How Ishan Goel's maverick marketing strategy made an egg the most-liked picture on Instagram

By Divya Verma

A first-generation Indian-American, Ishan Goel was one of the people who helped take the stock image of an egg viral, breaking billionaire Kylie Jenner’s Instagram record.

A humble egg — some like it sunny side up, some prefer it poached while some want it hard boiled. But while 19-year-old Ishan Goel prefers his scrambled, his marketing strategy is over easy.


Last month, Goel, a Dallas-based marketer, shared that he was one of the people who had helped dethrone reality star Kylie Jenner’s baby announcement as the most-liked photo on Instagram.

And the new title holder: the little ole’ egg, with more than 54 million likes (as compared to Jenner’s 18 million).

According to British tabloid, Daily Mail, the marketing professional was the “gasoline” that helped fuel the popularity of the post.

Goel, who runs Goel Strategies, a marketing strategy and brand consulting firm, told ETPanache that though he wasn’t the brains behind the project, he was “simply in the right place at the right time”.

“I learned about the ambitious egg post very early on and decided that I would connect with the egg account owner[s] to see if they needed help,” he said via email. “They remained anonymous [at the time] but chose to accept my assistance in helping take it viral.” His marketing strategy, he said, was to reach out to the strongest contacts and celebrities in his network to get more influencers talking about the egg. “It is ultimately all about who you know,” he said. Since the original post, the account, world_record_egg, went on to post more photos leading up to the big reveal — a mental health series on the pressures of social media.

An advertising creative from London, Chris Godfrey, and two others revealed themselves as the brains behind the egg and the creators of the account. According to a New York Times report, Godfrey said the account’s growth was “completely organic”. And that “no one person helped the egg’s rise in popularity and no single account or group of accounts helped it to explode”.

View this post on Instagram

Phew! I feel so much better now 😊 If you’re feeling the pressure, visit talkingegg.info to find out more. Let’s build this list together 🙌 #EggGang #WeGotThis #TalkingEgg

A post shared by EGG GANG 🌍 (@world_record_egg) on Feb 4, 2019 at 4:06am PST

Despite several emails, Godfrey and the team handling the world record egg account did not respond to queries.

Goel said he wasn’t even aware of Godfrey’s involvement and had dealt with a young team that chose to remain anonymous.

He added that he wasn’t involved in the follow-up releases. “But I think it is very noble to connect this to a meaningful public service announcement,” he said.

A nest egg
Just like the youngest Jenner, Goel understands about starting young on the entrepreneurial route — he founded his first company when he was 14.

“I was in middle school when I started a company based on reselling and outsourcing services, later moving on to photography and then doubling back to marketing,” he said. “I have always been a go-getter. So, for me, it is normal, but for the typical person my age, the career-minded outlook has not kicked in yet.”

While he honed his skill, the first-generation IndianAmerican decided to forego the traditional college route. “I am still learning every day and I keep an eye on new ways of staying on top of today’s fast-changing world. It has never been about money for me. It’s about being part of creating next-generation business ideas and culture shifts,” he said.

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Let’s set a world record together and get the most liked post on Instagram. Beating the current world record held by Kylie Jenner (18 million)! We got this 🙌 #LikeTheEgg #EggSoldiers #EggGang

A post shared by EGG GANG 🌍 (@world_record_egg) on Jan 4, 2019 at 9:05am PST

In a 2015 interview, Jenner too had shared her plans of skipping the university to be a businesswoman. A few years down the line, she has built a make-up and fashion empire, has a reported net worth of $1 billion and is now the youngest self-made billionaire (move over, Mark Zuckerberg).

So, does the net worth of the man who helped dethrone the queen of social media match up? “Hopefully, it is higher than it was before the egg came along,” Goel joked.

And since it all started with an egg, Goel had a simple response to the much-debated paradox — what came first: chicken or egg?

“Ask the chicken,” he concluded.