Social media can be hard to get into these days, especially for small businesses. There is so much competition for viewers’ ever-shrinking attention spans that it can be difficult to get any organic reach at all, let alone make a memorable impact.
But Clancy’s Auto Body, an auto body shop in Fort Lauderdale, found a formula that earned it more views and likes on TikTok last week than some of the world’s biggest brands. The key to his success? Lots of humor… and Maxwell the cat. Suffice it to say, it’s not an approach you often find in the best branding books or the best graphic design books.
@clancysautobody (opens in new tab)
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Until a few weeks ago, very few people had heard of Clancy’s Auto Body, but within days, the business became a TikTok sensation. It all started with the video above. With a humorous intentionally amateurish approach to social media and a prominent appearance by internet celebrity Maxwell the Cat, it has garnered over 22 million views, 2.2 million likes and thousands of comments.
We could write off the extraordinary success as a miracle, but Clancy’s quickly followed and delivered more in the same vein. It hasn’t reached the same numbers as the debut, but has seen several TikTok posts surpass one million views, gaining 198.3k followers and 7.2 million likes on his account in just over a week. It even has its own TikTok fan base, calling itself Clancy’s Cult.
@clancysautobody (opens in new tab)
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The results had an impact beyond TikTok. Clancy’s business listing on Google has been flooded with positive reviews, to the point that Google had to step in and start tracking them. They have also received interview requests from national media.
@clancysautobody (opens in new tab)
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The phenomenon will be an interesting study for advertisers and social media managers to analyze and problematize. Is this really what a company needs to do to get noticed on TikTok? Is there any point in paying for influencer endorsements when we can appropriate an internet meme for free?
Humor and meme culture are clearly making their way onto the platform – as are random acts of design kindness. Clancy’s social media manager took advantage of this perfectly. They also quickly set about creating characters and plots, creating a story that evolves and an authenticity that is highly engaging. The appearances of the “boss” and the body shop workers make the show feel like a reality show – like The Office but real.
But bigger brands should be careful. Clancy’s approach is so successful because it’s a small business. This makes it believable and sympathetic. Larger companies attempting something similar could find it steadily declines. No one thinks a big business doesn’t have a professional marketing team capable of producing polished content, and attempts to communicate anything otherwise often feel daunting – just look at the reaction to Oatly’s ads on Reddit.
@clancysautobody (opens in new tab)
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Will Clancy’s efforts prove to be worth the effort? Videos probably take longer than they look, and only a minority of Clancy Auto Body’s TikTok’s millions of viewers (opens in new tab) they are going to become customers for geographic reasons only. But I expect the exposure to pay off.
They’ve started to include content that focuses more on their services – there’s even an interview with the company’s founder, which again creates a sense of authenticity and builds trust. It is unlikely that they will repeat the success of the first video, but if they make themselves a local name.
Oh, what’s up with the cat? If you’ve blinked recently, you might have missed it, but Maxwell is suddenly everywhere. It apparently started life as a photo uploaded to Imgur five years ago. It was then converted into a 3D model and more recently started filming. Now she is the biggest internet celebrity. Check out our pick of the best 3D modeling software if you think you can create a star who could steal his crown.
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