Growth Newsletter #271

While it seems there’s no singular “song of the summer” this year, there’s certainly been a sound of the summer. That sound is the certified-viral “Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday” audio clipped from the ads and in-flight videos of the budget British airline/travel company Jet2.

The hashtag #Jet2holidays has been used on 456,000 TikToks, and the audio has been used in 2.8M videos, most of which show vacation fails: pulling open hotel curtains to reveal the world’s smallest window, watersports disasters, wipeouts in the bowling lane, etc.

The “joke” is that Jet2’s relentlessly sunny earworm, Hold My Hand by Jess Glynne, creates a lighthearted mismatch when paired with epic vacation fails. As a budget-friendly airline and travel package provider, Jet2 experiences aren’t always known for being high-end or picture-perfect.

Instead of trying to swim upstream and “fix” the narrative around this onslaught of negative yet hilarious videos, Jet2 leaned in. They created a lipsyncing contest for the audio, offering £1,000 for the winning submission. Their video has 34M+ views and comments like “This is actually so iconic” and “Jet2 has entered the chat.”

The Lesson: If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

You can’t fight a wildfire with a press release or cold corporate messaging. When a good-natured social media trend has taken on a life of its own, you have no choice but to cheekily hitch your wagon to it and play along.

By winking at the joke, Jet2 showed they were in on the fun without directly admitting they sell lackluster experiences. It was a smart way to ride the wave without sinking brand equity.

Domino’s Pizza Turnaround

Back in 2009, Domino’s had a mess on their hands. In addition to viral videos of real employees doing heinous things to customers’ pizza, their product quality was slipping amidst franchise expansion. The fallout made Domino’s a lightning rod for criticism, and they needed to gain control of the narrative.

Enter Domino’s Pizza Turnaround, featuring one of my favorite off-kilter taglines ever: “Oh Yes We Did.” Domino’s tapped red-hot ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky for a come-to-Jesus ad campaign, featuring cutdowns from their wonderful four-minute marquee video where they faced the harsh truth.

The ads showed focus groups calling out their cardboard-like crust and their ketchup-esque sauce. It showed the corporate team cringing and shaking their heads in shame. Then it showed the team rallying wholeheartedly to make better pizza.

“You can either use negative comments to get you down, or you can use them to excite you and energize your process and make a better pizza. We did the latter.” – Patrick Doyle, President, Domino’s Pizza

The numbers following the refreshingly candid campaign didn’t lie. By the end of the next quarter (Q1 2010) Domino’s posted a 14.3% sales increase QOQ, one of the highest-ever revenue jumps for a fast food chain. (Source: UCLA Economics). By the end of 2010, the company’s stock had soared 130% from where it was at the end of 2009.

Domino’s stock continued to go on a remarkable run for the next twelve years, with gains dwarfing the S&P 500, Invesco QQQ, and Papa John’s for good measure.

Their stock went from $8.38 a share at the end of 2009 to $564.33 by the end of 2021. An absolutely legendary run. I, for one, don’t believe this would have happened with cardboard crust and ad campaigns acting like everything was hunky-dory.

The Lesson: Honesty is the fastest way to reset trust.

Instead of slightly tweaking the recipe, Domino’s tore everything down to the studs. That radical transparency showed customers the company was serious about fixing the problem, thus creating a clean break from the old baggage and opening the door to growth.

The Anti-Luxury Amsterdam Hostel

Back in 2013, my two friends and I needed a cheap hostel for a one-night stay in Amsterdam. After poking around online, one option stood out like a sore thumb: The Hans Brinker.​

In some of the boldest pieces of advertising I’ve ever seen, their site featured atypical “Before” and “After” photos of guests looking nice at check-in and awful at check-out, implying the Hans Brinker was a wild, chaotic, sleepless adventure.

So we did what 21-year-old guys do and immediately booked a night there. After being paired up in a room with a group of six Aussie guys on a bachelor party (who didn’t really sleep, and snored like locomotives for the hour or two they did) we got the full Hans Brinker Budget Hostel experience, as advertised.

Checking back in on the Hans Brinker today, they’re still living into their promise, albeit in a more tasteful way. Absolutely hilarious, daring lines like “Just don’t say we didn’t warn you” and “You probably won’t sleep much anyway” are paired with photos of llamas in dorm-style rooms.

This is a classic case of knowing what you are and what you aren’t. It’s also proof you don’t need a viral trend or a multimillion dollar ad campaign to own your “thing.” You just need to be intentional about your brand differentiation, especially above-the-fold, then put your shoulder behind it across your marketing efforts.

If the Hans Brinker website had featured their central location, history, team, or their (admittedly scant) amenities in 2013, we would have glossed over it and booked a place with better reviews. But they played (and still play) to the adventurous, younger crowd who’s looking for a story, not sleepy time.

The Lesson: Specificity beats general appeal every time.

Instead of getting lost in the noise with other listings, the Hans Brinker plays up their truth (cheap rates and unbridled chaos) in a way that speaks to a specific slice of customers. In a huge tourist destination, they don’t need to be everything to everyone.

In other words, nobody craves buffet food. So choose the food you serve best (steak, tacos, or in this case late-night pizza) and make it even more specific (dry-aged steak, al pastor tacos, or the biggest slice in town).

The Takeaway: Truth Is Your Trojan Horse

The truth, especially when it’s wrapped up in wit or self-awareness, is disarming. It can sneak past natural skepticism like a Trojan horse rolling through the gates.

Whether it makes people laugh, feel seen, or nod along, leaning into your brand’s truth shows your audience you’re willing to meet them where they are.

Specificity and honesty are also self-filtering. They pull in the right customers and build loyalty in a way that “We’ve got something for everybody” never will.

​Gil Templeton​
Demand Curve Staff Writer