723How to quickly enter the Gen Z market? Grasping emotional value is crucial!
Ban.do brand has seized this key point, using bold designs and an optimistic attitude, making "selling happiness" its core value and capturing the hearts of thousands of Los Angeles girls.
This creative brand from Los Angeles has not only expanded its product line from hair accessories to stationery, home goods, apparel, and other fields, but has also successfully entered international markets such as Europe, America, and Asia through precise market positioning and multi-platform layout.
Now,its independent site has monthly traffic exceeding one million, with direct traffic accounting for as much as 58%, and its social media matrix has reached millions of users.
How did it achieve this? What kind of "traffic code" is hidden within?
Image source: Ban.do brand
The "Color Revolution" of Two Girls
In 2008, the two founders, Jen and Jamie, were hand-making hair accessories in their Los Angeles apartment. Perhaps they never imagined that this project, which started as a small Etsy shop, would grow into a brand with annual revenue exceeding $50 million (according to Women's Wear Daily) after 15 years.
Founder Jen Gotch Image source: The blue
In its early days, Ban.do opened up the market with rainbow-colored headbands priced at $12-25, then keenly captured Gen Z's demand for "emotional value consumption," gradually expanding into stationery, home goods, apparel, and other categories, forming a "happy consumption" product matrix.
With this diversified strategy, the brand not only meets consumers' one-stop shopping needs but also successfully transforms from a single category to a lifestyle symbol.
In 2015, after reaching a certain stage of development, Ban.do chose to launch its overseas strategy, officially entering the European and Asian markets through e-commerce platforms and offline channels.
Image source: Ban.do brand
Channel Innovation in the Process of Globalization
When expanding into overseas markets, Ban.do did not choose the traditional distributor model, but instead built a dual-channel system of "social media seeding + independent site conversion." Judging from the results, this strategy enhanced the brand's explosive traffic acquisition, forming a complete closed loop from short-term bursts to long-term operations.
1. Social Media Seeding: TikTok + Instagram
Targeting Gen Z's "experience-focused, ad-light" characteristics, Ban.do made TikTok and Instagram its main battlegrounds.
On TikTok, to fit the aesthetic and needs of young consumers, Ban.do's promotional strategy mainly focuses on cultural and creative products as its core category.
Its self-operated account @shopbando also centers its video content around this category, mainly featuring new product previews, lifestyle usage scenarios, and office essentials sharing.
Image source: TikTok
For example, a video posted by this account in August 2024 focused on "lifestyle usage scenarios," using a humorous complaint about a fiancé loving Ban.do's "Mood Fridge Magnets" to achieve promotional goals.
Since its release, this video has garnered 2.6 million views, with the comments section attracting a large number of user interactions.
Image source: TikTok
This "practical + healing" style not only avoids the stiffness of traditional advertising but also helps the brand maintain user attention and stickiness.
So far, the account has accumulated 32,600 followers, with a total of 24.8 million views. For this follower base, such results are already quite impressive.
Image source: TikTok
Unlike the "authenticity" on TikTok, Ban.do's Instagram focuses on "aesthetic socializing," promoting through product photos with color clashes, user posts, and collaborations. Currently, its Instagram account has 568,000 followers.
Image source: Instagram
This visual style, highly compatible with millennial pink and macaron tones, has made it a popular material for influencers to spontaneously share, further solidifying its image as an "Instagrammable Brand."
Image source: Instagram
In addition to accumulating traffic on social media platforms, Ban.do also channels this traffic to its independent site, completing the conversion from traffic to sales and forming a complete marketing closed loop.
2. Independent Site Conversion: From Selling Products to Conveying Values
Ban.do's independent site is not only a sales platform but also a content community. Through the "Inspiration Page," it shares user stories and illustrator collaborations, turning shopping into emotional connection.
This conversion from social media to the independent site not only enhances the user shopping experience but also strengthens Ban.do's "happy consumption" image, achieving seamless integration between social media and e-commerce.
Image source: Ban.do brand
According to third-party platform data, Ban.do's independent site receives over 1 million monthly visits, with direct traffic accounting for as much as 58%. This means that more than half of users visit the site proactively, not just through external links or ads.
Image source: similarweb
This traffic structure not only brings a more stable user base for the brand, reducing reliance on a single channel, but also helps the brand better understand user needs and further improve the user experience.
Image source: similarweb
Next Stop: Overseas
As the foreign brand Ban.do conquers girls in 30 countries with its "color revolution," it's time for Chinese brands to tell a different story in going global.
The overseas market is not short of "cheap goods," but lacks designs that make users' eyes light up and value that directly touches emotions. This is precisely where China's supply chain and design capabilities excel.
Whether it's the e-commerce boom in Southeast Asia or the Western preference for personalized products, new opportunities are everywhere. In the future, we look forward to seeing more Chinese brands emerge in this blue ocean.
(Note: All information in this article comes from public reports and platform data. Actual conditions are subject to official information.)
