Nathan Barry Profile picture
Jan 4, 2022 11 tweets 5 min read Read on X
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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More from @nathanbarry

Jun 6
Big news: We’re rebranding!

ConvertKit is becoming Kit.

Read on for why it’s more than just a name change…
The creator economy has evolved a lot since ConvertKit began 11 years ago. And we’ve evolved with it.

Our platform has grown far beyond helping creators convert audience members into customers.

We now help you connect, grow, automate, launch, create, earn and so much more.
As Kit, our product philosophy is all about scalability and giving you actionable insights to grow your business.

Each creator business is unique, so the features in your Kit can be tailored just for you.

Besides making improvements to the features you love, we’re doing more…
Read 14 tweets
Apr 18
In the last 7 years, we’ve paid $6.9 million in profit sharing to the ConvertKit team.

While most companies hope to return money to shareholders in a moonshot acquisition, we’ve created a unique model to help our team think like owners.

Here’s how our compensation model works:
Our mission is to help creators earn a living. That’s why ConvertKit exists.

My personal mission extends beyond that—I want everyone in my life to have the opportunity to become financially independent.

That means everyone at ConvertKit should have a path to financial freedom.
VC-backed startups tend to go all in on equity and an exit as the path to financial freedom.

Bootstrapped companies (e.g. MailChimp, Basecamp) don’t give out equity and instead focus on paying high salaries.

Neither model is ideal for team members.
Read 20 tweets
Oct 11, 2023
In 2021, Spotify reached out to buy @ConvertKit for hundreds of millions.

I said no.

Instead we came up with an innovative way to get liquidity for our team:
ConvertKit is an email marketing platform for creators.

I started it in 2013 with a goal to solve my frustrations with other email tools.

When it grew, I figured I’d sell it after a year or two.

Then I fell in love with our product, team, & customers.

I never wanted to sell.
Founders like DHH and Jason from Basecamp said that equity in a private company doesn’t have value if you aren’t going to sell.

I’d learned so much from them and that logic made sense, so once I decided not to sell I didn’t issue equity to the team.
Read 18 tweets
Jul 21, 2023
Becoming a creator will change your life.

Here are 13 tips to make the switch from a consumer to a creator:
Set a Daily “Make Something” Goal

Grab a sticky note and write “make something today--stick it to your computer monitor.

Your goal is simply to make something--anything--every single day.

Set the bar low and make it achievable.

Creation will start to become a habit.
Document What You Make

Start documenting your daily creation.

Post it online with a few sentences about what it means to you.

Was it an idea floating around in your head for months? A mini essay you've been meaning to write? Code that you finally figured out?

Document it.
Read 15 tweets
Jun 23, 2023
I made $37,000 in the first month of selling my ebook.

But I almost made a $10,000+ mistake.

Here’s a lesson on pricing that’ll make you thousands:
In 2012, I launched my first product, The App Design Handbook.

But in a hurry to get the product out the door, I almost made a costly mistake…

It’s a mistake I see entrepreneurs make every single day.
It’s not charging too little for your product.

(Although this is a common mistake as well)

It’s only having one price for your product!
Read 17 tweets
Jun 9, 2023
I’m excited to announce we just acquired @SparkLoopHQ which is going to allow creators to make a living in a totally new way.

Here’s why this acquisition is a game changer for the creator economy: Image
SparkLoop’s Partner Network is the #1 newsletter growth platform.

After building a deep integration, we got so excited about the potential, we decided to bring them into the ConvertKit family to build the largest advertising network for creators.

Here’s why this is so exciting: Image
Traditionally, creators spend money on advertising to grow faster.

But this is inefficient and expensive. You try to get people to click an ad to go to a landing page. Only a few subscribe, and only some subscribers become engaged.

There are two big problems with this: Image
Read 10 tweets

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