Using Social to Speak to a Global Audience
Featuring an interview with Kweku Quansah, Global Social Media Specialist at Clarks.
Something we hear all the time about social is this: know your audience and speak directly to them.
But when you work for a global brand, how do you know and speak to your audience when it’s so…big? And how do you make sure you are talking about important holidays, taking into consideration cultural nuances, and more?
For today’s interview I chatted with Kweku Quansah, Global Social Media Specialist at British shoe company Clarks, about how he uses social to reach and engage a global community.
For the unfamiliar, Clarks’ TikTok account has over 2.2M followers and is fantastic. It’s niche and funny while also remaining broad enough to really speak to a large, global audience. Let’s jump in!
Rachel Karten: Can you tell me about your current role and any other (social or not!) roles you've had?
Kweku Quansah: I actually began an internship during my senior year at Bentley University as a Social Media intern at OneUnited Bank. This was my intro to social media. I then graduated with a major in Marketing and a minor in Information Design and Corporate Communication, but honestly had no idea what my “dream” job was or what my ideal role would be.
That internship opened me up to the back channels of social media on a lower level—how to write copy, responding to customer comments, building posts for different platforms. From there I was able to land a position with Boston Consulting Group, also doing social media, but leaning much more toward LinkedIn. I then transitioned to a startup and spent about a year and a half there before I landed my current role at Clarks.
My time at Clarks has been the most insightful. I came in via a unique role, Social Media Innovation Coordinator, working on social and the platforms/opportunities that can sit within the grey area (i.e., Metaverse, Gaming, AR Filters, etc). When I joined in July of 2021, I had one primary task: find our footing on TikTok.
We had about 4K followers on TikTok at the time and roughly two years later we sit upwards of 2M. From social filters to campaign launches to creating content, I’ve been fortunate enough to get a taste of all the different possibilities one can have in a marketing role.
RK: How would you describe Clarks' social presence? Give me the elevator pitch.
KQ: I think the best word would be ‘experimental.’ We’re never just doing one thing and repeating it—we’re trying new content formats, figuring out where our consumer is online, and what they like. This in itself isn’t experimental, but I think the new ways we are engaging with the consumer are different for a brand with Clarks’ history.
It’s easy to rely on heritage and namesake and just use core marketing to target people, but what we’re focused on is reintroducing the brand to the everyday consumer. Yes, we have history but we’re also well informed on today’s trends—we’re flexible when it comes to our output, we’re planning ahead but planning in the direction of our consumers’ interests, what they relate to, and what’s entertaining to them.
However, we’ll always be shoes first, so it’s a fun balancing act of catching your attention and then reminding you that we have this great product.
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RK: Talk to me about creating content for a global audience—what are a few unique factors that a global brand needs to consider?
KQ: Our CMDO (Chief Marketing & Digital Officer), Tara McRae, sets the Global Brand Strategy, and all regions work together as a team on how to bring it to life.
We start with the basics, like the holiday calendar for example. For Clarks specifically with strong roots between the US and the UK, we are constantly considering our two major regions, then it branches out into Europe, South East Asia, Jamaica—regions where we know the audience has grown to love the brand.
You can’t target these regions without knowing what they’re into right now, what they love, their customs, what’s polite to say, and words they don’t use. You then have other factors to think about: Are you creating different channels for different regions, or is it one channel? How does that one channel communicate to everyone? Does this one channel share content that covers things happening in other regions?
There are so many things to consider, and you won’t always be able to do it all, but you’ve got to be conscious enough with your approach to try and be aware so if you’re not covering something (a holiday, event, etc) you still know about it and your decision is with good reason.
RK: Is there an example post you've done that you feel successfully speaks to your global audience? Why did it work?
KQ: I’m not sure if there’s one example, as much as it’s our presence on the platform and the space we sit between. We’re selling footwear, and not always a shoe that everyone may need but something everyone could potentially like. When it comes to content, I always try to remind myself of this—the angle isn’t how can we make the audience like the shoe, but how can we place the shoe into something the audience already likes. I’ll share three posts that speak to that:
I did not expect this piece to do as well as it did when posted. It fooled a lot of people in a positive way. It wasn’t region specific, no coded internet lingo—just a catchy enough intro that got over 2M people to watch me enter our website and navigate to the sale section. Lucky for us it was something almost everyone can relate to, that annoyance of getting water on your phone and that slight glitch as your phone believes the water are your fingers. Now I can’t guarantee this led to sales, but nonetheless it does leave a note in the viewers’ memory about Clarks and possible sales.
