With the social media world buzzing about the launch of Threads on July 5, 2023, brands are among the reported 100 million new accounts (and counting!) rushing to create a presence on the hot new platform.

As a longtime social media leader, I am no stranger to launching global brands on new platforms. When I was the head of social media for Dunkin’, I launched the brand on Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, Tumblr, and Vine. I know firsthand the pressure companies face to act quickly and cleverly to maximize the opportunity that new social media channels offer brands.

I spent the past few days studying Threads, analyzing individual and company accounts to see what I could learn not only about the platform, but successful strategies and tactics to adopt. I will write follow-up posts on Threads, but let’s start with a review of the first Threads from popular companies on social media – and what we can learn from them. As always, if you have any questions, leave them in a comment and I will answer them in a follow-up post.

1. Adidas: Women’s World Cup Begins In 13 Days

Compared to many brands, Adidas’ first Thread was not so self-promotional, reading, “Guess this a good time to remind you that the Women’s World Cup begins in 13 days.” Now, Adidas is a sponsor of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, but the Thread doesn’t strike me as overly promotional.

The Thread offers a good reminder that if there’s something timely and relevant going on at your company, that can work for a first post instead of the traditional hellos or brand missions many are starting with. Why not jump right to the good stuff?

2. Cisco: Let’s Stay Connected

Cisco’s approach to launching Threads was a simple one with, “Hello everyone! Let’s stay connected.” The stay connected reference is a nod to the company’s theme of connection, as their website has the tagline, “If it’s connected, it’s protected.”

As far as first post goes, this is a safe, if not a bit boring of an approach. However, it’s worth noting that the post got 67 replies and over 400 likes, so maybe sometimes safe works if you already have an engaged fan base that will be early adopters to follow you on new social media channels.

3. Dunkin’: Ya’ll Thready To Go On A Dunkin’ Run?

For its first Thread, Dunkin’ kept it simple, sweet and on brand with, “Ya’ll thready to go on a Dunkin’ run?” A nod to the famous America Runs on Dunkin’ tagline and brand mission of keeping fans running on Dunkin’. The wink and smile comes from the “thready” pun – a classic copywriting trick dating back to my time with the brand to give people a little something special. Although, it’s worth noting that quite a few companies jumped on the thready pun!

The tip here is if keep your first Thread tied to your brand mission, aka your “why”, you cannot go wrong.

4. Microsoft: When A New Platform Drops And Your Social Media Manager Is OOO

In Microsoft’s first Thread, the company gave a humorous nod to its AI capabilities with a Thread reading, “When a new platform drops and your social media manager is OOO.” The visual with the Thread is a GIF of AI explaining what Threads is and suggesting copy for the company’s first post on the social media channel. The Thread offers a nice way to raise more awareness for the company’s AI capabilities, especially in light of the competition with Chat GPT.

If you want to see the full animated experience of this Thread, click here.

The tip here is that instead of going straight for the sell, show your products in action for a much more useful and engaging way to talk about them.

5. Netflix: Waiting For My Friends To Join Me

Netflix always makes its social media posts seem effortless and their first Thread is no exception. The Thread features a visual of Pablo Escobar from Narcos sitting alone on a swing with the caption, “Waiting for my friends to join me.” It’s simple and effective, with a bit of humor attached to it.

However, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that I actually liked this post from Netflix as a potential first Thread a bit better. Featuring Joe Goldberg from You, the Thread shares a humorous video of Joe in a new city (London), with the caption, “A word from our resident expert in moving to a new place to ‘start fresh.’”

A good tip here is that It Netflix has been successful on social media because it takes a community-first approach. Sure, their posts promote their programming, but in the way of the funny friend sitting next to you on the couch, versus someone trying to sell you something.

6. Nike: Threads Are Better With A Swoosh

True to its sporting warrior persona, Nike’s first Thread was, well, confident. The Thread reads, “Threads are better with a swoosh ;).” Could this be a clever nod to the threaded Nike swoosh found in the brand’s apparel? Or, could it be that the social channel is obviously now better with their brand presence? Perhaps a bit of both?

While confidently launching on a new social media channel is a good thing, ensuring that content you share is engaging and valuable is what makes the platform better. So, let’s see how they do! 😉

Instead of making its first Thread too self-serving, I would have recommended Nike make its first post more about their community or mission. As the spirit of Threads is to generate conversations, pairing a question focused around Nike’s brand mission would have offered many more copy options and ways to get its huge fan base engaged.

