'Be Human and Be Fallible': Brands Test the Waters on Clubhouse

A pandemic Valentine’s Day is depressing enough without being rejected by strangers late at night on Clubhouse. Yet, in one “shoot your shot” room, in which users try to win a date on the audio platform, that’s exactly what happened. Stepping in to try and mediate the matter, pizza startup Slice saw an opportunity to partner with the hosts, the “nyu girls roasting tech guys,” and send a free pie to those who failed to win a date. “We reached out to the moderators and were like, ‘Hey, we’re gonna shoot our shot and see if we can throw out some free pizzas, that way when people are heartbroken they get a consolation prize,” Cara Meiselman, Slice’s director of strategic content marketing and performance, told Adweek. Meiselman and Ilir Sela, Slice’s founder and CEO, spoke sparingly in the room, mainly chiming in to tell users to direct message them on Twitter or Instagram—as Clubhouse has no direct chat feature—for a free pie if their quests for love proved unsuccessful. https://twitter.com/CourtMattison/status/1361155285805596677 https://twitter.com/slice/status/1361125073520844802 No precedent for how brands should act On Clubhouse, the atmosphere is professional, perhaps hyper-professional, even when topics of conversation are not. Users traverse the app like conference-goers, eager for a front-row seat to the hottest conversation—like an amusing but network-y dating game. But brands want in to the hot new app, where audience growth has skyrocketed to 10 million users despite the invite-only structure and, for now, its exclusivity to iPhones. Still, the lack of a playbook and the ephemeral nature of the app hasn't stopped a few intrepid consumer brands from dipping in their toes, even when it might make more sense for business-focused advertisers. Meiselman admits that Slice “kinda broke the rules” of the traditional sponsorship model in arranging this deal directly with the moderators—no money actually changed hands for this one—but she saw it as a creative way to promote Slice on the platform while adding value for users participating in the room. Like with Slice's activation, most of the "sponsorships" on the app right now seem to be handshake agreements between brands and Clubhouse clubs or hosts. In actuality, there aren’t hard-and-fast rules for brands yet on the platform—at least not yet. However on Clubhouse, people should show up, not brands, says Giselle Ugarte, a professional influencer coach and CEO of her own consultancy, Action-Forward. “There's a handful of people who, because they heard Clubhouse was this networking space, that they wanted to lead with their brand,” said Ugarte, who has quickly amassed 18,000 followers on Clubhouse in the last two months. “But then I think what happens is that the masks kind of come off and you realize, ‘Oh it’s a bunch of humans who are talking here.” She said that while there are brands represented at the table, and some may want to sponsor a conversation, the platform is meant for individuals to show up as themselves. That's not stopping brands But just the other day, the Kool-Aid Man popped up in a bizarre Clubhouse room alongside the entrepreneurship evangelist Gary Vaynerchuk and the red-bearded Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner, among others. While the Kool-Aid Man didn’t add much beyond the occasional “OH YEAH!,” his arrival was conspicuous. “Brands have entered the chat,” tweeted Will Cady, Reddit’s head of creative strategy. https://twitter.com/GaminSilverback/status/1362595159905427457 “Kool-Aid Man is known for crashing culture in his own unapologetically fun manner,” Naor Danieli, associate director of marketing for kids hydration at Kraft-Heinz, said in a statement to Adweek. “With all of the buzz circling Clubhouse, Kool-Aid Man couldn't help but crash through to bring some positivity.” Representatives from Clubhouse did not return a request for comment about how they want brands to use the app, but it seems like brand accounts, including mascots, are discouraged from participating. The first rule on the Clubhouse community guidelines is, “You must use a real name and identity on the service.” Danieli said that Clubhouse allows users to opt in to conversations that interest them so, “for users that are interested in brands with a mascot,” like Kool-Aid, “it’ll allow them to have a more real time conversation with them—even if they can only say 'oh yeah.'” While it’s unclear what exactly the Kool-Aid man was doing there, Clubhouse is certainly a more natural fit for business-to-business brands. “It’s so interesting because we have yet to have a social platform that really works well for a b-to-b audience,” said Bridget Jewell, creative director at the agency Periscope. “I know there are always exceptions to the rule, but it feels like [Clubhouse] could be built for that.” For her client, Intuit Accountants, for example, she could see the brand facilitating conversations on Clubhouse with their audience of professionals. Find a way to be human But Karen Staughton, West Coast engagement director at the agency Grow, emphasized that Clubhouse is a place for individuals. “Don’t play in this space unless you’re ready to be human and be fallible,” she said. Clubhouse likely isn't an app where marketers will walk away with tangible performance metrics either. “Coming in with the objective of driving sales or driving awareness is not where you’re going to win,” Staughton said. “It’s going to be [when you’re] driving the passion.” Companies with established brand loyalty can provide their customers with behind-the-scenes looks or conversations about the products they love, said Barry Lowenthal, CEO of the agency Media Kitchen. “Nike could probably host a conversation with a shoe designer and have them talk about their inspirations for their customers,” he said. “That could totally work really nicely. It’s a little bit b-to-b but a little bit consumer.” Square-owned Cash App sponsored a giveaway program with the Black Bitcoin Billionaires club on Clubhouse, which is giving out 1 million satoshis—around $515—to Black individuals on the app this month, though it's unclear whether this sponsorship deal was facilitated through Clubhouse or struck independently. Lowenthal thinks there will be a sizable market for underwritten or sponsored conversations, perhaps through more formalized channels than the ones Slice or Kool-Aid used. “I signed up for a drag chat, and I could imagine MAC Cosmetics underwriting that conversation,” he said. Still, while Clubhouse provides tools for users to moderate conversations, each buyer Adweek spoke to mentioned that brand safety remains a lingering question on the app, and it’d be a tough call for any of their risk-averse clients to hop aboard. “There’s a lot of unknowns right now,” said Amanda Grant, vp, managing director and global head of social at GroupM. “We’re in an environment where there are a lot of opinions being shared and the impact of words live in perpetuity, but the actual piece is something that’s ephemeral.” watch: Slice Is Using a Relentless Door-to-Door Approach to Build Its Brand Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect that Slice did not break specific Clubhouse rules.