Nutter Butter is just the latest brand to fully embrace and embody a social media marketing strategy that is frequently labeled “unhinged.”
Their surreal and colorful TikTok has gone massively viral, mostly because people are just confused. What are they even doing? Even experienced marketers just don’t get it.
Boundary-breaking social media strategies have been common for a while
In a social media landscape that is constantly evolving and shifting, it’s easy to forget that this approach is not entirely new. Nutter Butter is not the first brand to push social media boundaries with experimental strategies.
Many brands have opted to be bold, weird and confrontational over the last decade. Big brand name accounts started poking fun at fellow brands, carrying on full and often snarky conversations. They jumped on every trend, meme and viral moment.
It has sometimes approached the absurd, but not in the way they intended. Imagine multiple brand accounts talking to each other in long threads with nary a personal account in sight.
On X, Steak-umm has been peddling a mix of existential dread and surprisingly deep reflections on social media and society for years. The attention they received not just on social but from traditional media inspired imitators and emboldened a generation of brand accounts to further break the “rules”.
So what’s the point of social media weirdness?
But why do it? Every brand wants to either start conversations or be part of them. Ultimately, they will try to convert that attention to customers and sales.
While Nutter Butter has been around since 1969, their fellow Nabisco product, Oreo, has achieved a level of brand awareness experienced by only a select few. Oreo didn’t need to go viral during the Super Bowl a few years ago, but every company wants that kind of attention with no ad spend.
Which brings us back to Nutter Butter:
- They are trying to gain traction and attention to younger generations that might not have heard of them or don’t think of them first when they want a peanut butter snack.
- They are trying to break through the often mundane noise cluttering social media feeds.
- They are trying to do this with little to no ad spend.
Think of it this way: for the fraction of the cost of a national Super Bowl ad spot, this brand is getting long term exposure and engagement. They are seeping into pop culture.
Even when the magic wears off for Nutter Butter, their marketing team has successfully raised the profile of this simple sandwich cookie in a way a traditional campaign could have ever hoped to.
In today’s social media landscape, that’s success. That’s what it’s all about.