COINBASE’S KILLER MARKETING TACTIC IS: BEING BANNED?!
Coinbase’s now viral – and allegedly banned – two minute TV advert titled ‘Everything Is Fine’ features dancing refuse collectors, rat infested streets, power cuts and spiralling supermarket prices; but the secret behind its viral success is a killer marketing tactic which is more than two decades old!
The ad – a Dickensian take on modern Britain – can be seen on Coinbase’s Youtube channel where it has garnered almost half a million views. However, across social platforms the video has been watched millions of times. So why is it so successful?
The Streisand Effect
If you haven’t heard of this famous quirk of consumer psychology, it essentially boils down to this: The more something is suppressed, the more interest it generates… And it is responsible for Coinbase’s killer marketing campaign.
The effect is named after legendary US singer songwriter Barbra Streisand who in 2003 attempted to suppress images of her Malibu residence after they appeared as a part of a collection of Californian coastal records measuring erosion. The 12,000 image collection was not newsworthy; however, to suppress the images, Streisand’s legal team filed a $50 million lawsuit… And that did cause a buzz worth reporting on.
Before Streisand and her lawyers knew it, photos of her house had been downloaded almost half a million times. News crews filled the area and papers reported the story. The kicker? Before the suit, just six people had downloaded the photos, two of which were her lawyers. Suppression equaled publicity.
Coinbase, Clearcast and Suppression
By trying to suppress the images, Streisand and her team set the conditions to make the story a viral content piece, if accidentally… and now TV regulator Clearcast has accidentally given Crypto giant Coinbase the same golden opportunity here in the UK.
CEO of Coinbase Brian Armstrong was quick on the trigger to sense the marketability of having the advert banned on UK television (especially for an advert which shows the UK as positively medieval) and helped stir the conspiracy pot. Jumping on X to discuss the fallout his reaction concluded with:
‘We welcome the attacks and any other attempts to censor this message, as it just helps it spread.’
Despite the headlines, the ad isn’t actually banned for its too-close-to-home view of modern Britain, in fact it isn’t banned at all by regulator OffCom. Instead Clearcast chose not to approve the ad due to its failure to highlight the volatility of cryptocurrency but as the views mount and trading prices increase, the reasons behind this marketing success story are all but forgotten, and Coinbase has the Streisand Effect to thank for it.
Capitalising Suppression
So how do you generate viral buzz in your paid marketing strategy using the Streisand effect with a smaller, more realistic budget? Well, we definitely do not recommend intentionally creating an ad which breaks community standards and guidelines, but there is plenty you can do.
Content which inspires conversation
Control the controversy with provocative content (without being offensive) that invites pushback, generates strong opinions and stirs up conversation both online and offline. See Jaffa Cake’s ‘we’re a cake’ campaign for a fantastic example of doing this in good taste (literally!)
UGC marketing
Utilise and leverage UGC content, especially on channels such as a TikTok where content which feels like secret or insider knowledge is more likely to be remixed and shared. Who else remembers McDonald’s only at McDonalds campaign featuring the iconic rogue dip… The strawberry milkshake?
Insider Information
Presenting your content as ‘hidden knowledge’ and utilising taglines such as ‘things they don’t want you to know’ are extremely lucrative on socials and coupled with the right micro influencer, you could spin a really successful narrative and cultivate success from creating content which feels like it should be banned, even if it is entirely above board.
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