Turning a TikTok trend into a TV phenomenon through a full-funnel approach
Hulu is a leading streaming platform known for its bold blend of live TV, next-day network shows, and award-winning originals like The Bear, Only Murders in the Building, and The Handmaid's Tale. With a mission to tell culturally relevant stories that spark conversation, Hulu reaches a diverse, digitally native audience through content that balances mainstream appeal with genre-pushing creativity.
For the launch of Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, Hulu aimed to drive awareness and tune-in by tapping into an already-active subcommunity on TikTok: MomTok. Building on its strong organic presence and previous TikTok learnings, Hulu saw an opportunity to create synergy between the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives and its MomTok roots.
With the cast actively promoting the title and creators fueling conversation, TikTok was the ideal partner to generate cultural momentum and keep the buzz going beyond the premiere.
Hulu set out to seamlessly turn organic trends and TikTok creators into an effective tune-in campaign for Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. To drive sustained attention, Hulu deployed 30+ unique creatives across multiple touchpoints.
This included the brand's first use of long-form in-feed sneak peeks, alongside high-impact placements like Pulse Premiere, TopView, Search Ads, Top Feed, and talent-led Spark Ads from both the TikTok-savvy cast and other creators.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives captivated audiences and became Hulu's most-watched unscripted season premiere of the year. Hulu's TikTok campaigns drove 144% lift in overall tune-in rate, including a 373% lift in tune-in from Pulse campaigns.
A Brand Lift Study revealed some of Hulu's highest brand lifts to date: +37.8% ad recall, +28.6% awareness, and +13% brand association. It was also Hulu’s most efficient search campaign ever, while In-Feed Ads delivered average watch time 65% above industry benchmarks.
On TikTok, #SecretLivesOfMormonWives became a top-trending hashtag, earning over 414 million video views, and the series was renewed for a second season.