3 ‘boring’ brands that have made a social media splash

“What if my brand is just too boring?”

That question comes up nearly every time I present at a conference, training or inspiration session. Someone will point out that the highlighted case studies and creative social media ploys are all well and good for the Red Bulls and Nikes of the world.

Then they’ll ask, “What about a low interest category?” or, “What about B2B?”

Or they’ll drop the B-word: boring.

I say no category is too boring for social media. If you have a strong brand, a good understanding of your customers and a bit of risk tolerance, your “boring” brand can use social media just as effectively—and sometimes, famously—as the fan favorites that come to mind as naturally social-media-friendly brands.

Luckily, the most important principles of making a “boring” brand interesting in social happen to be some of the same fundamentals that make any brand interesting in any medium:

Know your brand. Appliances aren’t something most people go nuts about on social media. Yet in the case of Maytag (disclosure: a client), there happens to be a prominent character—the Maytag Man—who brings to life the spirit of hardworking dependability that Maytag stands for. Maytag also has a well-known annual promotional period in May: “May Is Maytag Month.”