Why Playing It Safe Won’t Win on Social

In a world where consumers scroll past thousands of posts each day, an earned-first mindset ensures you make the audience stop and engage.  To capture attention, brands need to treat social as the starting point of strategy, not an afterthought, and that often means taking risks, experimenting and creating moments people can’t ignore.  

As Georgia Roads, Head of Marketing at Black Sheep Coffee, recently explained on our Connected Thinking podcast:

“The first thing I look at with a product is: what’s the hook? How’s it going to land on social? Are people going to connect with it? If it doesn’t, we’ll rethink the launch. Social is what drives people into stores.”

Building campaigns from a social-first mindset is what sets fast-growing, culturally fluent brands apart. Social isn’t just a channel. It’s the engine that powers awareness, action, and even footfall to retail stores.

Kelly Shaw, Head of Marketing at PerfectTed, emphasises on organic reach and experimentation with bold stunts. Jumping on the Sabrina Carpenter hype when she was in the city for her show, the team staged a faux Sabrina sighting in-store. A wig, some cowboy boots, and a quick TikTok later, the video hit 2M+ views organically, outperforming traditional OOH campaigns.

Kelly summed it up perfectly in our recent podcast episode, when reflecting on their viral stunt:

“We knew we weren’t going to outspend bigger players, so we had to out-create them. The goal was never just saving money, it was about setting ourselves apart.”

An earned-first campaign becomes even more impactful when paired with strategic amplification. Influencers can be brought into the campaign to drive conversations within their communities, while paid ads scale the best-performing content to wider audiences. Together, organic buzz and strategic paid amplification turn viral moments into lasting growth.

So, how can brands take this mindset forward?

• Start with social: Before designing campaigns, ask, “Would this resonate on feed?”. Lead with the hook. If it won’t land online, rethink before launch.

• Earn first, amplify second: Focus on creating stunts, moments, and content people want to share. Once it gains traction, amplify it with paid for scale.

• Build community into the process: Involve influencers, employees, or founders as natural storytellers. Challenger brands thrive when they cultivate communities that feel involved, seen, and entertained. Use social as your two-way mirror.

• Cross-functional creativity: This also lies in the power of cross-departmental collaboration, from supply chain to product to marketing, to anticipate demand and execute social-first ideas seamlessly.

• Plan for agility: Leave room to react to culture, not just calendar dates. Take calculated risks that reflect your brand identity and test boundaries.

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