This was an interesting piece because I did not expect so many brands to interact with it. It was created thinking other brands could relate but the huge response was so strong that I think it caught the attention of regular users as well.
I personally consider this one of our most successful pieces of content; our take on the corn trend. Once again, finding that pocket of something that’s already trending, finding a way to insert our product into the narrative, and making it do double duty. Playing up to other brands from the point of view of content creation when a trend is at its height and also engaging the consumer and showing them how ridiculous it can be when brands are trying to tie a trend to their product.
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Individually these are just strong pieces of content, but together they inform our overall strategy—making space for everyone as we adjust for the world ahead. (Yes, that is Clarks’ current slogan, the branding never stops).
RK: I feel like sometimes the best humor is very specific or niche humor. How do you nail your more comedic videos while still appealing to a large audience?
KQ: I’d say by keeping things general.
It’s easy to make really specific jokes for a niche audience but to keep things general and open so that it can hit a wider audience can take some time. I wish there was something more clever I could share here but I think it’s simply that.
The goal with nearly all our posts is that anyone anywhere could watch it and have a bit of a laugh. This isn’t always possible, but it is always the goal. We’ve been fortunate enough to have so many employees who are open to being featured in content around the globe. So we have this opportunity to not only show working in the office, but what it’s like on a seasonal campaign shoot or the product team working on shoes or retail employees playing off trends in stores—there’s something for everyone to enjoy and also to get involved in.
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RK: What are three tips you'd give to a global brand that's having trouble finding their voice on social media?
Find your favorite brands, look at how they approach their audience, and emulate them. Don’t worry too much about them being in the same industry as you—focus more on how they engage and consider how you could pick up pieces from their approach. It is okay to take inspiration if you make the idea your own.
Test and learn. One of our go-to phrases at Clarks. Just try it out and if it doesn’t work try the next thing. When that works, figure out why and, if it makes sense, implement it as part of the strategy. But don’t overdo it! Influencers will hit on a certain piece of content and make that their identity, but we are not influencers. You must keep reinventing yourself as a brand to stay in the game.
Become the targeted audience. I hated putting out content that I personally didn’t like when I first started in social media—but just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean someone else won’t. Focus less on your personal feelings and always think as a brand. What is Clarks known for, what does the consumer think of us, why might the consumer hate this product or us, how do they make fun of us, and find a way to spin it into something positive or entertaining.
RK: Can you talk to me a little bit about showing your office culture and BTS of working in social as a part of your larger strategy. Why do you think it works so well?
KQ: This is one that I think all brands should be doing, big or small. I personally have always been interested in knowing how something works, from mechanics to movies. How does our iPhone take pictures? How can we record sound? With companies, there has always been this silence or idea that we are only going to share what we want you to know, not necessarily what the consumer may want to know. Which was okay for a long time but I think in the social media world/era just isn’t always viable. So how can you combat people just creating narratives about your brand or not fully understanding why you chose xyz? You open the door for them instead of forcing them to capture glimpses through the window.
Show your office, show them what you are working on, share what it’s like to plan a campaign, and the relief/excitement a team feels when a campaign launches. Personalize the experience for everyone. Once upon a time, commercials were meant to entice an otherwise unbeknownst consumer but everyone is getting smarter. The traditional ad doesn’t work if everyone can immediately point out it’s an ad and then skip it. So I lean towards bringing the consumer closer—‘letting them in on the joke’ is my go-to phrase. Make them feel part of the experience.
You’ll see on our TikTok channel that we not only have our audience commenting, but other brands as well. We create content that everyone relates to and when you cultivate that you create a really special community. A community that understands we are working to deliver you this product but in an entertaining insightful way so that even if you don’t purchase, you appreciate the work that went into the Reel, post, or TikTok.
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Ready to find your next role? Join the Link in Bio Talent Collective and check out the job board with awesome roles from Epitaph Records, Quinn, Adobe, and more!
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And if you work at a company looking to hire talented social media professionals, you can head here to get access to the Link in Bio Talent Collective.
Curious how a global brand like Clarks is able to use trending audio for their TikToks? Are they just hoping they don't get dinged by the creator? Does their legal team consider is low risk?
Really interesting interview. Thank you for bringing the faces of who is behind the social media to the forefront!