Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a touchy subject that’s usually denied or ignored altogether. But BlueChew, a men’s health startup, wanted to change this cultural narrative. 

After all, over 52% of men experience ED at some point in their lives. This number increases as they get older yet also affects young men. ED is common — and totally normal. 

BlueChew tackles ED by delivering chewable Sildenafil and Tadalafil tablets to one’s home. It’s like Viagra — but more affordable, accessible, and discrete. This makes BlueChew an easy sell, right? 

‍Nope. BlueChew was facing a slew of online advertising issues, such as navigating TikTok and Instagram’s strict community guidelines alongside finding influencers willing to promote their products.  

It was a sizable challenge — one that Ubiquitous gladly accepted. 

After a five-month long campaign with Ubiquitous, BlueChew now dominates the ED category of TikTok. It’s a great place to be, as BlueChew now goes viral regularly and has 35 million views with its CPM sitting at a cool $5.47. 

Here’s how BlueChew went from taboo to virality: 

BlueChew had some experience with advertising online but had never done it at scale. 

They’d collaborated with influencers on their native channel, but the intricacies of influencer marketing remained a complete mystery. 

‍Where could they find influencers willing to promote ED? How would they keep track of their budget? What content wouldn’t get flagged by the platforms? 

BlueChew’s goal was simple – go from influencer marketing rookies to experts. They wanted to identify influencers, double down on winning content, and amplify their brand to the masses. 

The Roadblocks: The Elephant in The Room

Let’s not sugarcoat it.

You’re reading an article about advertising ED tablets on social media. We’re sure you can imagine the red tape surrounding this gray area. BlueChew faced many obstacles, including: ‍

1. Strict Community Guidelines. ‍

Sure, influencer marketing is a jungle – but even the jungle still has its rules. 

If a video violates any of TikTok’s guidelines, you can say sayonara to your content. BlueChew had quite a few rules it had to abide by that made its campaign much harder to execute. 

‍Language Restrictions ‍

On TikTok, creators aren’t allowed to say words like “sex”, “penis”, and “hole” (yes, seriously). Basically, all the terms we associate with erectile dsyfunction. 

But influencers are creative and use euphemisms and slang to hint at what they’re trying to say. For example, many have replaced “sex” with “seggs”. 

While we applaud their ingenuity, a viewer can end up feeling like they’re deciphering hieroglyphics instead of reading a caption. 

‍Claims ‍

BlueChew didn’t only have to abide by TikTok’s rules – the FDA had a say, too. 

Because BlueChew is using FDA-approved ingredients, its claims are subject to regulatory scrutiny. This includes everything from nutrient content to health claims. 

In BlueChew’s case, it had to avoid making structure-function claims (e.g., “Tadalafil makes you last longer”), even if it's the truth. 

‍Age Limits ‍

BlueChew is a product meant for men who are eighteen and above (obviously). 

But people often associate TikTok dancing teenagers and prepubescent middle schoolers. It doesn’t help that anyone over the age of thirteen is technically allowed on the app. Ubiquitous had to ensure the campaign wouldn’t fall into the laps of a younger crowd. 

2. Finding Willing Influencers ‍

BlueChew’s next problem was finding influencers who’d be willing to promote its product. 

Understandably, many influencers weren’t comfortable with the idea of talking about their sex lives or medical conditions. ED might be common, but peeling off its unflattering stigma wouldn’t be easy. 

A $75K budget was more than enough – in fact, a bit too much. 

At first, Ubiquitous had trouble spending this amount because it had to recruit new influencers outside of its database, turning the original month-long campaign into a 2.5 month affair. They also couldn’t deploy spend on TikTok Spark Ads due to community guidelines. 

It wasn’t until Ubiquitous sourced 14 influencers that the surplus came in handy. They used the excess to double down on “hero creators” and influencers whose first video showed viable traction metrics. 

Ubiquitous gave the influencers focused creative briefs while giving them the freedom to do what they do best: create. The influencers made three types of videos: 

• Couples Comedy Skits Around BlueChew

• ED Innuendos 

• Q&A’s 

While the influencers created educational and PG content, two videos were taken down. It was a notable blow as one video included content from Key and Wees, a couples account whose TikTok had hit 2.9M views.

Quantitative 

BlueChew ran its test campaign in the U.S for 30 days. 

The results were good. Really good. 14 creators posted 20 videos which collectively accumulated 10.42M views and a $7.20 CPM. For reference, that’s 10% viewership of a Super Bowl commercial for 0.5% of the cost. 

But the cost-cutting didn’t stop there. Using this data, BlueChew could re-collaborate with the top three influencers who had the highest CPMs. This means less money (and time) spent sourcing, negotiating, and ideating with influencers. 

‍Qualitative ‍

While the campaign produced excellent numbers, the wins kept rolling in: 

‍Able to Get Back Accounts ‍

Originally, TikTok flagged Key and Wees’ video and took it down. But Ubiquitous was able to recover the video which kept the campaign on track. 

“We have strong partnerships with TikTok. If videos get flagged or taken down, we have dedicated team members that can help escalate the situation so the videos are quickly reviewed and recovered.” – Bob Wolfley 

‍

Influencer Content Concepts 

BlueChew saw which videos were popular and made them into “templates” for future influencers. By relying on a true-and-proven storyline, influencers could minimize their creative roadblocks (and maximize their potential for virality). 

For example, the best videos came from couples who created comedic skits around BlueChews arrival. In the skit, influencers would get BlueChew at their doorstep and drop everything to head into the bedroom with their partner. Future influencers can recreate TikToks based on this easy-to-follow storyline. 

“This influencer’s super pumped about this product arriving, and the next thing they’re in the bedroom. It teases you and your mind wonders, ‘What’s going on here?’”. — Bob Wolfley 

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This curiosity led to a surge of comments from viewers who’d then click on the influencer’s link in their bio to find out more. It’s brand awareness at its finest. 

Repurpose to Instagram ‍

BlueChew’s priority was originally TikTok, but they were open to influencers who had a presence on both TikTok and Instagram. 

Ubiquitous found influencers who had a dual presence and negotiated to repurpose their content at a decreased rate. After all, there’s little additional labor besides reposting and captioning. 

But those small tweaks led to gargantuan results. 

One couple's account, theblondebrewer, reposted their TikTok to Instagram Reels where it then hit the internet jackpot. The video currently has nineteen million views (and counting).