Marketing that doesn't stink: Tushy's rise to Shopify success

Everyone loves to laugh. As an online business, humour can be a real asset to your marketing. It breaks down walls, makes you more approachable, and establishes your brand's personality. Think of your favourite commercials—I'd bet that Geico commercial with the dog playing 80’s synth-pop made you snicker.

Enter Tushy, a New York-based company that sells modern bidet attachments. Not only do they use our mobile-first Handy Shopify theme, specially built for shopping "on the go," they've also done an exceptional job of creating digital marketing campaigns that make us LOL.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past year, there's a good chance you've come across one of Tushy’s hilarious and incredibly shareable ads. Launched in 2015, Tushy is built on the idea that if you got poop anywhere else you wouldn’t just wipe it off. At the very least, you would clean it up with some water.

The folks at Tushy will tell you that a bidet doesn’t have to be a geriatric medical device or confusing bathroom addition you stumble across whilst travelling abroad; bidets can and should be part of the modern bathroom experience.

In the three years they’ve been in business, Tushy has released two generations of their line of bidets, and they’re constantly adding new products, all while providing consumers with quality products—and quality laughs.

We spoke with Tushy’s growth marketing “ASSociate” Carrie Yang about puns, the challenges of running an online business, and the importance of fun consumer education.

“One of our value propositions,” Carrie says, “is that whenever you use a bidet, not only is it healthier for you because it actually cleans, it’s actually better for the environment as well. For us, it’s a lifestyle upgrade. It just takes some education.”

“We’re trying to change culture by breaking the taboo of talking about butts and poop,” she says. “Everyone does it, and we have a healthier alternative. With ecommerce, we have the widest reach. We control the education. We can control the brand and the entire customer journey.”

Education is one of the biggest challenges for Tushy, which is why having an online store as their cohesive home base is so great. Through social media and their online store, they are able to educate a wide reach of consumers on the benefits of using a bidet through funny videos, infographics, and playful puns.

“The challenge is our product is so unknown to the population, so the education is a little bit longer," Carrie says. "You have to come at it from a different angle.”

For Tushy, that angle is playfulness and humour. It doesn’t take more than a quick glance at their online store or social media to understand that both qualities are integral to the Tushy brand.

According to Manhattan College psychology professor Kimberly Fairchild, playful marketing works because it grabs your attention. “It associates products with good feelings and emotions,” Fairchild says. Humour has a similar way of breaking down barriers—with the added bonus of being more likely to go viral.

“We have a lot of fun with our brand,” Carrie says. “One of the ways we’ve found to break the ice is just to make a lot of jokes. Be personable and approachable. We don’t use fancy words. We use puns instead.”

And it works! Playful and fun marketing returns similar customer responses. Carrie tells us they’ve had customers send in funny videos or write poems about how much they love their Tushy.  “It encourages us to keep going,” she says.

Running an online business takes a lot of work and can be trying at times, but if there’s anything Tushy demonstrates, it’s that you can also have a lot of fun while doing it.

As for advice for other Shopify merchants, Carrie offers this: “Make sure your product is the focus of your store. Often times you can get lost in all the photos or theme and everything else you get to choose. In the end, you’re trying to sell your product, so don't clutter it with too much fluff.”

Tushy uses Handy, a mobile-first Shopify theme by Pixel Union. See the theme in action and learn more about Tushy by visiting their online store!