Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) is the greatest marketer alive today.
Here are 6 things I learned from studying his work:
1. Insert yourself into the narrative
In the "2020: A Match made in Hell" ad he used Taylor Swift's not yet released re-recording of Love Story. When all the press was talking about Taylor re-recording her masters just the fact that Ryan used the song become noteworthy.
This is the same thing that @DHH and @jasonfried did by publishing a story about Bezos invested in Basecamp on the day that Bezos became the richest man in the world.
The conversation was already happening, they found a way to insert themselves into the narrative.
2. Own the equity
Ryan's biggest wins are for Mint Mobile & Aviation Gin, which he owns. Maximum Effort—his marketing company—does ads for other brands, but the most value from promoting companies where he owns equity.
Remember that Match ad? He's on their board of directors.
3. Move fast
In a world of quarterly planning & annual goals Ryan does something he calls 'fast-vertising' to ride current cultural waves and get attention.
When they had the idea to use the Monica Ruiz (from the Peloton ad) in an Aviation Gin ad they turned it around in 36hrs.
When a Sex in the City episode killed off Mr Big with a heart attack after a ride on a Peloton their stock price dropped.
But the combination of their experience moving quickly and doing crossovers enabled Maximum Effort to come to Peloton's aid with a new ad showing him alive
The day Winnie-the-pooh copyright entered public domain Ryan used the IP to create a "Winnie-the-Screwed" Mint Mobile ad.
4. Start a feud
Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman hate each other. Or at least they pretend to. This fake feud has enabled them to create a lot of hilarious content promoting each others companies.
5. Be the face
Ryan is able to be the face & voice for so many ads. Sure, it helps that he's already a famous actor & comedian who is love-able on screen, but that's a skill he learned.
Adam Lisagor did the same thing as the spokesperson for so many videos by Sandwich Video.
6. Not everything has to be expensive
Some ads are a simple voicemail recorded to Mint Mobile customers. Comedy writing & a screencast is all that took. Others are just a public letter.
He'd prefer to spend on great writing than expensive productions.
Most important of all, just have fun. The world is too serious for us to all take our marketing seriously.
If you enjoyed this thread go ahead and retweet the original tweet then give me a follow @nathanbarry.
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