Every other TikTok seems like it’s selling something these days, so getting a product to cut through the mindless scrolling and pause consumers’ thumbs for just a second isn’t as easy as it sounds. Videos of appliance company SharkNinja’s constantly viral innovations, whether it be mixing at-home treats with the Ninja Creami or achieving on-trend blowouts with the Shark FlexStyle, have repeatedly managed to do just that.
The latest to take over TikTok is its TurboBlade fan, with a video of it oscillating in front of a bed—soundtracked by Anna Nalick’s Y2K classic “Breathe (2 AM)”—amassing more than 32 million views since April, becoming its most-viewed product of all time, Lana Sanleandro, global CMO for Shark Home, told Retail Brew. Its 100+ million impressions on TikTok have translated into strong sales for the product, its CEO Mark Adam Barrocas said in May.
The company is what Sanleandro calls a “social-first organization,” prioritizing storytelling and marketing in tandem with product innovation. It sells in 37 categories, launching 25 new products annually, so it certainly has a lot of fodder for the FYP.
And its strategy is paying off across categories. SharkNinja’s net sales rose 14.7% in the first quarter thanks to growth across all four of its segments—cleaning, cooking and beverage, food prep, and beauty and home. Ninja Slushi, FlexBreeze fans, and CryoGlow face masks have also been among its most popular products as of late, the company said.
Sanleandro, a consumer tech vet with former roles at Amazon and Samsung, shared how SharkNinja is using social media to drive and sustain demand for its premium gadgets.
Social listening: SharkNinja spends $700 million annually on advertising, 70% of which is digital, with 40% of that digital spend going to social, Sanleandro said.
Staying on top of the trends is, of course, core to SharkNinja’s strategy. The company “inspects our business every week” through meetings called “Obsessed with Winning,” Sanleandro said. And the company moves quickly to turnaround content, with its in-house creative led by Chief Creative Officer Linus Karlsson, who filled the newly created role in February after holding the same position at Ikea.
“Some places go, ‘Oh, I’ll have a monthly business review on that, or we’ll go and figure that out next week.’ We’re on the same day,” Sanleandro said.
She described its social media content as “relatable and not necessarily super polished,” focusing on how consumers are using the products, which has inspired how products like the Ninja Creami were marketed. The social media comments have also inspired new iterations of products, whether it be its vacuums that clean in both forward and reverse, or the Ninja Swirl, the next generation of its viral Creami released earlier this year.
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Better together: Celebrity and influencer partners for the company have to “genuinely be product advocates,” Sanleandro said, pointing to SharkNinja’s partnership with Courteney Cox, known for playing the obsessively clean Monica on Friends, as having a “natural synergy.” Other recent partnerships include the dirty-soda-loving stars of reality show The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives promoting its Ninja Thirsti Drink System.
The company also partnered with influencer Alix Earle earlier this year as it launched the CryoGlow mask in the US. Not only did the company do a paid partnership with Earle for social content, but Earle also later organically posted herself using the product in a video chronicling her travels from Coachella to Harvard, Sanleandro noted.
“You have partners who then really not just endorse your products, but become a fan themselves,” she said, noting that seeding the products (the industry term for product gifting) and educating them on the tech is an important step. “The best marketing comes from real people doing real things.”
Barrocas said in May the company seeded influencers with the Ninja Swirl for 30 days, and they were making content two weeks before launch to build anticipation. When the product launched, it sold one unit every eight seconds, he said. Earle’s CryoGlow paid post also included clips of her using the product throughout the previous month.
Influencers also support its R&D strategy, Sanleandro said, as the company hosts influencer summits to test out new products and get their feedback not only on the product themselves, but also elements like naming conventions (“It’s important to think about what’s ownable,” she noted).
Paying off: SharkNinja’s products are priced at a premium—the TurboBlade fan is just shy of $300, for example—and several comments on its viral video alluded to the high price tag and seeking out dupes. But Sanleandro believes its brand-building efforts on social media and beyond have ultimately given it a leg up with consumers.
“The products that might be around the corner won’t necessarily have the brand to back up what the product will do,” she said. “We believe we have both.”