Halara
Halara
Every so often my many interests (fashion, fitness, influencer marketing) all intersect into one perfect story, and such is the case with the incredible success of Halara. If you have spent any time on TikTok in the past few years, you have no doubt seen ads for their leggings, tennis skirts, and other clothing. In fact, since launching in 2020, the brand has seen tremendous growth thanks in large part to their successful marketing strategy on social media, with TikTok as their primary platform for social advertising and influencer marketing.
To get more insights on the brand’s successes, how they utilize TikTok, and their latest launches, I spoke with their Global Brand President, Gabby Hirata.
Gabby Hirata, Halara Global Brand President
Katherine Nunez
Marketing To The Moment
Part of the reason behind Halara’s social media success was the landscape in which it launched. The brand was founded in late 2020 amidst a massive pandemic, so social media marketing was essential to getting the word out. Hirata shared that “because Halara’s product optionality was designed to cater to an incredibly diverse spectrum of women, around the globe, we choose to prioritize activating across social platforms, like TikTok, that also allow creators worldwide to craft original and engaging content that speaks to a broad female audience.”
That early TikTok success, especially around the marketing of their active dresses and skirts, drew in a Gen Z crowd in 2021 and 2022, but Hirata noted that the brand’s follower demographics have expanded as Halara has reached more customers. She also noted TikTok’s algorithm as one of the reasons why an up-and-coming brand like Halara was able to achieve widespread popularity in rapid time: “TikTok is also unique in the sense that anyone can go viral, not because of how many followers they have, but because of how authentic and/or relatable their content is; a concept that speaks to Halara’s core brand identity.”
The Work Pants Go Viral
Halara’s most recent marketing success was promoting their bestselling Work Pants. In just 3 months, TikTok marketing drove over half a million in sales for the pants. Hirata shared that “efforts around the work pants at the end of 2023 marked the first time our entire marketing strategy and our product development strategy, were actually led by these content creators themselves,” with the brand tapping into larger consumer trends that they noticed on TikTok, like the growth of the work leisure subcategory, in order to guide the development and marketing of the new product. “By listening to our community’s voice, we now have almost redefined what athleisure means for women’s everyday wear.”
The brand worked with creators to share how they style the pants, which you can see a few examples of below:
Scaling Influencer Content To Create The Conversation
Halara understands that each product launch requires a robust marketing push, and the brand taps fashion and lifestyle creators on TikTok to share their new products to new potential customers. How does the brand achieve virality so often? By working with thousands of content creators for each product launch, of course. While that is a big undertaking for a startup company, they’ve seen the benefits time and time again. “Working on such a large scale is not only beneficial from a virality perspective, but also ties back to our ethos as a company,” Hirata explained, “to work with and cater to a wide range of women worldwide.”
What Other Fashion Brands Should Know About TikTok Marketing
What advice does Hirata have for fashion brands looking to market more on TikTok? “Fundamentally shift your approach towards a human-led narrative. Forget the traditional influencer selection guidelines and marketing decks. Begin with identifying whether your narrative is primarily entertaining or value-add. This narrative should frame your product, emphasizing its end-use from the outset.”
She acknowledged that in the crowded world of TikTok where millions of videos are being viewed daily, “Your content must stand out. It should showcase your products’ uniqueness in a manner that’s both entertaining and value-add to viewers. We marketers know that ultimately, exceptional products are what seal the deal. We only have a few seconds to grab the audience’s attention, we better highlight what’s irresistible about the product from our audience’s perspective.”
Halara
Halara
The New Go-To Influencers
What types of influencers is Hirata hoping to work with in 2024 and beyond? As much as we love a good fashion “It Girl” Hirata is excited to celebrate the rise of creators who can get real with their content. “They’re the ones showing us how things work in real life, offering tips, tricks, and real talk. It’s not just about looking good; it’s about feeling good, finding practical solutions, living a real life, and embracing a wider range of voices, values, and stories.”
What We’re Wearing
Of course, I had to ask Hirata about her personal favorite pieces from Halara that she wears on a day-to-day basis. When she’s visiting the office, she “wears all different Halara pieces such as: flair high-waist leggings with a relaxed top, or the work pants and HalaraMagic denim.” For off-duty style, she recommends any of Halara’s mini skorts. “This was actually my Halara entry product that helped me discover the brand in early 2021! I’m terrible at sports, but my entire life I have collected skorts and shortened them to fit my 5’3” height.”
