The Thing About Thursday…
Thursday [www.getthursday.com] is the latest dating app to drop onto the world of London and NYC singles. Like the name might suggest, it’s all about Thursdays - In fact, you can only use the dating app on a Thursday.
That’s right. They are flipping the concept of dating on its head by stopping people from becoming slaves to swiping left and right and ensuring dating doesn’t consume their entire life. With this app, you can only engage on a Thursday.
It’s an interesting concept. Maybe daters will become more decisive, for example, will I or won’t I meet that guy for a coffee? Will I or won’t I reply to those messages on my DMs? If you only have a day to do what you need to do, maybe it will encourage people to invest in their dating rather than being well a bit meh.
It’s a refreshing change, but what’s even more refreshing, or some might say unusual, is the way Thursday is marketing itself…
Recently, Thursday launched a YouTube campaign with a difference. They’re promoting it on some of London’s busiest Tube stations.
The advert which features on the Tube wall is blank. Like completely void of any content, copywriting or branding.
George Rawlings, Co-Founder and CEO of Thursday posted on LinkedIn asking their followers to provide him with the content to fill the empty ad. In return the winning copywriter will receive a credit on their ads.
He argues that brands should stop telling consumers what they stand for and instead, ask consumers to decide.
It’s certainly a novel approach, but maybe they are on to something. Unless you, as a business truly understand what your brand means to your customers, how on earth are you going to market to them effectively?
There has however been quite a bit of backlash on Thursday’s approach coming from the professional copywriters. They say that Thursday are making a mockery of their profession. They explain that good copywriting is an art and should not be given to mere LinkedIn followers and connections to write. They’ve even been as bold to say that Thursday is putting copywriters out of a job!
Is it right or indeed fair that Thursday are only offering the winning content writer a credit on their advert as opposed to actual payment? If you consider how much revenue they might generate from this campaign, is it not ethical for Thursday to offer at least some form of renumeration?
The LinkedIn community believes they should.
I’m kind of stuck on the fence on this one. On the one side I agree that good copywriting is an art and you shouldn’t just let any ol Tom, Dick or Harry write your ad content, nor should those that actually offer it, do it for free.
But on the other side, wouldn’t it be great to really understand what your customers think about your brand?
Just imagine the value in consumer research George and his team at Thursday are enjoying right now thanks to all the entries they are receiving on LinkeIn?
They’ve started a bit of a movement and like it or loathe it, just by commenting on their post or sharing the post on LinkedIn, followers are not only sharing their marketing drive with others, but they are promoting their brand too!
Now that’s clever…
As at the time of writing this blog, there were 1,330 comments on Thursday’s post and there are some really great suggestions too!
It will be interesting to see whether this idea has worked out for the best for Thursday as their approach has certainly generated a lot of heat amongst the LinkedIn community.
It will also be worth noting if any other brands follow suit and try this stunt too.
Maybe their approach IS the right approach and we should do more to find out what customers truly feel about our brands and not try and paint a picture that isn’t either authentic or appropriate.
Like what you’ve read?
Jo Buchanan, the author of this blog, is the Founder and Director of TwitTwooYou Limited, a business growth strategic consultancy centred on getting brands noticed. TwitTwooYou offers a range of smart services to help businesses grow and achieve their aspirations and goals. Want to get your brand noticed? Get in touch for a free, no-obligation chat.
