If you’re new here, we talk all things social. From being social in person to social in media. Showcasing creators that are crushing it on social media and how brands can be doing better with their social strategies.

Many of you new comers are probably from RSVP’ing to our previous event. Welcome to the community! If you are into social media, learning new things, and hearing of cool marketing events you’re in the right place.

Our Last Event: Social4TheWin x New York Swim Week

We had roughly 150 of you at our last event and wow was it incredible! Going from 12 people in a dive bar to what we were able to pull off a few weeks back in just 7 months of hosting events is truly incredible (at least in my opinion).

If you weren’t able to make it but would like to check out the panel we just uploaded it to our YouTube channel. Please feel free to watch it here.

We also have some great photos from the night as well! If you’d like to download them whether for personal use (updating your Hinge accounts) or to share on Instagram or LinkedIn please see below.

If you do plan to share any photos please credit some of the incredible photographers we had join us. You’ll see who captured that specific photo in the dropdown section.

• Leonard Okpor @mindsetter_

• Christian Paez @paez.photo

• Eric Lipset @lippy.media

• Mehmet (Matt) Arslaner @Mattarslaner

We have some videos that we’ll be sharing on our Instagram if you’d like to check them out as well (courtesy of Matt!) @social4TheWin_ (whoever out there has Social4TheWin I’m coming for you!)

Shoutout to some of the other folks who helped us out during the night - maybe they checked you in during the event.

• Olga Egorova

• Will Rand

Finally, we couldn’t have done this without our incredible partner from New York Swim Week, Evita Scoccia, who helped make this all happen. We’re excited to have partnered with Evita and we hope to plan something else with her in the future.

All in all, I’m very grateful for those who showed up, those who hope to join in the future, and all the new relationships I was able to make at the event!

Our Next Events:

We have two exclusive events coming up in November and are preparing a more open event for December. We're also planning our 2025 event schedule, with a focus on bringing in partners, hosting co-branded events like our recent collaboration with NY Swim Week, and ultimately creating an environment where creators can thrive and meaningful partnerships can flourish.

November 6th: Social4TheWin x Vue Collection

We're excited to partner with Vue Collection, a luxury booking platform for high-end resorts in the Maldives, to host an exclusive, invite-only event. This gathering will bring together brands, resorts, and creators to explore the future of strategic collaborations in the travel industry.

We are specifically inviting 20-30 creators of NYC’s top creators—some from our current network and others new to us—to join this exclusive experience.

​SPECIAL RAFFLE FOR CREATORS ATTENDING:
All creators attending will be entered into a special raffle to win complimentary stays of up to 5 nights at some of the Maldives' most luxurious resorts for two adults. Selected prizes include all dining, beverages, domestic transfers for two, and curated activities, offering the chance to fully immerse in the resort's remarkable experiences. This is a unique opportunity to experience one of Vue's luxury resorts, create captivating content, and build meaningful collaborations with both brands and resorts.
Each resort prize is valued at a minimum of USD $10,000.

November 14th: Social4TheWin x Dunkyard

Join us for From Field to Feed, an exclusive event exploring the evolving landscape of athlete branding, the rise of athlete-led media companies, and the powerful synergy between creators and the sports industry. In today’s world, athletes must build personal brands that resonate far beyond their athletic accomplishments, while brands are increasingly eager to develop meaningful, long-term collaborations. We’ll discuss how athletes, much like influencers, use social platforms to build impactful media businesses, cultivate long-term brand partnerships, and expand their influence beyond the field.

This event is tailored for the sports industry, gathering sports marketers, athletes, and creators who have positioned themselves close to the world of sports. If this is you, RSVP below. Managers if you would like to attend we ask that you bring your talent.

December: A Food-Focused Event
We're also planning a more open event in December, centered around food and culinary creativity. This event will be open across our network of creators and marketers. We’ll share more details as the date approaches, and we hope to see you there!

Here’s my take:

Brands with multiple characters are missing a huge opportunity by not developing individual social media channels for each character. Yes, I get it—managing dozens of separate accounts is a lot of work. But when you look at the potential reach, engagement, and community building, it’s an easy win that many brands are leaving on the table. Let’s break it down.

The Sesame Street Example

Let’s start with an example that’s doing it right: Sesame Street. They’ve created individual Instagram and Twitter accounts for their most iconic characters—Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Rosita, and, my favorite, Oscar The Grouch. This approach creates a personal relationship between the character and the audience:

This strategy allows Sesame Street to tap into multiple fan bases within the broader audience. While Sesame Street does have a strong following in its own right— individuals who might not follow the street of seeded bagels might follow individual characters depending on which character resonates with them.

Avengers Assemble?

Now, consider Marvel. On Instagram, they have accounts for Marvel (65.9M followers) and Marvel Studios (37.5M followers). Impressive, right? But imagine if they had individual accounts for their characters:

• Iron Man, Spider-Man, Captain America—each character has a fanbase in the tens of millions.

• Creating character-specific channels would expand their social footprint exponentially. Let’s do some math here: there are 38 Marvel cinematic superheroes (I had to google that) and if each one could pull in 1 Million followers that’s another 30+ million highly engaged followers. Let’s be honest, Iron Man could probably pull 20-30M alone.

• It also gives the opportunity to develop unique dialogues and conversations directly in the comments… Unless you're Henry Cavill - then it’s just you and Aquaman (although my Aquaman will forever be Vinny Chase - ifykyk)

And let's face it, Disney can afford to employ a team dedicated to running these accounts. They have the resources and the audience—so why aren't they capitalizing on it? ESPN regularly posts 10s of videos a day on their social media.

