Who is Carpe?

A media launch to sell products on media is virtually impossible. Yet a deodorant brand, carpe, cracked the code.

Frustrated by their own struggles with excessive sweating and lack of effective solutions, two college students founded Carpe. A deodorant stick that works.

Since their launch, they have released dozens of new care products: scalp powder, back cream, groin powder, mist, face wipes, etc. As you can tell, they have grown 100 fold. But how did they do it? Lets get into it!

Carpe’s Blueprint (1/3)

Target Audience

You may be thinking they target all people with sweat/oder issues. But that is actually slightly incorrect. If they only targeted people with that issue, they would battle an extremely tough market that isn’t that large.

Instead, Carpe targets individuals who resonate with a fun, movement-driven lifestyle. By combining a product push on Instagram with an energetic, community-first brand identity, they appeal to a younger audience. Approximate age range: 18 - 34

The golden people:

• A 24-year-old who travels to concerts and outdoor events all summer long.

• An 18-year-old who wants to try out a fun instagram trend after school with her friends.

• A 25-year-old fitness enthusiast who hits the gym every morning before work.

Engagement Tactics

After identifying the target audience, Carpe has these responsibilities:

1. Match the vibe (movement, energy)

2. Show why their product is helpful for that community

3. Gently nudge their product

Match the vibe! One thing Carpe does is show actual human beings in each video. This is an underrated aspect of media campaigns. It is extremely hard to connect to a target audience when there is no human. So, the founder himself started to post.

How do they show movement/energy in their videos?

I hope you didn’t think of this for too long. He literally just moves. Often in his videos, he will be on the street, running to talk to people with a mike. Not only is this literally movement, but it also makes the viewer feel a sense of energy and excitement.

How will this product actually change the lives of people who buy it? I know that sounds dramatic, but that’s what it takes for brands to sell. The obvious: it helps your odor, better against sweat, and feels nice. But something else they show, is how it is made. Often, they will post ingredient composition.

Why does that matter? If you pay attention to younger people, one huge trend is healthiness. People LOVE to see what is inside the products they are buying. It creates a sense of comfortability.

Ads

Along with Carpe’s incredible marketing campaign, they have also had a very strong ad campaign. There are so many ads in todays media that to capture any attention at all is a struggle. Recognizing that, Carpe’s founder did something most wouldn’t to get that engagement. He stood in the middle of a circle of people for 10 second while they shot paintballs at him…

If that isn’t going all out, I have NO idea what is. Why is that so effective? Off the bat, it is just plain old funny. Someone getting shot with paintballs can never be boring. Again, it promotes that movement lifestyle that allows for tons of excitement. As you can tell, Carpe is committed to that demographic and is doing everything in their power to capitalize on it.

More importantly, since this is an ad, they can show their discount in creative ways to remind people about their product. In that specific ad, they labeled the concept as “for every paintball that hits me in the next 10 seconds, there will be an additional 1% off.” Though a viewer is seeing a man get shot over and over again, they are also seeing a product becoming cheaper and cheaper.

_{If you want more information on effective ads, leave a comment on this piece, and I will dive much, much deeper.}

Exercise (2/3)

You founded a company called ‘CleanTable’. You manufacture modern tables that are especially attractive to a younger audience (13-20). Due to budget restraints, you are looking at Instagram Reels to do a full fledge marketing campaign. Here are the questions you need to answer:

• Who is your specific target audience? Who are your golden people?

• How are you going to match their vibe?

• Why is this product helpful?

• How are you going to gently nudge your audience?

There are thousands of different answers. Here are mine:

• People who like neat aesthetics and are in school; (A 19-year-old looking to have a neat college move-in.)

• Feature creators doing relatable things on the table: homework, eating ramen, cleaning.

• Lightweight and budget-friendly, perfect for first-time decorators or college move-ins.

• Ad concept: Day in the life of a remote worker. Shows zooms, meals, journaling. Making it aesthetic allows for the neat freak viewers to be happy while gently seeing proper tables.

  

Final Takeaways (3/3)

For all you start-ups out there, I know how hard it is to win on social media. It is consistently an uphill battle and you just have to keep on pushing.

Remember these important points while trying to succeed on media:

• Invoke emotion

• Match the vibe of your target audience

• Don’t be afraid to embarrass yourself

Whats next

After conducting a survey on my instagram (@brij__garg), it became clear that y’all want an influencer. So I decided that the next one should be an artist that shined through authenticity.

Thank you so much for reading. I know how busy all your lives are and appreciate you giving me the time of your day.