Acting Erratic is Now a Marketing Strategy
When was the last time you had a conversation about Nutter Butter? My guess? When someone pulled one out of their lunch box in 5th grade, everyone wanted to trade so that they could have a sweet treat for lunch. Either way, Nutter Butter has sparked some talk in the world by embracing their “nuttiness.” From unhinged Tik Toks, X (formerly known as Twitter) posts, and Instagram content, people are talking about Nutter Butter, especially if they are in marketing.
Nutter Butter has been posting unhinged content on its social media platforms for over a year now, but they are just gaining traction…a lot of it too. If you were to go on their Instagram you would see them consistently bringing up the name Aidan. Aidan is NOT just a fun name they found on Google there is some lore going on.
Aidan began posting on all of Nutter Butter’s platforms a while back. Every. Single. Post. The catch? The comment just said “Aidan,” nothing more. So the old SMM saw this consistent inflow of “Aidan” comments and thought to have some fun with their super fan. When this SMM left and Ryan Benson took over the account, he stated that he would continue using the name Aidan, but he would hide it in their posts through Morse code, binary, etc. He claims he was using ‘strategic silliness’ to play into the Gen Z crowd.
Advertising is not logical. Truthfully it is easier to get fired for being illogical, than unimaginative, being the whole point of advertising is to use imagination to gain new traction. The “Aidan lore” is a move on Nutter Butter’s behalf to embrace Gen Z culture using the “IPad kid to content creation pipeline.” In their posts, you will see random figures moving around, cats, the Nutter Butter man, and pictures from the real Aidan’s Instagram account with his face covered in peanut butter. It is sporadic, and many people do not even believe this is a strategy because it seems so new. One user even commented, “I feel like corporate isn’t even aware this is happening on their socials. Also how does this boost sales? I’m just scared I’ll get Aidened if eat one of these.” Little did everyone know there was purpose.
Nutter Butter’s platforms are a testament to not just cut an idea because it does not immediately gain traction. It will take time for people to notice changes and new strategies. The importance of new approaches is sticking with them. The strategy is intense and full of whimsical imagery yet it is memorable which is all that counts.
The best part of this whole process is the real Aidan is employed by Nutter Butter now after he graduated from Temple. You can still see him frequently posting another “Aidan” comment on the Nutter Butter posts from his account even though he helps run the Nutter Butter account.
Now this whimsical, random strategy is not for everyone. Obviously, the way you capture Gen Z has to somehow play into your brand, and for Nutter Butter, that is embracing the nuttiness.
