“Make it go viral.”

That statement is the bain of existence for every marketer on the planet.

Why?

Because every marketer wants their content to perform well. But it’s hard. Really, really hard to “make it go viral”.

Therefore when something DOES actually go off, you have to be prepared to jump on board, quickly.

Such was the case with Ocean Spray when a TikTok by Nathan Apodaca—aka @420doggface208—was posted riding his skateboard into work after his truck broke down while drinking Ocean Spray’s cranberry juice and jamming to Fleetwood Mac. The simplicity of the video where a guy is just finding ways to make life work gained more than 26 million views and caused a decades-old song to skyrocket to #1 on iTunes. In addition to this, numerous recreations totaling millions of additional views were created that would have cost Ocean Spray millions in advertising spend (and likely never reach this kind of affinity).

Within 36-hours, the CEO of Ocean Spray purchased a truck for Nathan in the signature red-colored juice along with what looks like a multi-year supply of cranberry juice. It’s a relatable story to many Americans who are just trying to make through whatever the rest of 2020 has in store for us.

What’s your point?

From a marketing perspective, you can’t plan for something to go viral. But you can plan your response by acting quickly through social media. The media attention Nathan, who now has millions of followers of his own, can get for a brand, especially from a perceived authentic [now] influencer is word of mouth marketing on steroids.

Just look at the Google search volume spike for “Ocean Spray” once the TikTok started gaining traction:

Responding genuinely with a gifted truck that’s in your brand’s colors was done quickly and without a bunch of red tape–which is something a lot of companies can learn from. It also embraced influencer marketing with someone who isn’t exactly cookie-cutter by his 420-friendly social media profiles–ringing home the truth that brands should value authenticity in the campaigns they pursue.

Want to learn more about influencer marketing? Tom Augenthaler breaks down some insight for B2B brands.

[worth] scouting report

• • Thanks to Aaron Dunn from PDQ America for sending this article covering: How are fleets managing their driver’s social media presence? Can you manage it? Or is it up to the company to trust their drivers? All of these things can be true but what’s even more true is a driver’s social media along with their activity, will become an important part of crash investigations. 
  • 2021 is the early guess of when in-person networking events will come storming back but how do you know who’s comfortable with hugging and handshakes? This color-coded bracelet idea is pretty genius, imo.
  • Women in Trucking named their top 200 places for women to work in 2020. Check out the press release to see who made the list.
  • More work from home predictions are coming. What’s making the list? Well, Chris Herd of First Base HQ has some thoughts including the controversial “Company Headquarters are finished” take.
  • The importance of the “Always Be Learning” philosophy hit another good Twitter logistics thread where it was revealed by simply changing cashew containers from circle to square, Costco saves nearly 400 truck trips per year. That’s a lot of nuts. And a lot of savings.
  • Lastly, here are some tips on personalizing cold emails in under 2-minutes without sounding like a creep. The main key? Don’t over-personalize where you sound like an internet stalker.