Facebook Marketing Content Inspiration: Dr Pepper Asks You to “Guess Who?”

There is a lot of noise in the social media marketing space. How does your brand separate itself from the competition, play on feelings of nostalgia, and engage fans all while using another brand’s product to do so? Well, I’m not exactly sure how you might be able to do it for your brand, but I do know one example that may inspire you.

There can be legal ramifications for using another brand’s image or product to help sell your own. However, there’s a clever little loop hole to get around that. It’s something I call the “Hint Hint Wink Wink Nudge Nudge” (or HWN) approach. Recently, the Dr Pepper Page on Facebook found a very creative way to use a classic board game in one of their updates. Here’s how they did it.

The Premise

Dr Pepper employed the HWN approach by using the board game Guess Who? in a fun and clever Facebook update. If you’ve never played the game, each player selects a card from a group of cartoon characters. Your task is figure out who your opponent selected by asking questions like “Does your person have brown hair?” or “Does your person have glasses?” It’s like a more complicated version of Go Fish.

Dr Pepper Guess Who?

Dr Pepper used this game to emphasize the brand’s individuality while also making the user think, “Oh yeah! I remember that game.” With over 10,000 Likes, it seems like quite a few fans remember flipping down cards as they honed in on the mysterious identity across the table.

What You Can Learn

How can you employ this tactic? The ultimate goal is figuring out how to get the reference close enough to make it clear what you’re doing, but not so close that you might get a letter from a lawyer. Just remember that art thrives on limitations. You’d be surprised how creative you can get when you’re NOT allowed to do something.

So, if you can’t use logos, what can you use? Well, there a couple things that no one owns: shapes and colors (e.g., no one owns the rights to the color green or rectangles). So if another company’s product just happens to look like a blue can, then so be it. It’s not your fault if someone else interprets it to be another brand.

Actually, it’s that very interpretation that you’re counting on. The most important thing in the HWN approach is trusting your fans’ imaginations. You show them the door and hopefully they’ll walk through it.

Oh, if you’ve never played Guess Who?, do yourself a favor and head over to Amazon. You’re welcome.

How have you seen brands effectively use other products in their social media marketing?



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