Welcome again to the Submit Efficiency Report—a collection the place we compile and analyze social media posts and campaigns inspiring us, and break down what makes them so genius. We don’t simply study the flawless artistic execution of each put up or marketing campaign, however the model affect, too.
The social groups approaching social intelligence in probably the most attention-grabbing methods aren’t simply reacting to their inboxes and direct model mentions; they’re actively listening to cultural traits and determining how they will flip them into standout moments for his or her manufacturers. This typically occurs by spinning tales the place they’ve been talked about, or discovering moments related to the model the place they will change into an lively a part of the dialog.
This time, we’re going to take a look at a few of the manufacturers doing it nicely, beginning with Topgolf constructing on a community-driven second.
Topgolf tells Logan’s story
On the finish of December, a video went viral on TikTok of a internet collapsing on the Auburn Hills location, and an innocuous remark was made by one Logan Phillips: “They higher have that mounted by January ninth – my work Christmas celebration is there.”
And so started a series of occasions that set off a complete marketing campaign for the Topgolf staff. The remark ultimately racked up greater than 300,000 likes. Whereas it didn’t originate on a Topgolf video, nor was the model tagged in it, it didn’t escape the eye of Topgolf’s social staff.
“As we noticed an increasing number of folks advocating for Logan within the remark part of the unique video, we knew this was one thing the web had collectively determined to care about and a possibility for us to behave swiftly and take part on the enjoyable. The remark finally garnered 338,000 likes, displaying us this second reached a wider viewers,” mentioned Nili Kamolidinova, Topgolf’s Social Media Supervisor.
Topgolf acted swiftly to affix in on the second, offering common updates to its viewers concerning the repairs on the Auburn Hills facility, one thing that Kamolidinova says is a part of the tradition at Topgolf.
“We attempt to stay nimble at Topgolf when these natural moments come up and the place we as a model can add worth to the Gamers story,” added Kamolidinova.
Topgolf posted a collection of response movies displaying the staff working to restore the web, with the ultimate movies driving 4 million views and 11 million views respectively.
Collectively, the viral second mixed for greater than 4 million engagements on Topgolf’s channel, to say nothing of the viral neighborhood engagement and UGC. This accounted for nearly two-thirds of Topgolf’s complete engagement within the final 12 months, even outperforming a video that includes Mariah Carey.
The success of the second resonated nicely exterior the social posts, with the corporate additionally providing a promo code to its neighborhood to rejoice Logan’s Christmas celebration at their native Topgolf.
“Because the neighborhood buy-in elevated, so did the requests from Gamers to rejoice Logan’s Work Christmas Occasion at their very own venues. This allowed us the chance to ask everybody to ‘Logan’s Work Christmas Occasion’ at their very own venues with a half-off promo code,” mentioned Kamolidinova.
The play: Topgolf took a possible adverse and spun it right into a constructive with good humor and fast reactions. Be sure you’re conscious of what’s being mentioned about your model in actual time even exterior of direct mentions, and be able to capitalize on these cultural moments.
Pepsi drops the references on the massive sport
Pepsi launched their advert per week earlier than the massive sport, and it paid dividends on social media. The spot featured a polar bear style testing the 2 massive colas, and choosing Pepsi, inflicting an id disaster.
The Taika-Waititi-directed advert received an enormous quantity of consideration on social media, with upwards of 6 million engagements on TikTok alone, making it simply probably the most partaking of the pre-releases.
The advert performs with our expectations across the bear, which is famously related to Coca-Cola. But it surely’s the social-adjacent moments which might be of curiosity right here. The model revived the well-known style check from the 80s and made it related for a social viewers, which is primed for blind style exams and shocked reactions due to the success of these sorts of short-form movies on social.
But it surely didn’t cease there. It additionally referenced the viral Coldplay live performance second from final yr, as the 2 bears have been caught on digicam with their drinks earlier than leaning into it and elevating a toast to the viewers.
Much like Topgolf, this one video was simply Pepsi’s top-performing of the final twelve months. The truth is, it carried out so nicely that it noticed extra engagement than the remainder of the model’s TikTok posts mixed.
The play: Audiences love to grasp references, and by taking two viral social moments and leaning into them of their artistic, Pepsi efficiently introduced these watching with them, and thereby made them really feel a part of one thing greater, whereas retaining it related to their model.
Dr Pepper confirms it’s each good and good
One other soda, one other cultural second, although this one was extra reactive. In late December, creator Romeo Bingham posted a brief jingle for the model consisting of ten brief phrases; “Dr Pepper, child, is sweet and good, doo doo doo.”
This took on a lifetime of its personal on TikTok, with a big selection of duets, remixes and new spins on Romeo’s unique put up being shared throughout social channels.
The put up even went viral amongst manufacturers, with the likes of Buffalo Wild Wings and others urging the creator to do a model for them subsequent. It was genuinely a defining second of 2025 on TikTok, pushing 12 million likes, one million shares and greater than 100,000 feedback.
