Don’t Fire Your Best Marketing Channel
What happened:
An Ashley Furniture employee (@stefisthechef) recently went viral with his raps about couches and mattresses. His videos racked up millions of views. They weren’t videos written, produced, or approved by their marketing team. They were just organic and natural videos created by a guy (a sales guy). That’s top-of-funnel marketing at its purest. Users who’ve never engaged with a brand all the sudden become aware and are curious about a brand. And it was all free!
Ashley Furniture was handed free and positive scroll-stopping content that grabbed the attention of millions, and how did they respond? They fired the employee because he refused to take down his “unauthorized videos”. He grabbed the attention of millions who otherwise may not ever have engaged with Ashely Furniture (for zero advertising dollars) and instead of capitalizing by adding these people to their sales funnel (those reading this post understand this is what really matters when it comes to top-of-funnel marketing), etc…. they fired the guy.
In a matter of hours, the positive viral momentum @stefisthechef created for Ashley Furniture became a PR nightmare. And in a move that surprised no one, a competing brand (Couch+Co.) stepped in and capitalized on Ashley’s fumble at the 1-yard-line. Couch+Co hired Stef shortly after he was let go and immediately went to work by featuring him in promotional videos for the company.
The lesson for direct marketers:
The tools have changed. The channels have changed. AI, LLMs, and algorithmic content discovery mean that moments like Stef’s can easily outperform any paid campaign your marketing department is currently running.
Embrace the chaos. Brands that do feed off this kind of organic momentum, rather than shut it down, and it’s those brands that pull ahead of its competitors.
Brands unable or unwilling to embrace nuance (especially in an industry like ours that is constantly in motion) are quickly being left behind. If that means eliminating stale and archaic corporate policies that might prevent a brand from capitalizing on an opportunity like this when one arises… so be it. Get it done now so that when it happens to your brand you can respond accordingly rather than shutting it down, tying your compliance department up with emails to employees about protecting the brand, etc. Capitalize by identifying, supporting, responding/connecting and building off the momentum of engaging content… even when it hasn’t come from your marketing department.
Will your brand have a similar moment? Who knows… but best to be ready when/if it does. And when it does, do your best to be the Couch+Co of your story. And most definitely don’t get in the way of it.
Drop us a line to let us know what you would have done and/or if you want to have a conversation with us. We at Beyond Direct help brands understand where their audience actually lives and how to meet them there… and we’d love an opportunity to partner with your brand.
By: Christian Vergara | Vice President
