Dive Brief:

• Apparel brand Untuckit recently launched a new marketing campaign built around founder Chris Riccobono's responses to real tweets from consumers, according to a press release shared with Marketing Dive.
• The "Untucked Tweets" campaign includes five television spots featuring Riccobono reading tweets that are skeptical or joke about shirts designed to be worn untucked and offering what the brand calls "lighthearted and tongue in cheek" responses. The ads are running on national cable channels including ESPN, ESPN2, History, Discovery, A&E, TNT, TBS, USA, Bravo, TLC, Lifetime Movie, Cooking, FOOD, FX, Paramount, TRU and CNBC.
• The campaign, which is also running on radio and social media, is the first work from IPG's Elephant since being named the brand's creative agency of record.

Dive Insight:

Untuckit, which sells online and via brick-and-mortar stores, wants to drive sales outside of the brand's loyal customers and is using humorous content that still manages to touch on a variety of brand attributes in an attempt to raise awareness of its shirts and convert viewers into customers. The campaign arrives at a time when the apparel sector is struggling as consumers cut down on their spending during the pandemic-related economic slowdown.

"The simplicity of the proposition has made Untuckit so compelling, and it's also what attracts skepticism," Jennifer Olsen, chief marketing officer at Untuckit, said in a statement. "We knew it could be powerful to lean into that tension, and loved how the Elephant team was able to find the perfect idea and tone."

In one ad, Riccobono addresses a Twitter user's assertion that "Shirts designed to be worn untucked have existed for a long, long time." Untuckit's founder counters, "respectfully, there's a difference between a shirt that can be worn untucked and a shirt designed to be worn untucked. You could use a leaf blower as a hair dryer. You can use a shoe as a pillow. But wouldn't you rather have something designed specifically for what you need it for?"

Other ads deal with a Twitter user joking about receiving "yet another email" from the brand and a self-described "bad boy" who tweeted about tucking in his Untuckit shirt.

Rather than ignore negative social media comments, Untuckit recognizes that this content has the potential to help it make ads that are relevant and attention-grabbing by leveraging the consumer's voice. At the same time, the format evokes a popular and recurring bit on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" in which celebrities read mean tweets directed at them — a disarming ritual politicians have also used to court voters.

Untuckit's campaign mirrors an effort the website-builder brand Wix launched last month, built around YouTube comments from people griping about overexposure to that company's ads. Both campaigns take a good-natured approach to social-media criticism, conveying that their brands take feedback in stride — and don't take themselves too seriously.

Created in 2011, Untuckit has received attention for taking an unusual approach to marketing compared to other digital startups. Last year, Riccobono told Yahoo Finance his company had thrived by advertising in traditional venues (radio, television, newspapers and magazine) while most of its competitors stuck to digital advertising.