The Fat Jew - The King of Millennial Digital Media Marketing

 

For anyone who doesn’t know who “The Fat Jew” is, his name is Josh Ostrovsky, and in 2011, he set up an Instagram account under the username, @TheFatJewish. Within months, he had attracted thousands of followers through his offbeat content. He eventually went viral in 2013 after he posted a video parodying SoulCycle, in which he led a spin class for homeless people on Citi Bikes parked on the street. He now boosts 10.6M Instagram followers, 246K Twitter followers, and 976K Facebook likes and these staggering numbers continue to grow daily. 

Through his personal blend of meme generation, crass commentary, and cultural spirit he has captured the attention of not just his massive millennial audience, but that of Bloomberg, The New York Times, Katie Couric, amongst a laundry list of brands vying for an authentic voice that reaches an under-40 crowd. What he has managed to capture in his unique brand is by harnessing the power of social media and carefully crafted content is an inherent level of trust with his followers and deep engagement. This has led to brands, of the likes of Burger King, Virgin Mobile, Apple, Budweiser, Weight Watchers and Stella Artois and Seamless, to let him do what he does best by creating content that promotes these brands desperately trying to target the millennial audience. Time magazine named Ostrovsky to its 2015 list of The 30 Most Influential People on the Internet.

Parlaying his uncanny ability to build a following, in 2015 Ostrovsky decided to diversify from internet celebrity to entrepreneur. He along with his partners, launched a California-based wine company with White Girl Rose, a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and White Zinfandel which was followed by a canned sparkling wine called BABE. He crushed it.

I believe “The Fat Jew” brand that Ostrovsky has created is an amazing example of how an individual or even small business can find incredible success through successful social media and content media strategies. He has over time evolved from internet personality to entrepreneur, to film, television, commercials, modeling and fashion to publishing his own book in 2015 titled, Money, Pizza, Respect. I will admit that I have his book and he has not wavered in his unique brand messaging over the years. I think his ability to create content that aligns with his brand truly allows him to connect with his target audience in ways that some brands often can only dream of doing successfully.