Beyond the Sale: Why We Can’t Stop Celebrating Marketing Campaigns on Social Media

For a while now I have been noticing the growing presence of marketing campaigns on social media. Now, this may seem an obvious statement- since the dawn of social media it seems like ads have been creeping further and further into our feeds and wherever we go. But I am not talking about the ads themselves, I mean the further discourse surrounding the ads, such as the celebration and analysis of brands’ successful social media presence, ‘day in the life of a marketing assistant’ videos and roundups of people’s favourite marketing campaigns of the week. Initially, I just thought this was my algorithm perfectly reading my mind in the fact that I should really be looking for a job right now instead of writing this article. And while I am sure this does have something to do with it, I believe there is something more going on here, and that our growing awareness surrounding marketing campaigns is representing something more that is developing within our culture in how we interact with advertisement.

Looking back, I think that this started with people sharing certain brands’ social media comments. Both Ryanair and Duolingo are great at using their social medias in this way due to the element of dry wit that they bring to the table. In doing so, these brands are able to show that they do not take themselves too seriously, and therefore add a level of familiarity between them and the consumers of their social media. Both of the profiles of Ryanair and Duolingo have been able to show that they are in on the joke. By mirroring this quintessentially gen Z social media persona, they have garnered many likes and retweets simply by doing the unexpected. Credit to their social media teams for catching on to the light-heartedness and humour behind the use of the platforms.

Then there are the more luxury brands which are able to tap into the zeitgeist in a way where their marketing campaigns seem fresh and totally relevant. Skims comes to mind here; the quick turnaround that Kim Kardashian and the Skims team do on their photoshoots mean that often the ‘faces’ of Skims are completely relevant to pop culture in a way that seems almost impossible when celebrity culture and trends are moving so quickly. It can sometimes feel as if Kim K is simply reading my mind with who I am obsessed with at that point in time.

While these campaigns capture their audience and receive shares based on simply how good they are, the further scrutinization of marketing campaigns from an analytical perspective is reminiscent of something more. Since social media is such an overcrowded space for advertisement, it makes sense that unique marketing is celebrated by viewers, as being able to stand out these days is an achievement. However, I would also suggest that this celebration of campaigns is representative of a new level of heightened media literacy among social media users. The celebration and awareness of marketing in TikTok videos positions users as having a heightened sense of consciousness for their role as a consumer of this advertising on a broader scale… all very meta if you ask me. 

Now I really enjoy watching these kinds of videos, and I have grown an appreciation for the level of creativity that marketing has, and arguably must have, in order to stand out in our saturated feeds. Yet it has to be considered that our newfound awareness and celebration for such advertisements also presents a redetermination of the contract between marketer and consumer.

• #social media
• advertising
• culture
• Gen Z
• instagram
• marketing
• skims
• social media
• tiktok