Created in 2010 by brother and sister, Howard and Vivien Wong, Little Moons' mission was to bring Japanese mochi with a delicious modern twist to the masses. The brand didn't expect to blow up 11 years later as a result of 60 second videos, but over the past month the brand has become a viral topic of interest. We assessed the effect Generation Z and TikTok have had on the brand this past month.
Little Moons’ popularity has increased steadily in the UK over the last 10 years, however, they found themselves at the forefront of a social media food fad last month seeing them go viral across social media for the first time as TikTok users took to the app to document their purchase, trial, and review of the product.
#LittleMoonsMochi on TikTok
It is hard to pinpoint when exactly the brand was first reviewed on TikTok, even the brand themself have found it hard to track down video 0 on the app. Over the last 30 days views of the above hashtag has had an increase of 1100% increasing brand recognition of the brand and sales. The hashtag on TikTok had just 12.7 million views on January 13th and as of February 23rd the hashtag was sat with 153.5m views.
Follower Growth
It’s not only TikTok which has been flooded with comments and videos on the tasty ice cream treat, however. Searching their name on Twitter will find you reading through thousands of tweets such as “Is anyone else dying to try those little moons ice creams everyone keeps posting bout on TikTok”. This increase in brand recognition had a knock on effect on Little Moons’ social media platforms with each account seeing a steady increase in the past 30 days. Their biggest increase was on Instagram with 48,390 new followers this month and TikTok with 81,900 new followers.
Sales Increase
If you have ever wondered in social media content can increase your sales, look no further. Since going viral on TikTok, the brand has sold out at most supermarket retailers across the UK with their sales increasing exponentially in the last 30 days. Tesco, the supermarket of choice for most TikTokers has had a 700% increase in sales of the sweet treat, followed closely by Ocado, who struck a deal with the company shortly before their social media stardom, with a 436% increase and Waitrose saw an increase of 340% over the past month.
Co-founder of the brand Howard Wong told I News “It’s been incredible to watch this go viral and seeing how much people are loving little Moons. Our sales have gone up exponentially and we’re seeing empty shelves across all four retailers which we’re rushing to re-stock so we don’t disappoint people trying to get their hands on Little Moons.” This case study above all, shows the impact social media and UGC can have on brands and why as marketers it is so important for us to keep our finger on the pulse. No one could have predicted that the Japanese inspired treat would go viral, but we can predict that TikTok is one to watch for the next big fad that’s coming.