How many times have you gotten a tattoo that reads nothing like what it is supposed to mean? Duolingo  the language app touches on that in this humorous ad that had me in tears. Tourists get words like courage but its toilet demon made me LOL! 

Nour Hamam

The whole message is driven behind regretful decisions when getting a tattoo and how a second language will help in getting the right tattoo done. (I am so glad mine are exactly what they mean and have researched them before getting it done!) 

What’s clever about it is the actual insights, 

Inject a little humor and understand the psychology to what drives people to do one thing. In the case of getting a tattoo in Chinese symbols.  

It remains my benchmark when it comes to creating content. 

Brands should follow suit in terms of creativity. 

Make it snappy short and to the point, 

In another CAlling all Emily’s refers to the Netflix show Emily in Paris where the character doesn’t speak a word of French. The idea was to encourage people to learn French through the app. They harped on the super popular show by creating their own persona who doesn’t speak French ironically even though she is living and working in Paris. (If you haven’t seen the show, do it, it’s hilarious!) 

What’s more they invited everyone named Emily to a month of FREE duolingo plus. 

The campaign was clever and well executed. 

In another post, the Adam levine scandal where he was found cheating on his wife, with the sneaky messages holy F*** that body of yours is insane, they hopped on the trend by creating a meme of conversation between the app and Adam using the green owl mascot. It made me laugh and share it on my socials and via Whatsapp. (Not recommended to cheat on your spouse!) 

On TikTok they kill with references to DUA lipa (the pop signer with millions of followers) and their cute green owl mascot. If you don’t follow them, make sure to do it because they are on point with their content. It’s no wonder they have 4 million subscribers on their socials, they better give their social media team a big raise! 

There is no formula for going viral (I wish clients knew that!) but you can create shareable content that goes viral if you are humorous, relatable as in the wrong translation tattoo case, and jump on trends. You can use influencers or not depending on the case by case basis. 

Key points for consideration for a creative and viral content: 

  • Do a deep dive on insights and understand what drive consumer behaviour.
  • Research your audience. Are they into tattoos, traveling, fitness etc? 
  • Use short form content and keep it under a minute.
  • Make it shareable 
  • Understand what works and what doesn’t 
  • Hop on trends when it makes sense 
  • Inject some humour and it goes a long way 
  • Keep it fresh and relevant 
  • Incentivize when you can (in the case of offering free month of duolingo plus to anyone called Emily) 
  • Benchmark other competitors but don’t copy them