Ambidextr Media

In recent times, brands have begun to talk directly to their audience. And no, it’s not just for customer service. Brand accounts on social media, usually on Facebook or X(previously Twitter), have begun joining regular conversations. While some brands prefer to be detached and professional online, more and more are choosing the opposite route. 

Social media is a place for, well, socializing. People meet and make online friends on the daily on these platforms. While it’s handy to have services like PLDT readily available for contact, this detachment makes them an oddity in the online sphere. They’re not someone you can be casual with. It would be like sending an email through Facebook messenger, awkwardly polite. 

Wendy’s was one of the first who succeeded and popularized this. Breaking out of the mold of boring, but professional, accounts was a risky move that could have made the account a laughing stock. Instead, it sparked a meme that its competitors quickly hopped on. They made a name for themselves for being the “savage” fastfood account. Thanks to the success of this strategy, they were able to take jabs at their competitors, McDonald’s and Burger King, while steering potential customers to their doors. Of course, the others wanted a piece of Wendy’s pie as well. Yet, none of them ever reached the same fame as Wendy’s.

Communities like r/RoastMe on Reddit prove that people online like to poke at the bear’s nest as long as they’re safe behind the mask of anonymity. Thus, Wendy’s found themselves with a plethora of people playing into their marketing scheme for free. People would ask what they should get from their competitor restaurants and Wendy’s would reply with a brutally honest response. 

Angkas has a different approach. The ride-booking app regularly supplies its users with discount codes. For the people making these codes, they tend to run out of the typical formats really quickly. Besides, the code ANGKAS20 or ABCDEF(not actual codes) aren’t eyecatching enough to entice non-users to give the app a try. Instead, they chose to join the current conversations. It may not be easy for most to join a national— or even international, in the case of the 2024 Paris Olympics— conversation and be noticed among the thousands of people joining in. But with brands like Angkas, who already have a platform and an essential role they play for workers and students, people quickly took notice. ONTHERUN(in reference to Alice Guo’s attempts to evade arrest) and ANGELICA(in reference to Carlos Yulo’s mother) are only a few examples of how Angkas keeps themselves relevant in popular media. 

People may be aware that these are just marketing attempts but they’re still willing to laugh about it to their friends. It doesn’t give the impression that they’re trying to promote themselves or sell their newest product. It sells the idea that the person behind the account is just like everyone else, trying to have fun and make jokes while on the job. And, judging by the success of both, it works. 

Blog by Nicole Samson