Social tumbleweed is never a good outcome for a campaign. Whereas good campaigns don't just say something; they say something people feel compelled to argue with, defend, or share at volume. Provocation isn't the risk. Playing it safe is.
Here are five tactics from the strategy engine designed to bait you.
- Divide the Nation — binary choices that polarise
- Hijack a Norm — challenge traditions nobody ever questions
- Reclaim the Narrative — flip the insult or the bias
- Fictional Authority — invent experts to stir real debate
- Use Culture as a Mirror — surface the thing nobody's saying
1. Divide the Nation
Give people a binary choice — and watch them publicly commit to a side.
#CrispIN or #CrispOUT — Walkers, Unilever, 2019
The brief was relevance in snack culture. The answer was a national argument about whether crisps belong inside a sandwich. Every social share was free media. Every opinionated conversation at lunchtime was a brand touchpoint. The product didn't change. The conversation made it impossible to ignore.
American Pecans ran #PecanDebate on how to pronounce "pecan" — turning a low-interest nut into a nationally contested topic. KitKat weaponised its own product ritual — bite or snap? — turning eating behaviour into a loyalty signal. Heinz launched a ketchup pasta sauce, knowing Italians would hate it, and built a product launch on guaranteed outrage.
If people don't feel slightly compelled to correct someone, you haven't divided them hard enough.
