Are viral trends really your best chance at staying afloat in a saturated market? Or are they actually drowning you in the sea of other brands jumping on the same bandwagon?
You must have heard this completely unhelpful ‘nightmare’ brief if you’ve ever worked in social media or marketing (or know someone who does):
It’s the one where brands are obsessively fixated on being the talk of the town and chasing that fleeting “it” moment. In all fairness, there is an undeniable appeal in becoming a superstar overnight — especially for smaller businesses who see it as their ticket to success.
But amid droves of brands capitalizing on social media trends, Singapore’s number one air purifier brand, Sterra – a Singapore-grown brand that offers Singaporeans an improved quality of life at home through a range of products that include air and water purifiers, dehumidifiers, mattresses, massage chairs and more – posed two arresting questions:
Are viral trends really your best chance at staying afloat in a saturated market? Or are they actually drowning you in the sea of other brands jumping on the same bandwagon?
Chris and Strife Lim, Co-Founders of Sterra, think that the answer to both questions could be a resounding “yes”.
With a staggering S$11 million ad budget, Sterra’s recent social media campaign reached 1 million Instagram and Facebook users in Singapore daily.
Bold but not reckless
With the oversaturation of ads and fierce competition from other brands, getting through to new consumers is a dream come true for many business owners. But just like their journey from a startup seven years ago, to a multi-million-dollar brand today, Sterra has always relied on their bold and unconventional ad approach – with frequent, simple, and unique touches – making it the secret sauce behind their success.
To them, when aiming for a solid return on investment with a big budget, a solid plan isn’t negotiable. And this calls for consistently creating great-quality, trendy, and informative ads to connect with their audience, ensuring that they feel understood and valued.
But it’s not all just about being bold – the actual challenges lie in efficient ad budget management. As advertising costs run the risk of running over, sloppy management can negatively impact businesses. To tackle this, Sterra experimented with high-quality ads, carefully distributing the budget to areas with the highest potential. Then, they closely tracked performance metrics to prevent any sudden budget deficits.
To date, Sterra has invested over 8 figures for ad spend, and is now growing profits in the billions with a 2% daily conversion rate. Ultimately, Sterra has successfully reached over 100 million consumers, establishing a wide net for top-of-mind recall.
