Hawk Tuah'd
Reed Duchscher
CEO of Night // Manager for the largest digital creators in the world 🛸
So you went viral. What now?
It’s hard for me not to talk about Hawk Tuah Girl this week. Viral sensation Haliey Welch has been taking advantage of her overnight stardom by going on podcasts, appearing at concerts, selling merch, and even signing with a management firm. I feel like that first week (and even the first day) after a viral video is incredibly important. What you do next and how you plan for the future will depend on the situation, but we can use Hawk Tuah Girl as an example.
The first week is key
All scenarios are different. One example we were involved with was Ok Boomer Girl (Nicole Sanchez, aka “Neekolul”). We had known Nicole before her viral moment, which definitely helped when all hell broke loose. The situations are very dependent on whether the individual wants to take full advantage of the rise in notoriety.
Let’s go back to the Hawk Tuah Girl example…
One thing that I noticed, along with many other people, was that her name was never mentioned when the video went viral. Everyone was referring to her as “Hawk Tuah Girl”; nobody could find her on social media or dig up her real name, which ultimately hurt her at the beginning because this character “Hawk Tuah Girl” was getting all the notoriety. That was the first situation where I knew she had to course-correct as soon as possible; otherwise, the meme would come and go, and nobody would remember who she was. Soon after the viral moment, she finally dropped her instagram @hay_welch which now has 1.2M followers.
My advice to her
1️⃣ Do something that’s sustainable.
She doesn’t want to force herself into a career doing something that she doesn’t want to do. For example, starting a podcast. If she doesn’t enjoy creating in that medium, it’s going to be really hard to sustain a podcast. The unfortunate aspect of this situation is that she’s never done any of this—she isn’t a content creator. In the Ok Boomer Girl situation, Nicole was already streaming on Twitch and knew that she loved it. She doubled down on Twitch. In Haliey’s situation, she was a normal person who didn’t create content. Something important for her to think about is what she actually wants to do and what she enjoys.
2️⃣ She should double down on Podcasts.
Podcasting is an area that’s fully taking advantage of TikTok and YouTube Shorts. She’ll have a ton of clips and won’t have to put much effort into filming and editing her own content. She should figure out which podcasts to go on, and double down there.
3️⃣ Don’t move to Los Angeles.
Most people in these situations think that they need to uproot their entire lives and move to Hollywood or New York, I actually think you should do the opposite. A lot of massive creators don’t live in LA or New York. I think she should stay where she is, continue to keep her friend group around her, and stay away from people in the industry who are only trying to make money from her. She should pick a few people that she really trusts and continue to move forward.
The Big Takeaway:
If Hawk Tuah Girl waited a month to sign with management, book podcasts, and launch merch, I this it would have been really hard for her to sustain the momentum of the first week. The peak of a viral moment happens within the first two days, so it’s important to take advantage quickly. Time will tell if she gets more popular as time goes on, but she’s definitely doing the most she can with how famous she is right now.
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3wHonestly really good advice. She’s not going to be around for long unless she sells out to some company. Most individuals these days with virtuality don’t have a talent, just right place at right time.
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1moI saw her at the Jake Paul fight on Saturday and I will say she was handling herself very well with fan interactions so in that regard I think she’s going to do just fine. Hopefully she sees this write up and follows through it’s great advice.
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1moGood advisory Reed Duchscher _ there are many prickly variables to #FAMEBuilding well beyond the viral trend and other pop-conventions related to the Internet. Viral popularity is very quantified (vs the more organic fame build by a legacy performer/actor, etc) : HOW to build grass roots credibility to grow a lasting brand? In my humble 20 years of Madison Avenue experience? I'd suggest she emulate a #CharliDAmelio or #GibsonSisters strategy FAST before the rabidly jealous Social Media trolls descend upon her with typical animus ... 💀
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1mo4️⃣ or just do what she wanted to do before these 15 minutes 🤷♂️ Just because you become a meme, doesn't mean you now have to be an influencer ... if she does, cool, otherwise ...