Oatly shares how listening helps them to make smart decisions without chasing every trend.
Social media feels exhausting right now. Everyone’s chasing the same trends, posting faster than they have time to think, and being pushed to join into the “big theme of the day” before it burns out.
The pressure to keep up has turned a lot of brand social into noise - busy, reactive, and strangely disconnected from the people it’s meant to reach.
So sitting in on Oatly x Sprout’s session, “Predictive Power: How Oatly Turns Social Community Into Business Strategy” felt timely. I was curious how a global brand like Oatly manages to stay so recognisable and so relevant among the social noise – and as a vegan, I’m also just super nosy about them!
The Oatly Approach
Oatly are deeply comfortable doing less and doing it with purpose.
They don’t jump on trends just to prove they’re paying attention. If something feels like coattail-riding, they leave it alone. If it doesn’t fit the brand, they stay quiet. And crucially, that restraint is backed at leadership level. Tone and identity are highly protected, even when that means being less visible in the moment.
Silence, for them, is a powerful tool. They’re very clear that not participating is a form of participation, and sometimes the most on-brand response is to say nothing at all.
That confidence comes from listening properly and knowing what their audience expects from them.
Social listening as strategy
The team uses social listening to understand behaviour, spot shifts in trends early, and decide what’s worth acting on.
They pay close attention to what people are already doing with the brand - how products are being used, talked about, and shared inside real communities, not just on the main feed. That means looking beyond big viral moments and into patterns forming in niche corners of the internet: specific creators, comment threads, subcultures, and spotting repeated behaviours that signal genuine interest.
That’s how their Matcha Latte product came to life. It didn’t come from a workshop or a brainstorm. It came from watching creators consistently use Oatly or oat milk in matcha on TikTok. Oat milk was already part of the ritual, so the behaviour was there first. That’s what social listening looks like when it’s taken seriously. Give the people what they want! (Unbelievably, the matcha product isn’t available in the US, with plenty of online envy to prove it, so if you’re in the UK and curious, you know where to go!*)
The same mindset applies to partnerships. The UK Rapper Giggs didn’t come through a talent pipeline or agency pitch. He DM’d Oatly. They replied like humans. It turned into a real partnership with a genuine fan who reeeaaally loves their custard, not a forced brand stunt.
Communities over trends
Oatly are also refreshingly honest about scale. They know they can’t speak to everyone through their main feed, and they don’t try to. There are too many micro-communities, too many nuances in cultural subsets, and too many contexts for a single global feed to cover without flattening the brand.
Instead, they keep their core social output tight, consistent, and unmistakably Oatly. That’s the most visible layer, so it stays true to the brand’s tone and values. Then, rather than stretching that voice to fit every audience, they reach niche communities through smaller, more targeted campaigns where specificity is allowed and encouraged.
This is where social listening really earns its place. By understanding who is talking, where those conversations are happening, and why they matter, Oatly can show up in ways that feel relevant without trying to be everything to everyone.
It’s not about scale for the sake of it, but relevance and respecting the fact that different communities want different things from a brand.
Where social is heading
Looking ahead, they’re not looking to make more shinier content or louder campaigns. If anything, they see a shift back towards behind-the-scenes storytelling, more employee-generated content, and a lot more happening in the comments.
The comment section, they said, is the new content feed. That’s where nuance lives. It’s where brands can test ideas, respond in real time, and behave like participants rather than broadcasters. It’s where listening and creating opportunities to connect start to merge into the same thing.
On AI, their stance was clear. It doesn’t belong in their creative. It’s too easy to spot and doesn’t align with Oatly’s raw, slightly analogue, human culture. Their ads work because they’re self-aware and honest - they said customers really respond to the direct approach: “This is oat milk. We want you to buy it.”
Where AI does have a role is in the background - helping spot patterns, understand behaviour, and make better decisions at scale using tools like Sprout. The focus stays on connecting with what they called “magic individuals” - not automating creativity for speed.
Understanding their audience
Oatly know their audience well enough to not jump on everything. They’re comfortable saying no and acting when it matters. For them, social listening isn’t a shiny add-on, it’s how they decide what’s even worth making in the first place.
The work can be messy because, as they’ve said themselves, you can’t create and collaborate in a vacuum. Trends get followed, for sure, but they only make it through if they serve a real purpose and feel true to the brand.
They’ve shown this time and again. From partnering with Tony’s Chocolonely, to backing voting initiatives, sustainability work, and campaigns like Kids of Immigrants in the US, they stand for more than just selling a product. And it doesn’t feel performative, because it isn’t new.
It’s just consistent with how they listen, how they respond, and how they show up.
*We’re in no way affiliated with Oatly!