The power of Merch done right: #rhodeLipCase

In Instagram’s heyday, social media performance (and brand shares) would grow gradually as a result of

1. influencers endorsing products & growing brand communities…

2. …before brands would activate these communities with owned posts.

Sure, there was always some organic UGC (3 below ⬇️), but it weighed little in Instagram’s “oligarch”-dominated ecosystem where over 80% of the engagement goes to the 20% largest accounts.

Fast forward to 2024, and the majority of the social footprint for top performing brands is now organic earned, i.e. posts from brand fans and FOMO-ing “social opportunists” (more on them later). There are 3 ways to stimulate such organic earned activity: by getting consumers

1. enthusiastic / involved: a great owned feed with vibrant comments and discussions helps, so do frequent brand news

2. to try / buy your product: think samples, minis, test drive, renting, second hand, promos

3. exposed to a part of your ecosystem they love, e.g. stores, events, collabs, making of, merch, digital presence (Roblox, NFT etc.)

As shown recently, fast growing Sol de Janeiro and Jean Paul Gaultier each excel on multiple pillars. Today we look at rhode, which brought to life the power of social to amplify great off-social ideas.

Rhode’s lip case is a one-of-a-kind clever idea because it inherently facilitates peer-to-peer virality (via selfies, phone used as mirror etc.). Yet the primary (and overlooked) enabler of campaign virality was TikTok’s meritocratic algorithm, which allows any post to go viral, including and especially UGC from brand fans.

Let’s break down the mechanics and what they mean for all brands.

There have been plenty of great merch ideas over the years (e.g. many from Glossier), but none with nearly as much impact — why?

Instagram’s oligarchic algorithm (most attention is directed at the largest accounts) made it hard for UGC from small brand fan accounts to ever stand out. This allowed Instagram influence “oligarchs“ to corner the market for attention: it was very rare to see these oligarchs post about brands (or merch) without getting some sort of incentive/quid pro quo.*

Today, earned content is much more likely to be loved and go viral when it is—or is perceived to be—spontaneous. This is why most branded trends start with real brand fans relaying brand news, their enthusiasm so authentic it’s contagious.

As the wave swells and searches spike, media are keen to ride that wave early, leaving no choice to larger FOMO-ing influencers but to jump on the bandwagon and post about it for free to build up their ‘trendy’ credentials.

This explosion of organic earned activity allowed rhode to more than double site visits between Jan. & May 2024. Since consumers socially influenced one month often become UGC creators the next showing off their purchase, we expect sustained brand growth throughout 2024.

The broader take-away is that while the “lip case” was a brilliant marketing idea, TikTok’s algorithm allows ALL brands to turn creative off-social touchpoints into viral sensations.**

It helps to have an enthusiastic community on social, ready to bounce on, try and post about new products or merch. This is why we recommend that brands invest in a owned community on TT and IG: when content is regularly engaging, owned feeds often become ground zero for community exchanges, peer-to-peer discussions and advocacy.

Once a numbers game (maximise followers, frequency, budgets), social success now comes from quality, creativity and uniqueness: it’s what gets fans, media and once stingy “social oligarchs” to reward you with free, authentic content, and endorsements that speak louder than any content you create and/or pay for.