HUH CLOTHING

The objective

Expanding audience reach and generating leads for HUH Clothing

HUH Clothing – an acronym for ‘How’s Ur Head’ – is an innovative clothing venture with a twofold mission: to develop apparel that seamlessly blends style and comfort, while championing the cause of mental health awareness and support.

Launched in 2020 by founder Mark Donnelly, HUH commits 10% of each sale to supporting mental health organizations across Ireland, ensuring that vital services reach those in need. Using everyday clothing items like hoodies and t-shirts as the conduits for crucial conversations, HUH Clothing hopes to initiate and facilitate organic dialogue about the importance of mental health and holistic well-being.

Initially, Mark had been using TikTok, through @HUHClothing_ as an organic channel for his marketing strategy. He used the account to promote product sales, generate engagement, and drive meaningful conversations about mental health with communities on TikTok. He used TikTok LIVE to connect directly with his community, showcasing the processing of orders and encouraging conversations about the importance of transparent discussions around mental health.

A turning point arrived for Mark, who was at a cross-roads with HUH, when the opportunity arose to take part in the inaugural TikTok ADvance programme, which was designed as an accelerator course for small and medium-sized businesses to help them in harnessing TikTok ad solutions for their growth and outreach strategies.

The solution

TikTok ADvance, helping small businesses achieve their goals

As a participant on TikTok ADvance, HUH had access to resources that helped them achieve maximum success despite modest budgets and limited marketing resources.

With support from a TikTok client experts, HUH were given a tailored onboarding and activation plan for TikTok for Business and upskilled on setting up TikTok ads on the platform.

During the period of the ADvance programme, HUH went through a shift in their business model. Initially seeking to amplify corporate and bulk orders, along with generating speaking requests, HUH used TikTok’s SparkAds, with a Lead Generation objective to capture leads of those interested in the HUH brand. HUH’s approach to Lead Generation on TikTok meant that when a user tapped the button on a lead ad, it opened an Instant Form where users could learn about the business, leave their contact information, and signal their interest in products.

To ensure precise targeting, HUH tailored their strategies based on specific interests, behaviours, and relevant hashtags. As the campaign progressed, HUH leveraged Custom Audiences derived from users that interacted with their ads and followed their TikTok account. Further refining their targeting precision, they utilized Lookalike Audiences. These targeting tactics played a pivotal role in significantly enhancing campaign effectiveness.

As the marketing campaign progressed, HUH made the decision to relaunch their B2C side of the business and looked to increase the brand's awareness. Leveraging TikTok's follower acquisition tool, HUH strategically employed the Community Interaction objective to reach out to fresh audiences. This method enticed users to not only follow their account but also actively engage with the content available on their profile.

The results

Driving sales and making genuine human connections through TikTok ads

From Mark Donnelly’s perspective, without TikTok, HUH Clothing might not be in operation today. The brand saw an additional 2.5k followers and almost 2 million impressions thanks to their 3-month campaign. They could also see a direct correlation between posting on TikTok and an increase in demand for products, with over 100 leads being generated. The nature of these sales was both minor and major, ranging from individual shoppers to large-scale corporate partnerships, and the relaunch of the B2C side of the business saw over 200 sales over the first weekend.

The brand’s reach on TikTok even lead to a collaboration with Mini Cooper and BMW, wherein Donnelly himself was made a sponsored brand ambassador opening up opportunities for additional visibility and cross-selling with the auto brands’ audiences.

Owing to HUH Clothing’s dual mission of using clothing as a means of sparking conversations about mental health, another significant result of their TikTok campaigns has been the real people they have been able to reach and impact. In one case, a young girl from County Kerry, Ireland, found the brand on TikTok and reached out to its founder to share her own personal challenges with mental health. She admitted that it was difficult to speak about her struggles with the people in her life but that the brand’s TikTok content made her feel seen, though she was too young to make online purchases. This led to Donnelly personally delivering free apparel to the young girl and engaging in a heartfelt conversation with her and her family about the realities of mental health.

In facilitating these dialogues and reaching audiences of via TikTok, HUH Clothing is a defining example of how marketing initiatives can yield results that go beyond sales and ROAS.

I wouldn't have a business without TikTok. I really wouldn't. There were various stages where if I didn't post on TikTok, I wouldn't sell a single hoodie. Off the back of TikTok and some viral videos, I've been on RTE Radio One, I've been in every newspaper I can think of, I've gotten massive orders […] We've gotten so many consumer customers directly from TikTok.

Mark Donnelly - Founder

HUH CLOTHING