If you have been on TikTok lately, you have likely seen the trend where brands are “Letting the Gen-Z marketing team write the script”. The satirical (or maybe not so satirical) videos are complete with Generation-Z slang about leaving behind “brat summer” to explore history, a “very demure” Jeep interior and even a eucharistic chalice that “ate and left no holy crumbs.” Museums, car dealerships and catholic churches aren’t the only ones focused on Gen-Z marketing though. Childhood favorites like Sour Patch Kids and Cinnamon Toast Crunch have taken over the online marketing sphere with fever dream-esque and meme forward campaigns. But most notably, Nutter Butter has created an almost cult-like following with their creepy and psychedelic style TikToks.
Nutter Butter’s marketing is totally ridiculous and bound to send someone into a jump scare induced coma, but for some odd reason, it is working. In just three days, Nutter Butter’s TikTok account gained more than 3.3 million views on one video and the account itself has 1.1 million followers. The previously irrelevant childhood snack is now at the forefront of marketing and pop culture discussions.
Mondelez International, owner of Nutter Butter and Sour Patch Kids, has seen generous Net Revenue growth since beginning this marketing strategy in late 2022 and early 2023. According to the 2023 Annual Report, net revenues grew by 14.4 percent to over $36 billion and organic net revenues grew by 14.7 percent demonstrating strong growth even in the absence of the Clif Bar and Ricolino acquisitions. Of course, we cannot attribute all this growth to Nutter Butter’s outlandish marketing strategy, but it does show us that this new strategy is certainly not hurting the company.
These trends reveal that the makeup and target of marketing campaigns is changing, maybe for the better. As older Gen-Z’s graduate and move into the workforce, they bring with them knowledge and backgrounds that older marketing teams do not possess. These young professionals know firsthand how to target and engage Gen-Z on the internet. For young people with limited attention spans, short form content like TikToks or Instagram posts are most engaging. Because young people are constantly barraged with information and advertisements, only the most absurd and humorous content draws their attention.
Additionally, Gen-Z marketing content begins to take on cultural meaning that transcends through other generations. For Gen-Z, these content forms, memes and odd references are a part of their culture that they are proud of, but many Millennials and Generation X individuals are drawn to explore the absurd content simply because they find it hilarious or downright odd. Older generations are fascinated with psychoanalyzing and criticizing younger generations, but by engaging with these marketing campaigns online they are feeding into the goal and drawing their attention to these posts.
If nothing else, companies employing these tactics are capitalizing off human psychology. By simply increasing the visibility of the company with outlandish media, marketing teams are exploiting the mere exposure effect — the idea that when we see something more, we like it more. Even if seeing a Nutter Butter advertisement on TikTok doesn’t drive you to swing by the store, it sends subliminal messages to your brain that familiarizes you with the brand so that the next time you’re in Price Chopper, you’re more likely to buy it. These TikTok accounts also make the brand seem more personified and can cause users to attach certain personality traits like humor and relatability to the brand name. As a result, users often forget that they are being advertised to and view the brand as another TikTok creator with interesting content.
While these marketing strategies don’t seem so strategic and make you wonder, “How did anyone on the team approve this?”, they’ve proven their worth. They have a strong shock value and quantifiable effects on the image of the company. So as odd and absurdist as modern-day marketing may be, I am not too concerned about its future. Gen-Z seems to be doing just fine in that area. Someone should really check up on Nutter Butter’s team, though. I think therapy might be good for them.