7. Oreo: This Is Fine

If you have never worked inside a brand – let alone a massive brand before – it’s super easy to take for granted what it truly takes to react in real-time to a social media trend, let alone craft a first post for a new social media channel. In a perfect world, we want to spend hours working on strategy, but in social media’s real-time landscape, we do not always have that luxury. Oreo’s first Thread featuring a fiery image of an Oreo at a desk with the quote bubble, “This is fine,” reflects the sentiment that sometimes speed wins and that we have to figure it out as we go.

Compared to Nike’s first Thread, this works a bit better as it is a humorous nod to what many of us are feeling – oh great, another social network to create content for! If you’re feeling a similar level of fatigue, a tip here is to work with your team and build your real-time marketing “muscle” via agile processes that allow you to react quickly and cleverly in the moment. If you would like a post on how to do this, leave a comment below and let me know.

About 15 hours into their Threads account, Oreo really seemed to hit its stride. I rather liked this post, which could have been very clever as a first Thread given the newness of the platform. It also got nice engagement, including from other brands.

8. REI: Who’s thready to #optoutside?

Similar to Dunkin’s approach, REI also tapped into its brand mission with a first thread asking, “Who’s thready to #optoutside?” Seems like the pun on ‘thready’ is a brand favorite – as it should be.

REI is a company that we celebrate frequently in our book, The Laws of Brand Storytelling, as it’s a company that truly lives its mission across all of its customer-facing channels. As a result, I’m excited to see what they bring to the Threads platform experience.

The tip here is a second reminder that it’s a solid idea to shape your first Thread around your brand’s mission, you why. Doing so as a question helps to start the conversation, as per platform best practices. It also sets the tone for your content strategy on the platform being shaped around your macro and micro stories. If you’re wondering what those are, you can check out this post: https://jessicagioglio.com/5-tips-for-jumpstarting-your-brand-storytelling-efforts/

9. Salesforce: What does Salesforce do?

Ever have the feeling that a company has a little chip on its shoulder about one of its frequently asked questions? Case and point – Salesforce’s first Thread which reads, “Please don’t even think about posting, ‘What does Salesforce do?’ on yet another social network.” The company then follows it up with a link to a blog post explaining what the company does.

Horrible mix of upper and lower case characters in the Thread aside, I like the spirit of this post. If you’re not in a job role or industry where you would use Salesforce, this is a genuine question. The tip here is that a first Thread offers a good opportunity to raise awareness and I like how Salesforce used the platform functionality to link to a blog post. You won’t always have enough characters to tell a longer form story or communicate a message, so having blog posts at the ready on FAQs is a great brand – and SEO – strategy.

10. Wendy’s: Cheeseburgers

Last, but certainly not least, Wendy’s was another example of a brand that hit its stride on Threads with its second post as opposed to the first one. The first one simply read, “Cheeseburgers.” I mean, yummy, but c’mon Wendy’s, I know you have it in your savage little social media heart to do better.

Perhaps Wendy’s was just hangry and needed a cheeseburger to spring into action. And, spring it did! The second Thread was so clever and literally made me laugh out loud. I bet the social media lead wishes they made this the first Thread! Staying true to Wendy’s savage persona on Twitter, the thread reads, “We decided we’re calling these threats. Get on board or get out of the way.”

Now, that’s the Wendy’s we all know and love on social media. Bring on the threats! The tip here is that your brand should stay true to its voice as it launches on new social media channels. Personalize the content to the best practices of the platform but keep your voice consistent.

Conclusion

A theme across many of the early brand adopters of Threads was to just jump on, get posting and to essentially build the car as you drive it. They know that the Threads will not be perfect, but they will improve as the community as whole builds the best practices through trial and error.

I intentionally featured companies in this post that are top brands on social media. These are companies that have built their real-time marketing and social media muscles and are ready to just jump in, perfect or not. They know that by being an early adopter on Threads it means a head start at building a large community and securing press coverage as a first brand – all while they hone their strategies. It’s not just about Threads – these brands would jump on any new social network with a similar approach.

I know many marketers reading this post are debating if they should be on Threads and what their Threads strategy should be before they start posting. These are incredibly valuable questions to ask – and I’ll work on future posts to help frame how I would approach them. If you have any specific questions on Threads, please leave them in a comment so I can address them in a future post!

Jessica Gioglio is the co-author of The Laws of Brand Storytelling and The Power of Visual Storytelling. Professionally, Jessica has led innovative marketing and public relations programs for Dunkin’, TripAdvisor, Sprinklr, and more. Today, Jessica is a keynote speaker and founder of With Savvy Media & Marketing, a strategic branding, storytelling, and content strategy consultancy.