Globe Awards.
Is Calvin Klein selling more of their shorts because of it? Probably not. But they managed to position themselves (again) as the OG of underwear campaigns and they surely get people talking.
3. Josh’s Cellars aka the random one
Overnight, this wine brand unexpectedly transformed into a viral meme, and guess to what they own their sudden social media fame? Consider that typically wine brand have very sophisticated names, often challenging to articulate.
However, Josh’s Cellars defied this convention, gaining viral status solely due to its simple name—Josh.
Yes, just Josh. 🙈 Someone tweeted a photo of Josh, and wrote about how he liked the simple name and it became a trend. People started inserting the name ‘Josh’ into everything. From lyrics to puns to TV shows.
They basically did the best move possible: embrace all the jokes, and add their own!
Female-founded company I love 💃
Peanut is the dating app for busy moms to meet & make other mum-friends. Michelle Kennedy is the founder and CEO behind one of the fastest-growing social networking apps for women. Listed as TIME100’s Most Influential Companies 2022 and Fast Company’s Most Innovative 2023, Peanut has become a coveted destination for women looking to find friendship and support throughout all stages of motherhood (The App is free to use).
Something on my radar 📡
There is a new oatly barista milk in town and it is currently in its testing phase. What that means is that only your trusted coffee spots of choice are able to use the product for now. But as always Oatly doesn’t disappoint with creative packaging. And the taste is great too. Keep an eye out - this product will be hitting shelves soon, and you have seen it here first.
What I am watching 👀
A few weeks back Reddit did an IPO. The documentary "The Internet's Own Boy" from 2008 illuminates the life of Aaron Swartz, one of Reddit’s co-founders, and back then young activist and programming genius. The film traces Swartz's remarkable achievements, such as co-founding RSS and developing Open Access. Simultaneously, it also addresses the controversial aspects of his life, notably his fight against mass surveillance and his tragic death following a legal battle for violating copyright law.
Watch it via YouTube here.
As always, thanks for reading x
Love the things that I learned section! Nice addition. Thanks for a great read, as always!