đ§ Cheez-Itâs cheesy TikTok Influencer play
250,000 views & counting on this pizza.
Jack Appleby
October 26, 2023
Presented by
What a WEEK. I launched my new business! I played awfully in my last basketball game! Iâm thinking existentially about turning 35 in 2 weeks! I need a nap.
Anyway, shall we talk about content? Read on for:
Cheez-Itâs lovable TikTok influencer play
Why teens loved LinkedIn (?!)
3 essays about social media
âJack Appleby
Cheez-Itâs cheesy TikTok Influencer play
Cookshow with Trevor has rapidly become one of my favorite TikTokers. His schtick is simple: he turns random foods into pizza, narrated by his befuddled wonders after munching down his creations.
Truly no food is safe. All must be pizzaed. For science.
I canât confirm or deny I spent literally hours scrolling Trevorâs content back catalog, chuckling to myself at his bewilderment when a pizzaâs a 7 outta 10 score (spoiler: he gives them all the same score, itâs part of the gag).
So you can imagine my amusement when I saw Trevor post branded content that earned over a quarter-million views. Even better, itâs working with one of my favorite snack brands.
The Content: Cookshow x Cheez-It
I donât think I need to give you any context for this one. Trevorâs gonna make a Cheez-It pizza. And itâs gonna have Cheez-Its. And youâre gonna laugh, and youâre gonna wanna try a bite.
@cookshowtrevor #ad Cheez-It Pizza đ @Cheez-It #wantitneeditcheezit #foodtiktok #foryou
I laughed out loud at âI think I figured out what âitâ wasâit was me! All along! I have become cheeseâcheeser of worlds.â
Why it works
The idea is certainly simple, but like most awesome influencer x brand collabs, thatâs a result of both parties doing all sorts of smart things long before working together.
Take Trevor. When heâs pizzafying, he often uses brand named items even when itâs not sponsored content. Have a look.
By utilizing brand names in his organic content, Trevor:
gets extra views from the recognizability of the brands
built a personal audience that expects brand involvement
showed brands the obvious way to integrate with his content
Maybe even more importantly, Trevorâs content is so, so brand safe. His persona is lovable, snark-free, unique, and wholesome. Thereâs a 0% chance of backlash for brands when they work with these types of personalities.
On the Cheez-Its side, they let the creator do his thing! That video is fundamentally the same as the rest of his content, and thatâs why it worked. Thatâs as much due to a soft touch in briefing as it is clear brand x influencer alignment. Iâm sure this video turned out exactly as they all imagined from the first outreach.
Not to break Trevorâs rating system, but this is certainly 10/10.
The Next Smart Home Staple
Where were you when Amazon acquired Ring for $1B? Or when Google bought Nest for a cool $3.2B?
Hopefully, you were invested in those promising startups. But for those that missed out, the next groundbreaking Smart Home innovation has arrived ä¸ RYSE.
Their automated window shade tech is now launching in Best Buy stores, and is poised to dominate the fast-growing Smart Shades market. Theyâve also just launched a new investment round and their share price has already grown 25% from their last round!
The Smart Shades race is on, and RYSE is in pole position due to their:
Unmatched Features: RYSE has the only retrofit design to motorize existing window shades, and can be seamlessly controlled by voice, smartphone, or schedule.
Smart Price: Priced at $169 vs. competitorsâ pricing of up to $1,000 per window, RYSE is uniquely positioned to bring luxury window shades to every home and business.
Social Cues
There are so many social big thinkers out there, writing all kinds of amazing strategies, analysis, and breakdowns. All ships rise with the tide, so here are a few reads from other places I think you could learn from.
You know how the cops in movies always say âwe gotta think like a thiefâ when they canât solve the case? Marketers: youâve gotta think like Creators. Take a look at this guide from IGâdefinitely some learnings here you can apply to brand content.
Bet thatâs a headline you didnât expect to read. Turns out a social network built around careers also offers enough learning & positivity that itâs more enjoyable than that hate plaguing other social networksâeven for teens.
I really do miss the old Twitter, and itâs nice to see some journalism validating that feeling. It just doesnât feel the same these days, for a lot of reasons (even a few that arenât Elon).