Crazy, weird, insane, ridiculous, cursed… unhinged—until very recently, hearing any of these words used in reference to your business would’ve mortified any entrepreneur and called for an emergency re-branding. Business is, after all, business: it’s meant to be professional, ‘friendly,’ ‘reliable,’ and ‘trustworthy,’ right?
What if I told you that these two lists of descriptors aren’t mutually exclusive–and that it can actually be a good thing if both can be attributed to your business?
X, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, TikTok, Threads–the list goes on. In our increasingly interconnected world, the number of social channels at your disposal to reach and retain clients grows day by day–and in a blog a couple weeks ago, we discussed the importance of taking advantage of this fact by showing off as many ‘faces’ of your brand as possible to ensure you resonate with each platforms’ audiences effectively.
Nowadays, the cold truth is that no amount of professional polish or quality of service alone can guarantee your success. Gen Z, the first generation to truly grow up in the digital age, will soon make up the majority of the general consumer base–and frankly, it takes a lot to impress them or grab their attention. After all, since they were children, members of Gen Z have navigated the world while being exposed to literally thousands of advertisements every single day. They’ve also grown up being able to punch a desired service into their browser and find dozens of equally reputable offerings in seconds. As a result, Gen Z is completely desensitized to many of the marketing strategies that worked effectively on their predecessors. If you want to reach them and stand out amongst your competition…
You have to win them over with fear.
… Okay, no, but in all seriousness, many companies have experimented over the past few years with their brand image on social media, and the repeated successes of what has been colloquially dubbed as ‘the unhinged social media manager’ proves that when it comes to appealing to the up-and-coming generations: the more unorthodox, the better! The origins of this trend can be traced back as early as 2017, with Duolingo, who embraced the memes about their loveable-mascot-turned-serial killer, and shortly after by Wendy’s, who became famous (infamous?) for roasting customers and other restaurants alike–mainly other fast food chains–on Twitter. Lots of other companies have joined the fun since, and the strategy remains effective to this day as @7eleven and many others on Threads and TikTok can attest!
That being said, the relevance of this trend doesn’t appear future-proof. Sooner rather than later, the novelty will wear off. As more brands catch on and employ this manner of brazen insanity, the ever-evolving masses will become disillusioned with its authenticity and entertainment value. Some people already have. It probably has a couple more years of shelf life, so feel free to jump on the train and experiment with being unhinged on social media: but the question you should be asking yourself is…
What’s the next trending screw you should be looking to loosen on your brand?
Adding a few cracks to the landscape is all well and good, but in this day and age, you should always be looking to break new ground!