Little Moons growth boosted by viral marketing #WhatBrandsDo

Ice cream sensation Little Moons has exponentially grown in the past year thanks to a viral TikTok video.

The video in early 2021 of a Tesco customer buying Little Moons has generated more than 300 million views and inspired other users sharing similar videos using the hashtag #LittleMoons. It led to a 700% sales surge in Tesco for the mochi ice cream balls and listings with Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Asda, Waitrose and Ocado.

Little Moons have been actively posting on TikTok since August 2020, and after gaining more traction, they amplified their content by posting videos focusing on viral trends and songs. The organic hashtag #littlemoons has 150.7 million views and #littlemoonsmochi has garnered 107.7 million.

The brand has embraced consumers creating viral social content including ‘food reviews’ of Little Moons, ‘pro tips’ about how to get their hands on the ice cream, demos of how to recreate at home and showing off stockpiles of their products. Little Moons also successfully capitalised on the initial traction of its brand during lockdown, acknowledging the ‘FOMO’ (fear of missing out) that people felt when they couldn’t get their hands on the product.

Little Moons has harnessed the organic viral trend and prolonged into a longer-lasting craze, leading to huge increases in sales.

This is evidence, as if it was needed, of two things. 1. The real time scale and viral stickiness potential of social media activity to deliver results. It is hard to predict or to plan for these outcomes and you need to constantly test-learn-do, but being creative and agile – like Little Moons – makes it worth the price of the ticket. 2. Digital marketing gives small brands the opportunity to deliver the scale outcomes that used to require big budgets and TV. This makes the world of brand marketing as dynamic and competitive as it has ever been. This is good for shoppers and consumers and good for our economic future.

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