Founders Swap Social Ads for Taylor Swift and Prison Tablets
▼ Summary
– This Build Mode episode focuses on go-to-market strategies, featuring insights from Luna and Untapped Solutions founders about reaching niche audiences.
– Luna, a well-being app for teenage girls, engaged its target audience directly by visiting UK schools to gather feedback and recruit brand ambassadors.
– Luna’s teenage ambassadors helped develop the app and promoted it through social content and activations at events like Taylor Swift concerts.
– Untapped Solutions, a platform for formerly incarcerated individuals, built ubiquity by speaking at events and launching a National Reentry Coalition and partnerships.
– Through these efforts, Untapped Solutions is now accessible in nearly every prison system, available on tablets used by incarcerated people.
Finding effective ways to connect with specific customer groups often requires moving beyond conventional advertising. In a recent discussion, founders from two distinct startups shared their unconventional strategies for engaging niche markets: teenage girls and individuals reentering society from incarceration. Their approaches highlight the power of direct community involvement and strategic partnerships over traditional marketing channels.
The team behind Luna, a wellness application designed for young women, quickly realized they couldn’t rely on standard social media campaigns. The founders acknowledged they were no longer teenagers themselves, creating a natural disconnect. To bridge this gap, they visited schools across the United Kingdom, actively seeking out blunt critiques from students. This direct engagement proved invaluable. The students didn’t just offer feedback; many became passionate brand ambassadors. These young advocates took on roles as behind-the-scenes contributors to the app’s development and as content creators promoting it on social platforms. Their efforts evolved into a full-fledged, youth-led marketing team that organized activations at major gatherings, including Taylor Swift’s concerts, where they knew their core audience would be present in large numbers.
Untapped Solutions encountered a different set of obstacles. The platform, which functions as a professional network for people with justice-involved backgrounds, needed to ensure its services were accessible where its users are. Founder Andre Peart and his team recognized that this demographic is often overlooked by mainstream technology. They aggressively pursued a presence on the speaking circuit and established their own National Reentry Coalition. They also forged critical partnerships with agencies that serve the hundreds of thousands of individuals released from prison each year. This ground-up strategy has led to remarkable market penetration. Peart noted that their platform is now available on tablets within nearly every prison system, making it an immediate resource for those who need it.
For a deeper exploration of these innovative go-to-market tactics, the full conversation is available in the latest episode. You can watch the video or find the Build Mode podcast on your preferred listening platform. If you enjoy the content, consider leaving a review. The producers also welcome listener feedback sent directly to their email.
(Source: TechCrunch)
