Bestie, can we chat xoxo

BFF marketing as presence over performance

💋👑 IT’S GALENTINE’S DAY HUNNI!!! 💕😘

And while the group chat might not be blowing up about it, some brands most definitely, probably will be. Right now, a marketing team is slapping a discount on friendship, calling it a campaign, and will be sliding it into your inbox. OMG bestie!!! We love you so much. Here’s 10% off because you deserve it!!! Xoxo 💖

Think of BFF marketing and you may well think of fizzy, girly-pop brands with quippy affirmations. But BFF marketing can be *so much* more than all that shtick. It can be a whole brand positioning.

Let’s rewind.

2010: The OG OTT BFF Brand Era

In the 2010s the BFF brand persona was THAT GIRL. Chatty, open, charismatic like they’d just sunk three mimosas at brunch. This wasn’t just a ‘friendly’ tone prescribed in any old style guide (use contractions! speak directly to the reader!) these were hypewomen. Brands in your DMs like your ride-or-die since year 9, selling everything from dry shampoo to fintech. Order confirmation: She’s got it 🔥 Abandoned cart: Babe, was it something we said? 💔

It was a world from impersonal sales talk – fun, fresh, like a club you *actually* wanted to be in. And we ate. it. up. Founder Yael Aflalo told Business of Fashion how a pithy newsletter kickstarted Reformation’s hyper-growth. “We wrote about Coachella and the caption was: ‘It’s not that important but it kinda is.’ All my friends rang me to say how cute it was.” Sales jumped from $18K to $175K the next month.

BFF marketing became a shortcut to trust. Mirror your audience, and they’ll invest in you with their wallets and feelings.

2025: More friends have entered the chat

But PHWOAR. Imagine if your group chat was all hot takes and hype 24/7. MUTE.

Like most things from the 2010s – Vine, ice-bucket challenges, Taylor’s Reputation era – BFF marketing has evolved. It’s got realer, splintering into a spectrum of our inner circle. Let’s call them BFF archetypes. Like the ferrally online one who sends you cursed memes at 2 am. Or useful links at 8. The one who shoots it straight (no you don’t need another reusable water bottle). The one you slurp pasta with. The one who lets you disappear for six months and picks up exactly where you left off.

BFF marketing as presence over performance

But here’s the thing: real-life friendship isn’t just about sounding close, it’s about showing up. And if your BFF marketing is only tone, it’s all noise. Like the fake friend who hypes you in the group chat but ghosts you when it matters. One-dimensional, one-sided, all gas, no substance. Consumers see right through it, and let’s be honest, they’re not *totally* wrong. These BFF personalities are sales driving, marketing tools. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be more sincere, rounded, and authentic too.

The brands doing bestie best don’t just speak like one of your inner circle, they act like it. Walking the talk they talk. They bring customers into the fold – not just in conversation, but in product development, customer experience, brand decisions. They build communities that go beyond hashtags and sales funnels. They create real spaces for connection. They serve content that adds to the vibe, not just rides it. They stand for something beyond the hard sell. And just like a real bestie, they show up like that every goddamn day.

More than a gimmick, BFF marketing at its best can be a whole relationship. A dynamic. Something that lasts.

So, who’s living the BFF brand life? Let’s pull together a few of those inner-circle archetypes…

The Hype-Hunnis

💖 Vibe check: Think OG hypewoman meets with a more gender-inclusive next-gen glow down. The friend who gasses you in the bathroom and falls asleep with a full face of make-up beside you in the bedroom.

💖 Brands doing this well: golden-era Glossier, Starface, Reformation, Réalisation Par, Koibird, Bubble, Beauty Pie, The RealReal

💖 The talk: Group-chat lingo, personified products, hyperbole, honing in on the real-life things we want (jeans and a nice top) or do (like saying ON MY WAY! when you’re danger-sitting in a towel on the bed)

💖 The walk: Talking with consumers, not just at them. Co-creating products with them (like Glossier’s milky jelly cleanser). Growing communities – IRL meet ups, shout outs, first-person Substacks that close the gap between customer and team.

💖 The watchout: LOOKS FADE BABY. Make those communities about more than aesthetics. Too much overhype = love bombing. And if you’re using every. single. trending. phrase? That’s a fast track to blending into the algorithmic void.

The Unhinged Chaos Bestie

🔥 Vibe check: The chronically online friend who communicates in memes, sends you TikToks at 2 am, and convinces you to do something mildly illegal in a fun way. The class clown. Unpredictable, unfiltered, entertaining (often for the sake of it).

🔥 Brands doing this well: Stardust, Duolingo, Ryanair, Liquid Death, Nutter Butter

🔥 The talk: Feral all-lowercase run-on sentences with little to no punctuation, pop culture, oneliners in the comment section and ‘accidental’ corporate shitposting. The best ones make you laugh first, sell second (or never).

🔥 The walk: Take the URL IRL – dare you to be as weird offline as you are on. Do the unexpected brand collab.

🔥 The watchout: (1) Effortless humour is a SKILL – you need quick, sharp instincts and a marketing team that moves fast. (2) All that said, chaos is best chaotic… is it getting a little predictable? Instead of trying to out-weird the competition, find your funny – deep-cut niche humour, offbeat product descriptions or just owning your brand’s weird little corner of the internet.

The One Who Takes No Sh*t

💬 The vibe: No filter, no shame. The brutally honest friend who thinks sugarcoating is for confectionary. Sometimes loud, always the one who makes you see your vulnerabilities differently. They don’t sweat much about (over)sharing, the status quo or dropping a photo of their ingrown hair on the group chat at lunch.

💬 Brands doing this: Feeld, Frida, Hims, Overdrive, Swehl, Octopus Legacy, Bare Biology

💬 The talk: Radical honesty in traditionally hush-hush categories (poo, periods, sex, body hair, recreational drug use, death, parenthood). They say the quiet part out loud. Straight-talking around products. Calling out category BS.

💬 The walk: Transparency is great, but what are we looking for? Education, innovation, empowerment, real, raw customer experiences others can grow with. Otherwise, are you taboo-busting or just clickbaiting?

💬 The watchout: When every brand is being cheeky about bowel movements or shouting ‘PLEASE DIE RESPONSIBILY’, this whole thing starts feeling less radical, more marketing formula. Hone in on the purpose beyond the catchy headline. Also being blunt ≠ being rude – consumers still want empathy and care.

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The Vortex

Is it a brand? Is it a person? Marketing teams are launching Substacks.

Anne Helen Petersen on the friendship dip and the loneliest decades of our lives.

So what kind of BFF are you? A Sam to a Frodo. Dory to Marlin. Romy and Michelle. Janis and Damien. Are you a Phoebe, Rachel or Monica?

@therealcornpop@Duolingo can't believe they did this to you tbh

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