Welcome to Digital Gravity by Moat Newsletters
Welcome back to Digital Gravity 🪐
This week, Maddie explores why Wendy’s made an emo album, and what happens when a brand makes something people actually want to share.
Enjoy 👇
But first, something I freakin had to tell you about
On Wednesday afternoon, a friend casually told me about Explee.
I'm always down to try new marketing tools, so I gave the free trial a shot.
Within ten minutes, I was so excited about it that I texted four friends.
Within 5 hours, I had four positive replies for my Done for You newsletter offer.
Within twenty four hours, I booked two meetings.
All from THE FREE TRIAL. Insane. You have to try this.
Okay, back to Maddie ⬇️
Wendy’s Made an Emo Album. Obviously. 🎸🍔🥀
Guys, the sentence I am about to say sounds like I made it up for content.
I did not.
Wendy’s made an emo album.
Wendy’s creative team, blink twice if you need us to send help.
Because this feels less like a marketing campaign and more like a cry for help.
It is called Songs to Listen to in a Wendy’s Parking Lot.
There are:
Six songs
Actual emo and pop-punk artists
A real release on streaming platforms
And one song called “My Frosty’s Funeral”
MY FROSTY’S FUNERAL.
I have so many questions.
Mostly:
What happened in that Wendy’s parking lot?
Apparently, Wendy’s has decided its parking lot isn't just where you go to eat a Baconator.
It is where you:
Sit in your car
Stare dramatically through the windshield
Rethink every decision you've made since 2014
Listen to someone scream about their ex
And potentially mourn a Frosty
Honestly?
I see the vision.
Wendy’s says the album was inspired by the emotional moments that happen in its parking lots, which is an absolutely insane sentence to hear from a fast-food company.
Somebody at Wendy’s really looked around and went:
“Yeah. This place has seen some things.”
And then somebody else said:
“Should we make an EP?”
And nobody stopped them.
They got actual emo musicians.
They recorded actual songs.
They put them on streaming platforms.
This wasn't a TikTok joke.
They went to the studio.
And I love that.
Give me weird marketing or give me death.
I have a very specific weakness for brands doing marketing that makes me stop and go:
“Wait... you actually did this?”
Because Wendy’s could have made a 30-second ad saying:
“Come try our new burger!”
And I would have scrolled.
I don't even like burgers.
Instead, they made an emo album about their parking lot.
And now I'm:
Writing about Wendy’s
Listening to Wendy’s emo music
Thinking about Wendy’s creative strategy
Somehow emotionally invested in the death of a Frosty
I have become the target demographic against my will.
That is what I love about nontraditional marketing.
Give me something I would actually want to consume even if there wasn't a product attached to it.
Give me something I can:
Send to my friends
Talk about
Make fun of
Quote
Remember
Because I am much more likely to remember “My Frosty’s Funeral” than I am to remember whatever the latest Wendy’s discount was.
And that's the point.
The marketing doesn't feel like something being shoved in front of me.
It feels like something I stumbled across on the internet and immediately needed to send to someone.
Unfortunately for Wendy’s, that is how you get me.
And then there is Lisa Barlow.
You know I love a celebrity collab.
Especially when it involves a celebrity I already have a borderline unreasonable attachment to.
Enter:
My close personal friend from Salt Lake City.
If you don't watch The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, this is your homework assignment.
Lisa's Wendy’s lore goes all the way back to the iconic:
“Hi baby gorgeous! Wanna go to Wendy’s?”
And somehow, Wendy’s eventually turned that Housewives moment into an actual Baby Gorgeous Meal.
Which was already enough to get me.
But then Lisa released a song called “Baby Gorgeous” this summer.
And now Wendy’s is using Lisa Barlow's actual song in the Baby Gorgeous campaign.
I’m sorry.
You cannot build a marketing campaign specifically for me and then act surprised when I show up.
Because I already:
Know Lisa
Know the phrase
Know the joke
Love the song
Understand the reference
Wendy’s didn't have to convince me to care.
They just found something I already cared about and gave me another reason to interact with it.
That is my favorite kind of brand collaboration.
Don't introduce me to a random celebrity and tell me I should care.
Find the person your audience already loves.
Find the joke they already know.
Find the little corner of culture they already live in.
Then make something with it.
This is the kind of marketing I want to see more of.
I love when brands stop asking:
“How do we advertise this?”
and start asking:
“What would actually be fun?”
Because:
An emo album is fun.
A Baby Gorgeous Meal is fun.
Lisa Barlow's actual song playing in the campaign is fun.
Making me wonder if the Wendy’s creative team needs a wellness check is very fun.
And the best part?
None of this requires me to be a Wendy’s superfan.
I don't even like burgers.
And yet Wendy’s somehow got me to spend my day thinking about:
Emo music
Frosty funerals
Lisa Barlow
Housewives lore
Fast-food marketing
That is the kind of marketing I can't help but love.
Not because it screamed “BUY THIS.”
Because it gave me something I actually wanted to talk about.
And if you can make someone who doesn't even like your product write an entire newsletter about your brand...
I fear you did something right.
— Maddie
P.S. If you read this far, sell a b2b offer and didn’t try the explee trial, you’re insane.
I booked FOUR meetings in ONE DAY from the free trial.
If you don’t hate money, give it a go → TRY EXPLEE FREE
— Louis