People Follow People, Not Brands

One of the key reasons this approach works is simple: People follow people, not brands. We’ve seen this in influencer marketing, where individual personalities outpace brand accounts in terms of engagement. I’ve seen this mentioned dozens of times with very clear-cut examples…

It’s hilarious how true but also untrue this is. I think it just depends on the person you choose for this example, but ultimately I believe it’s a generally true statement that people take advice and insights from individuals, not corporate entities. Hence why celebrity brands are so consistently popping up with reasonable success. Who would you rather buy from? Oprah or some random P&G brand that you’ve never heard of? To answer my own rhetorical question - it’s probably Oprah.

Also when it comes to data - which at one point my literal was to use data to tell the story I wanted. You can manipulate data to tell you pretty much anything, it’s all about how you structure and articulate it. Look at what I did above, I just proved and disproved my point basically in the same sentence. You need a statistically significant amount of data points to prove something is factual, which could also still be incorrect (it’s all probabilities). Suffice it to say, do your own research.

A Missed Opportunity for Historical Disney & Pixar Characters

Think about Disney’s Mickey Mouse & Friends, their Princes / Princesses, and even their iconic Pixar characters like Woody & Buzz or The Incredibles. Disney should be leveraging this for the same reason as why they would for Marvel but even more so to continue to use their own intellectual property.

The opportunity here is massive. Breaking these characters out into separate social channels could create new and old, highly engaged audiences with characters that no longer have screen time but are incredibly nostalgic.

Why does a show or movie have to live and die in 90-180 minutes? Elongate the lifecycle of the intellectual property - especially if you own it.

The CPG Dilemma: Snap, Crackle, Pop—Where Are You?

I’ll admit, for some brands, this is harder. Take Kellogg’s Rice Crispies with Snap, Crackle, and Pop or Frosted Flakes Tony the Tiger. These characters aren't as fleshed out as Marvel superheroes or Disney icons. They also don’t have hundreds, if not thousands of hours of content readily available. But here’s why they should still do it:

• Build Character Depth: Social media gives you the opportunity to build depth. What if Snap was really into baking, Crackle had a knack for pranks, and Pop was a music buff? Over time, this adds personality that goes beyond the cereal box.

• Targeted Campaigns: Different characters can target different demographics. The sugared cereal you grew up with might be completely different than someone else and that could be for a multitude of reasons. Additionally, some characters might identify with certain audiences better. For example:

  • Lucky Charms: Leprechauns.

  • Cap’N Crunch: Old dudes with mustaches & pirates.

  • Tony The Tiger: Cats.

Even for characters with limited backstories, social channels can help develop and expand their appeal, ultimately benefiting the brand.

TV Shows—A No-Brainer

For TV shows, this is an incredibly easy win:

• Long-Standing IPs (intellectual property): Shows like Family Guy or South Park could easily give each character an account. Peter Griffin, Stewie Griffin, Cartman—all these characters have unique followings and distinct voices that resonate with different audiences. You don’t even need new content.

• Live TV Shows: Even live-action shows can do this. Just imagine actors in character, making content on set or outside, engaging directly with fans. You’re not just seeing the characters on screen; you’re interacting with them on Instagram. Some tv shows do this already - but it’s more for the show holistically than any individual character.

Community Engagement—The Real Power Play

Once you create individual accounts, you can take community engagement to another level:

• Characters Engaging With Each Other: Sesame Street characters are already doing this so it’s a fairly simple model. Imagine Tony Stark leaving a comment on Spider-Man’s latest post. This kind of engagement makes it feel like these characters are human and live among us.

• Fans Engaging With Characters: Direct interaction makes it personal. When Big Bird replies to a comment, it’s a big deal to that fan. It’s something that builds loyalty far beyond what a corporate brand account can achieve.

The Numbers Back This Up

Let’s talk numbers to prove why this makes sense:

• Higher Engagement Rates: Personal accounts tend to have higher engagement rates than brand accounts. While these are branded in a sense I anticipate that these accounts would have similar if not greater success given their recognition.

• More Distribution: Individual character accounts mean more opportunities for content to be directed to your audience. For the same reason that a brand will be on multiple platforms (Insta, TT, YT, etc.). You’re not limited to just one channel for all your announcements. More accounts mean more chances to hit different corners of social media.

• Audience Segmentation: You can segment your audiences better. Not everyone loves all characters equally—some might be die-hard Spider-Man fans, others might prefer Thor. By separating the channels, you tailor your messaging for maximum impact.

My M&M’s Pitch:

Back when I was at TikTok and Mars was my client this is something I very specifically pitched to M&M’s. I thought it could be incredibly dynamic to have channels for the red, yellow, blue, green, brown, orange, and purple M&M’s. However, they were apprehensive since it costs a lot of money to bring in the actors who play the voices of these characters and make new content. Well, guess what people - we now have AI.

Final Thoughts

The idea of creating individual social media accounts for each character isn’t just about having fun or trying something new. It’s about taking advantage of an incredible opportunity to engage audiences in a deeper, more personal way. Brands like Disney, Marvel, and even CPG companies have the chance to expand their reach significantly by putting their characters in the spotlight. It's a ton of work, yes, but it's also a massive opportunity for growth, engagement, and ultimately more brand loyalty.

It’s time these brands took a page out of the influencer playbook and gave the people what they want: more of the characters they love, front and center on social media