On LinkedIn, folks have been incredulous that Dr Pepper didn’t instantly react to this on its social channels, but it surely turned out the model was enjoying the lengthy sport (if that’s what you name lower than a month turnaround time from concept to execution!)
In the course of January, Dr Pepper’s web page posted a brief video of a friendship bracelet with the beginning letters of the tune; a typical brief video trope. It then prolonged this joke the following day, rating the phrases within the tune. These two movies have been the model’s most profitable movies on the platform by a big distance, with every performing the opposite prime movies on the web page by no less than 5x.
And as soon as once more, this went past social, with the viral jingle utilized in Dr Pepper’s advert on the School Soccer Nationwide Championship, the place it was seen by tens of tens of millions extra, a lot of whom could not have even been conscious of it as a social pattern within the first place.
The play: When folks love your model, amplify these voices. There’s a lot content material on the market ready to be acknowledged, be sure you’re actively listening so that you’re paying consideration when a second breaks by means of.
Anthropologie rocks
This one’s going to take a bit extra explaining. In case you didn’t see it, all of it started with a sensible joke. Creator Phoebe Adams took a rock from exterior and claimed to her boyfriend that she had spent $150 on it for his or her entryway desk. The boyfriend’s shocked response on the unboxing made the prank an on the spot viral hit, garnering virtually 2 million engagements.
As soon as once more, the model was circuitously tagged within the video, but it surely created sufficient buzz that it received their consideration. The unique video was posted on September 14, 2025, and inside per week the model had formally partnered with Adams to play one other joke on her boyfriend. The couple entered an Anthropologie solely to discover a rock show with a 50% off provide, and everybody from gross sales associates to cashiers have been in on it. The next put up topped one million likes, and the model itself commented on this put up—that remark drove north of 130,000 engagements.
The model didn’t cease there, additionally that includes the rock assortment by itself Instagram web page per week after the unique video.
Social media revels within the ridiculous, and being a model that leaned into that labored for Anthropologie. The partnership with the unique creator was essential for the success of leaning in, as her subsequent video considerably outperformed the model’s put up that referenced the joke.
The play: Let the world know you’re in on the joke. Anthropologie took a second in time and introduced it into the enterprise, displaying a humorousness that their viewers appreciated.
Utah DOT goes unhinged
This instance is a extra conventional show of hopping on traits, however you continue to want to pay attention to what’s taking place in tradition to do this. The Utah Division of Transportation delivers its security and informational bulletins in trending codecs, which they body as “unhinged PSAs”.
What may have been a boring announcement about street closures was a put up that generated 1000’s of engagements by acknowledging a pattern and including the character of Utah Division of Transportation staff. Social storytelling is—at its coronary heart—about constructing a neighborhood together with your viewers, and understanding when and the way they’ll resonate most with the message you are attempting to convey.
The play: Carry on prime of cultural traits that your viewers and neighborhood cares about, and take part on them when it is sensible on your model.
Turning cultural traits into model wins
That concludes this month’s installment of the PPR. Keep tuned for subsequent month’s version, and within the meantime, keep in mind these key takeaways:
Submit Efficiency Report Takeaways
- Expand listening past direct mentions: Efficient social technique requires monitoring broader conversations and cultural traits somewhat than simply reacting to direct tags or inboxes. As seen with Topgolf and Anthropologie, the largest alternatives typically come up from untagged content material the place the model can organically insert itself into an current narrative somewhat than making an attempt to start out one from scratch.
- Embrace agility and humor: Manufacturers that act swiftly and take part within the “enjoyable” of a viral second typically outperform these with inflexible, pre-planned content material. By partaking with absurd pranks or potential mishaps with good humor, firms can flip fleeting web traits into large engagement drivers that resonate greater than polished, high-budget campaigns.
- Bridge the hole between digital and bodily: Probably the most impactful campaigns take viral social vitality and translate it into tangible real-world experiences or broader media methods. Whether or not it’s providing promo codes for a selected occasion or bringing a TikTok jingle to nationwide tv, connecting on-line tradition to offline actions validates your neighborhood and amplifies attain.
- Validate your viewers by means of shared references: Profitable content material typically entails “winking” on the viewers by referencing recognized cultural touchstones, viral memes or nostalgic moments. When manufacturers make the most of inside jokes or acquainted codecs, they foster a way of neighborhood and affinity.
After all, totally different content material will at all times resonate extra on totally different platforms. A majority of the moments we’ve highlighted right here got here on Instagram and TikTok, however if you wish to see the sort of content material audiences are on the lookout for throughout the social net, you’ll be able to learn our 2026 Content material Technique Report.
And in case you see a social put up or marketing campaign that deserves to be highlighted, tag us @sproutsocial and use #PostPerformanceReport to have your concept included in a future article.
