Establishing a New TikTok Account for Stanley Europe
As Stanley Europe’s creative and digital marketing agency, we launched their TikTok presence as the viral Quencher landed in Europe
After a couple of years of monumental success in the United States, 2023 was finally slated as the year for Stanley’s Quencher to launch in Europe. As the brand’s primary European digital agency, it was up to us to develop a paid and organic strategy worthy of what was fast becoming one of the decade’s most coveted accessories.
As well as running the paid social ads across multiple platforms and markets, and producing much of the creative, the strategy needed a robust plan for organic social too. This included existing platforms Facebook and Instagram. But, with the Quencher’s success famously being driven by virality on TikTok, now was the time to set up a dedicated European account on the famous ‘other’ app too.
A Multi-Platform Creative Strategy
The brand’s US division already had a global TikTok account launched off the back of the Quencher’s success in the US. Quencher-related hashtags on the platform had received hundreds of millions of views, and the demand for the product was building across the pond. We’d seen this increased traction, trends and onsite searches and encouraged the EMEA team to make the Quencher available in Europe.
That didn’t mean it would be straightforward, though. Despite the data being favourable, no one could be certain if the Quencher would enjoy the same success in Europe as it had in the States, or whether the brand would resonate with TikTok’s European audience in the same way.
On top of that, Stanley wanted to move away from its outdoor lifestyle identity towards a broader, more female audience. We wanted to retain the original outdoor lifestyle audience, whilst leveraging the Quencher fans into Stanley fans.
Having worked with Stanley on its organic Instagram, content strategy and production since 2020, we did have a bank of content to draw from and a network of creators across Europe. And while we could work with that to an extent, for TikTok, we needed to develop a fresh bank of creators who formed part of Stanley Europe’s new audience.
@stanley_europe Sometimes it gets a bit too much… #Stanley #StanleyEurope #BuiltForLife #StanleyQuencher #Quencher #Kourtney #Kardashian #KourtneyKardashian #KeepingUp #WaterTok #Quencher #FYP #Hydration #Viral #Funny #LipSync ♬ original sound – itgirlproblems
Testing and Developing an Effective TikTok Strategy
Our strategy was to test as much as we could early on, learn from it, and move forward with a more focused creative strategy.
Initially, to activate the account we leveraged existing content. We trialled it in its original form alongside testing shorter edits, re-cut to fit with trending audio. Stills from the archive were reworked as carousels with a hook that prompted engagement.
One wildcard pillar in our creative launch strategy was the Sent into Space campaign. Not only did the Quencher tumbler launch on the European site, but it launched into the upper atmosphere. We teamed up with the team at Sent into Space to organise and produce scroll-stopping videos of, literally, a Quencher in near space. This stunt also landed us a mention in The Wall Street Journal.
Beyond that, we worked on a platform-specific content strategy. We linked up with creators who knew the platform and already loved the product, seeded products and briefed them to create everything from ASMR unboxing videos to recipe videos. We produced content internally too, shortlisting trends that would work with Stanley’s brand and were both entertaining and informative.
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Leveraging TikTok’s Advertising Capabilities for Audience Growth
Paid social played a big part in our strategy too. We developed a system of split testing posts to compare how they resonated with different audiences. We created ad sets across multiple markets and interest groups, ultimately bringing down the cost per follower – a key objective set by the European team.
Yes, we could capitalise on the existing virality, but we also needed to forge a unique identity for Stanley Europe on TikTok – an identity that differed from the US, and from the brand’s presence on Instagram, as the US and European markets differ in their perception of Stanley as a brand.
With that in mind, the development of the European account was initially seen as exploratory. This tentative sentiment was reflected in allocated budgets; we had to be clever with how we developed the strategy.
An Engaged TikTok Audience
In the year since we launched the account, Stanley Europe’s TikTok grew from 0 followers to over 40,000. We carefully grew this audience to ensure that the followers aligned with our target demographics, with the resulting location, age and gender in line with our goals.
The follower audience is engaged too, with key metrics showing very positive signs of growth in line with the follower growth. As we move towards 2025, we’re continuing to develop exciting content and setting some lofty targets.
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