Strategy Roundup | 1.15.21
Hi everyone. Did anything interesting happen this week? No? Great!
This week, we try to ignore the ambient heat of a burning republic to talk about some other interesting things happening in the world!
From the people who brought us the rat of all of our dreams…
Well, not really, but TikTok is at it again. After the success of Ratatouille the Musical comes Bridgerton the Musical.
From the minds of Abigail Barlow and once child piano prodigy, now adult piano wiz, Emily Bear, comes the musical adaptation concept for 2021’s biggest Netflix series so far. It has gotten millions of views and plenty of collaborations on TikTok and even Netflix has acknowledged it.
With the success of Ratatouille, we now have a case study not just for a musical crowdsourced from TikTok, but the feasibility of producing a whole musical production in the time of a pandemic.
Social media has seen talent emerge from every corner of the planet, but TikTok has truly accelerated creative collaboration from its creators and people are paying attention. TikTok’s fandom has also proven its strength by catapulting dozens of (then) independent musicians like Lil Nas X and Ambjaay into mainstream stardom.
Speaking of music…
A week-old song has shattered Spotify records
Who is the artist behind 2021’s biggest song so far and Spotify’s biggest new song EVER? Is it from another surprise Taylor Swift album? Is it Dua Lipa? Surely, Bad Bunny is behind this. Maybe it’s Ariana Grande? None of the above. The artist is relatively unknown Olivia Rodrigo with her song “drivers license.” For those who didn’t know (including myself), she is one of the stars of the Disney+ series reboot of High School Musical. Her days at East High School are well and truly behind her as she makes a huge statement as the newest and biggest pop star. It broke, and continues to break, all kinds of Spotify streaming records and is inescapable while scrolling through TikTok’s FYP. To put this into perspective, if you look at Spotify’s Global Top 50 Chart, #2 is “DÁKITI” by Bad Bunny and Jhay Cortez with an average of 4.3 million daily plays. Olivia is sitting at #1 with an average of 13.6 million daily plays. It averages more alone than the rest of the top 5 songs combined.
So what’s the secret behind the success? It was a perfect storm that proves that the internet is undefeated. A 17-year-old actress with a small but engaged fanbase? Check. A relatable song to said fanbase? Check. Fanbase posting it on TikTok? Check. Becomes a meme and the subject of reaction channels? Check. A dramatic backstory to the song that relates to one of her HSMTMTS co-stars who has become the hot topic of the week? Check. All of these factors contributed to the rise of this song from out of nowhere.
Oh, and I say this with absolutely no hint of sarcasm or irony, the song slaps. It’s genuinely a great song.
Am I writing this while listening to the song? Yes. Am I driving through the suburbs crying? Not yet, but soon.
The biggest wild card of the NFL’s Wild Card Weekend was Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon premiered their broadcast of the NFL Wild Card game between the… I don’t remember but who cares, THERE’S A GIANT SPONGEBOB BETWEEN THE GOAL POSTS!
Between touchdown slimes to young Sheldon explaining various penalties, even the most cynical caverns of sports Twitter couldn’t be too snarky about it. An F-bomb making it through a hot mic aside, the mostly family-friendly production of the NFL was a massive success generating 2 million viewers — the most Nickelodeon has had in over 4 years. The added production brought a great energy to an otherwise dull match-up between that one team and the other team. My only criticism? Needs more “Hey Arnold” integration. Nickelodeon’s football-headed star needs more respect than just sitting in the crowd next to Patrick Star and Tommy Pickles. He couldn’t even get a +1 for this to bring Gerald or Helga? The nerve!
If you brand it, they will come
Food delivery has been thriving in the age of the pandemic. At a time when keeping restaurants open is difficult enough, nobody could have expected that a new restaurant would launch with over 300 locations on day one (and continues to expand). Say hello to MrBeast Burger. A collaboration between one of the fastest growing YouTubers, MrBeast, and Virtual Dining Concepts, they released a limited fast food menu with no brick and mortar location. Instead, they collaborated with local restaurants to use their kitchens to make the burgers and orders are fulfilled through all the major delivery apps as well as its own app where those ordering have a chance to win prizes. The result? The #1 Apple and Android app in the world during its week of launch, a whole lot of burgers and chicken sandwiches made, and another massive stunt for MrBeast whose announcement video has over 36 million views so far. They are looking to expand to more locations while spending nothing on marketing. It goes to show how far a trusted “influencer” with a ton of equity can take things.
Also see: David Dobrik releases a jigsaw puzzle where you can win $100,000.
