Now, here you go again - you say, you want your freedom 🎶

Matt MacPherson

Matt MacPherson

Vice President, Digital

Published Oct 14, 2020

Okay sorry to put that earworm back in your head, but I wanted to talk about the impact of this moment. Of course, by now you've seen the Dreams challenge sparked by Nathan Apodaca aka Doggface208 on TikTok. The good vibe we all need in 2020 come to life. It's an incredible example of where we are in the social landscape and in my opinion, there are converging factors that made this viral moment possible.

  1. On a platform dominated by Gen Z, how did one of its most ubiquitous pieces of content come from a 37-year-old in Idaho? The answer isauthenticity. Doggface is who he is, and he knows it. He wasn't chasing a trend and as a result he ended up creating one.
  2. As we wake up each day and face the unrelenting news cycle, there is an overwhelmingappetite for happiness. Skateboarding to Dreams for 20 seconds filled the gap for a lot of people. I meana lot – the original TikTok has been viewed over 50 million times. And while challenges have been a popular form of social communication since around 2014 when the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise awareness for ALS hit your feed, by now, it's more common as a tactic for music artists to promote new songs. However, there's something to be said for the power oforganic interest. That's what took place here - people wanted to join in on the joy, which only made the moment bigger as copycat Dreams videos popped up across social channels. According to figures from TikTok, 134,000 tribute videos have been made, inspired by Doggface, totaling almost a half-billion views. That doesn't even include Instagram.
  3. He used agreat song. It's an obvious answer, but Fleetwood Mac is a legacy band for a reason and Dreams is quite simply, a banger. This trend is also powered by the fact that every age demographic at least knows this song. They might not love it, but they've definitely heard it. That kind of recall makes it interesting, and more importantly, accessible for every age group.

A few final thoughts. Ocean Spray did a great job here. Kudos to whoever on their brand team had the willpower to let this moment happen for a few days before jumping in and inserting themselves. Who knows? Maybe it just took that long to get approvals, but I choose to believe in the power of strategy! That allowed a very real groundswell of momentum. And when the brand did jump in, it was the perfect touch. Solved an issue for Doggface by gifting him a cranberry red pickup (he was skateboarding because his truck broke down) and hooked him up with a ton of free product, all captured on video. As a result, he posted a thank you on TikTok that has racked up another 23 million views.

TikTok just grew up. It's been on the path for a while now, but it needed a moment like this to get over the top and it will be interesting to see where the company goes from here. It's already dominating music, as most of the top 10 pop songs at any given time can be traced back to popularity on the app first.

Speaking of music, expect to hear a ton of legacy acts jump on TikTok now. Bands like The Rolling Stones will see there's a ripe new audience and money to be made. Just look at the interest in Fleetwood Mac over the past 5 years to the moment when this video took off. The impact is there, and the labels will come. Not a bad thing, they make great music, just a fun little prediction.

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Finally, isn't it incredible to see how one piece of content can change a persons life forever? Through donations and merch sales from his newfound fame, Doggface won't have to live in an RV anymore. Amazing.

Thanks for reading and looking forward to your thoughts!