How Build-A-Bear’s lean social team stuffs your feed with its ‘unhinged culture club’
It’s possible no one is having more fun on social media than Build-A-Bear Workshop.
A core part of so many people’s childhoods, the brand has solidified itself as a valuable follow long after your younger years. With a healthy dose of nostalgia, humor, quirkiness, and a whole lot of personality, BAB’s authenticity and joy shines through in every post.
It’s like the team behind the accounts wakes up every day and says “what would be really fun to create today?” Sometimes that answer is a real emo axolotl that started as a joke. Other days it’s a spring zodiac edition and you learn as a Cancer you’re obsessed with making birdfeeders. And every once in a while it’s spicy, NSFW Valentine’s Day bears wearing ‘Zaddy’ shirts.
I spoke with Kelli Nicholson, the Global Director of Content & Social Media at Build-A-Bear about what goes into reimagining an established brand, why storytelling is an integral part of their strategy, and the importance of listening:
In a recent post on LinkedIn, you mentioned changing things up for Build-A-Bear's social in the last 18 months. What led your team to that decision and what are the biggest 'shifts' you've made so far?
When I joined Build-A-Bear in the fall of 2023, the brand was ready to reimagine what social could look like. We’re an experience-first company with deep emotional resonance. People remember the bear they built as a child, the gift they gave to a loved one, the character they connected with. We saw a huge opportunity to tap into our passionate community and evolve our strategy to be more creator-minded, entertainment-led, and driven by storytelling.
The biggest shift was moving from transactional content to transformational content. Content that invites people in, sparks emotion, gets shared, and lives beyond the scroll. And we’re doing all of this with a lean internal team, which makes me even more proud. We’re competing at a high level against brands with massive social budgets and full-scale agency support. We’re proving that creativity and clarity of vision can punch well above your weight.
What has been the most fun idea you’ve executed?
There’s no shortage of fun around here... it’s Build-A-Bear, after all! But a few standouts really capture what makes our team special.
We’ve leaned hard into cultural storytelling. We built the “lore” around our Mothman plush, turning a niche internet creature into a fan-favorite narrative. We launched a viral Cougar for Valentine’s Day that sparked national conversation and millions of views. And most recently, we brought our Emo Axolotl to life. The Emo Axo content posted on April 1st already has over 15 million organic views, showing just how much fans connected with it.
What ties all of these together is how they started. With listening. Each idea was born from internet behavior, community jokes, or pop culture patterns. Then we added the BAB spin. Something smart, social-first, and visually fun. That’s where the magic happens.
How has the audience responded to the new content?
The response has been incredible. On Instagram and TikTok, we’ve seen a 26 percent increase in followers since the start of 2024. Engagement is up across every metric including shares, comments, saves, and impressions. And the best part is that it’s all organic.
But beyond the numbers, it’s the energy that’s shifted. Our comment sections have become true communities. Fans tag each other in the comments, remix our content into their own TikToks, and turn niche launches into full-blown fandom moments. They rally behind our most unhinged ideas and unexpected releases. We’ve even seen other brands jump in to engage with us, because they recognize the tone and culture we’ve built. It’s become a kind of unhinged culture club... and we’re here for it. This tells us we’re not just growing. We’re becoming part of the conversation again.
What is the overarching goal of the Instagram and TikTok accounts?
We have two core goals on social. Build our audience and convert our audience. That means showing up with content people actually want to engage with. Things they laugh at, share in group chats, or come back to find again. We measure success not just by likes, but by conversation, shares, and cultural relevance.
At the same time, we want to show that social can be a true driver of the business. A perfect example is the Emo Axolotl. It started as a joke in the comments. Just an edited photo with swoopy emo hair. But the response was so big, we turned it into a real plush and it sold out in less than a day! That is the future of social. Community drives innovation. A single post can spark a brand-defining moment. That is what we are building toward every day.
ICYMI
Instagram is testing lockable posts that would require a ‘secret code’ to reveal the content, according to a report from TechCrunch.
TikTok is expanding its incentive program, offering more monetization opportunities for selected users creating content in Film & TV, Auto, Learning, and Sports.
According to TechCrunch, YouTube is exploring a solution to doomscrolling Shorts: a daily timer that would allow users to set their own scrolling limit.
Instagram is launching monthly performance recap summaries for accounts that will include total views, views from non-followers, times your followers are most active, and more.
LIKE/RETWEET/SHARE/ETC
ALDI USA, I was unfamiliar with your Instagram game. Sure, they boast 1.2 million followers (actually 1.2 million plus one because I just followed) but I first saw a friend share their “get me to God’s country” post and did a deep dive from there — an extremely entertaining deep dive, I might add. Shortly after following, I was rewarded with a White Lotus-inspired post. Here’s why it was a hit:
The White Lotus came to a shocking and dramatic end on Sunday night, and by Monday we were ready for all the jokes and memes we could get our scrolling thumbs on. Enter: Aldi.
Timing is everything when it comes to joining cultural conversations. Too early and you enter spoiler territory. Too late and you put yourself at risk of jumping on the bandwagon. Fortunately Aldi struck at the right moment, as confirmed by one of my favorite comments: “y’all too current.”
More than likes and comments, the number of shares is a hugely important metric to gauge how a post landed. Aldi typically averages 1k-2k shares, but this one hit a whopping 14k. This tells me it was being passed around groups chats everywhere.
They smartly tested the waters with a White Lotus post two days before this one. If it flopped, well, at least they tried something, but if it did well (and it did) they could confirm this was a topic their audience was into and they should feed them more of it.
There’s a seamless quality to the way they integrate pop culture with their content. It feels like they’d rather be a part of the conversation over promoting new products or announcing news related to the store. They also have audience trust on their side because they have weeks/months/years of content that fits into the trending bucket.
Make it work for you: Your content does not have to fit in a box. Aldi’s grid could not be more different from Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods but they found their niche and they found what makes them stand out from their competition.
POST OF THE WEEK
Make It Go Viral 🫠 is a social media newsletter from Pennant Digital Director of Social Media Anna Fogel that hits your inbox three times a week. The Monday edition includes news, industry updates, and a breakdown of accounts doing social right. The Wednesday send features interviews with the best and brightest minds working in social media. And we close each week with a curated list of interesting social media job openings.
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