<\/p>\n
You might not be familiar with Laguna Beach Textile Company, but you\u2019ve probably seen one of its blankets recently.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, an Instagram story of Selena Gomez looking zen while wrapped in the brand\u2019s Cabo Mexican blanket became a meme, creating an unexpected marketing opportunity as the image traveled across social media.<\/p>\n
Lauren Franks, director of branding and partnerships at Laguna Beach Textile Company, told us that the brand sold blankets to a private member\u2019s club in Malibu, where she said the photo was taken, but she could have \u201cnever imagined\u201d those sales would lead to something like this.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe buck stopped with, \u2018I\u2019m happy to have the blankets here because the clientele will like us as a luxury good, and they\u2019ll be able to see our tag or logo on these blankets as they use them,\u2019\u2019 she said. \u201cThen this all happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
Danny Meurer, the brand\u2019s president and founder, told us it has sold around 200 blankets, a 400%\u2013500% increase from normal sales rates, since the meme took off. According to Franks, social engagement is also up, with one TikTok getting more than 91,000 views compared to its average of around 1,200.<\/p>\n
After capitalizing on the meme\u2019s popularity, they said the hope is to keep the meme-<\/em>ntum going with holidays like Halloween and Christmas on the horizon.<\/p>\n While a viral moment wasn’t the intention when the brand sold its blankets to the club, Meurer said Laguna Beach Textile Company has \u201chistorically tried to get lucky with stuff like this,\u201d placing its towels on shows like Love Island USA<\/em>.<\/p>\n When the photo was posted, Meurer said the team\u2019s response was, \u201c\u2018Okay, how do we quickly tie our brand to that photo?\u2019 Because there was no payment to Selena and no link in the Instagram post, so we had to get it out there.\u201d<\/p>\n Franks said the initial response was to put paid media behind a repost of the photo of Gomez on its social channels to promote the blanket. Once the photo evolved into a meme and articles started coming out about it, she said she pivoted to drafting a press release and doing media outreach with the help of a PR partner.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was timing, and it was making it urgent and getting that press release in front of the right people at the right time,\u201d she said. And those efforts paid off: According to Meurer, the brand \u201cdidn\u2019t see a huge lift in sales\u201d until it established brand attribution in the press.<\/p>\n The email newsletter guaranteed to bring you the latest stories shaping the marketing and advertising world, like only the Brew can.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n But that doesn\u2019t mean it turned away from social. Franks said LBTC put ads out across TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest and has been responding to TikTok comments inquiring about the blanket. The product page for the blanket was also updated to include the photo of Gomez, and the brand has been reposting and repurposing some of the memes across social channels.<\/p>\n Franks said she\u2019s also been sending blankets to TikTokers\u2014including some who have used different blankets in their meme videos\u2014to potentially be used in future organic content.<\/p>\n While brand safety can be a concern during an organic viral moment, Meurer said his philosophy is, \u201cWe\u2019re such a small brand, all publicity is good publicity.\u201d When YouTuber Trisha Paytas posted a spoof of the photo on TikTok wearing the blanket while talking about Hurricane Hilary, Franks said she received \u201cvery divided feedback as to whether to run with that or not,\u201d but ultimately decided to.<\/p>\n According to Franks, it ended up being \u201cgreat press\u201d for the brand. \u201cIt starts with, \u2018Okay, let\u2019s milk every opportunity out of this while we can because it\u2019s not long-term news,\u2019\u201d Franks said. \u201cThe way that the internet is these days, these things are gone in like a blip of time, so you have to make sure the most amount of people see it in the quickest amount of time.\u201d<\/p>\n Given the fleeting nature of the internet, Meurer said the challenge now is figuring out how to continue using this opportunity to sell more blankets, while also managing production expectations since the blankets are handmade by artisans in Mexico.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve already heard people online talking about it being a very easy Halloween costume, so I think that\u2019s another sales moment,\u201d he said, adding that it could also be \u201ca little bit of a cheeky Christmas gift.\u201d<\/p>\n To date, Meurer said the brand has spent about $2k on PR services and $1.5k on paid ads. Looking ahead, he said another challenge will be figuring out how to target their paid ads leading up to the holidays given that the people who plan to buy the blanket for a costume might not be their typical customers.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s probably where the marketing continues, and probably, frankly, where it ends,\u201d he said. Long term, he said the hope is that this moment helps build credibility and brand awareness for the brand, calling it \u201cfortuitous\u201d that this meme happened.<\/p>\n \u201cA big shout out and thank-you to Selena for being such a good sport,\u201d Franks added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nRight place, right time<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Get marketing news you’ll actually want to read<\/h5>\n
Making the most of it<\/strong><\/h2>\n