After Hailey Bieber shared a photo on Instagram with the small gold knot earrings from the accessory label Heaven Mayhem, Pia Mance, the founder of the brand, took action.
The earrings weren't due to go on sale for two days. She moved the sale date up and put them on the brand's website that same day. They sold out within 24 hours. At first, it felt like a dream come true – the attention of a celebrity and a successful, sold-out product. But soon the popularity became a source of stress.
“My assistant and I would run after the UPS delivery truck so we could start printing the labels and processing the orders,” Mance said. “Every time it sold well, I would order double the amount, and then it would always sell out. It was almost like I had no control over sales.”
This is what it looks like when a product goes viral. While it promises a lot—attention and visibility, word of mouth, increased sales, and hopefully long-term growth—it also comes with its challenges. When a viral product typically sells out—sometimes running out of several months' worth of inventory in less than 24 hours—it can leave brands struggling to meet demand. A standout product can increase brand awareness, but there's also the risk that consumers will only know it. Going from a small product to an international one overnight can be a difficult transition that can ultimately hurt a brand.
Issa London, which made the royal blue dress that the Princess of Wales (then Kate Middleton) wore to announce her engagement in 2010, for example, was forced to close five years later. Problems began to worsen when founder Daniella Helayel struggled to finance production to meet demand for the dress. Entireworld, the basic label that embodied pandemic clothing in a 2020s style, New York Times The “sweatpants forever” article could not reinvent itself when lockdowns ended and were lifted at the end of 2021.
“A brand doesn't want to be completely tied to one product,” says Robert Burke, managing director of retail consultancy Robert Burke Associates. “It's great to take advantage of this viral moment, but [you have to] make sure the brand stands for more.”
If brands play their cards right, the current upswing can be used to lay the foundation for a long-term business. However, this does not require reacting in the moment, but continuing to use the lessons learned to drive the future.
“It's an opportunity,” says Erin Kleinberg, founder of the agency Métier Creative and the skincare label Sidia. “Now it's about putting the puzzle pieces together correctly.”
At the moment
As any founder will tell you, it's rarely possible to predict what product will be the focus of conversations or when it will happen. But when lightning strikes, there are immediate concerns that should be at the forefront.
“The products are much more in the public eye, and that's fun, but it's also about, 'What does the website look like? Do we have enough stock? What are the prices?'” says Matilda Djerf, founder and creator of Djerf Avenue, a clothing and homewares label whose fruit and berry-print bathrobes became a hit on TikTok last year. “Going viral doesn't necessarily mean you're going to get sales. Everything else has to be right.”
While there is a certain prestige in selling out, sales require inventory. And predicting viral demand can be difficult because it changes minute to minute. Mance and Djerf used pre-orders as a tool to determine the size of reorders. Djerf also said they have made adjustments in production – they work with a supply of fabric that their factories keep on hand and space out orders so there is always product in stock – to keep products continuously in stock.
And when your brand is in the spotlight, it's a good time to invest in new marketing channels, launch a new campaign, or respond to press attention. Brands that notice a trend and respond accordingly can build momentum.
For example, after seeing a surge in popularity of its Cool Jean—a wide-leg pair with a toggle closure at the waist—downtown New York-based denim brand Still Here made the brand the focus of its holiday campaign and planned a restock, and the success was even better than initial interest suggested.
“It was clear to us at that point that the world was crazy about it,” says Still Here founder Sonia Mosseri. “That was the moment.”
When the dust has settled
To retain new customers and convert the great attention into longevity, brands should think about what originally made the product successful and build on that.
For example, when Hill House Home's nap dress went viral in 2020, five different styles were made that fell into that category. Since then, over 50 nap styles have been created in 480 different prints or colors. To iterate on the original styles, the brand used consumer data to guide the conversation, according to founder Nell Diamond.
“Over the next six months, it became clear that smocking was what made Nap dresses special, but there was something else people loved about the brand,” Diamond said. “We had to do a lot of testing with customers.”
These new styles have kept customers coming back: the top 10 percent of the brand's customers own 13 of its dresses. It has also introduced new products, such as velour dresses without the typical smocking, jackets and swimwear. Djerf Avenue, meanwhile, has brought its popular berry print to a range of different items, including pajamas and bedding – all in the same lounge family as the original robe – while Heaven Mayhem has brought the bold, oversized silhouette of its earrings to new accessories, such as brooches.
After a viral moment, brands – especially smaller labels – also need to consider their broader customer base, which may now include new geographies and demographics that may have different desires than their original core customers. Kleinberg said brands should try to meet these new customers where they are, whether that's with events or pop-ups in their cities to build that relationship and find out what they want from the brand.
However, brands should not forget this first-time customer – in the fashion industry, often a well-informed, coastal “cool girl” type – as they will continue to encourage their customers to launch new products.
“The broader consumer base is obviously looking to these New York influencers who are setting the trends,” Mance said. With new categories like brooches, she's found that “the cool girl loves it, buys it and believes in it immediately, whereas it takes longer for a broad mainstream audience to get it.”
Some things don't change, though. Diamond said she's found that what matters most to most customers is their connection to the brand. New ways to engage customers can help with that. On Djerf Avenue's members-only platform, Angels Avenue, exclusive images are shared with users, who can then create “style boards” to share inspirational images. Diamond hosts a livestream, the “Nap Room,” before each major product release. She also has a broadcast channel on Instagram where she gives previews of upcoming campaigns or product launches.
To turn virality into lasting success, brands need to remember that there may be moments when their hottest product isn't at the top of customers' wish lists – and get them to invest in the rest of their range. Earlier this year, still at the height of its holiday campaign, Still Here launched a new marketing campaign to introduce customers to its Everyday Jean, a more classic straight-leg style.
“Our focus was to start the conversation about Cool Jeans, to be there to support it, to grow it, to watch it evolve, while also investing our efforts in everyday clothing and slightly less trendy products,” Mosseri said.
