How TeeTurtle Used Intentwise Advertising Platform To Capitalize On A Viral Moment

It’s unlikely anyone at TeeTurtle could have predicted that a 4-inch stuffed octopus would transform the company—but that’s exactly what happened.

Based in Baltimore, TeeTurtle began as a t-shirt company in 2012, and then branched out into stuffed toys, licensed apparel, and more. In 2017, the company added a little stuffed octopus to their toy line, and began selling on Amazon the following year.

Then, in 2020, a modern ecommerce fairytale came true—The Original Reversible Octopus Plushie went viral on TikTok. Rapid sales helped TeeTurtle see year-over-year growth of 250%, and the plushie even became the number one best-selling item in Amazon's Toys & Games category. “Shoppers use the plushie as an emotional tool to help them express emotions without saying a word to their partners and loved ones,” reported an article in Yahoo News.

The company began partnering with Intentwise in September 2019, and facing this rare viral opportunity, that relationship became more critical than ever. “Intentwise helped us pivot from primarily marketing our games to quickly capitalizing on this now larger plushie toy opportunity, all while still growing our other product sales,” says Ben Takemori, TeeTurtle’s in-house Amazon account manager.

TeeTurtle has evolved in the two years since its moment in the social media spotlight. (Although today #reversibleoctopus has over 350 million views on TikTok, and the plushie still sits at the 17th spot in Amazon’s Toys & Games category.) The company aims to continue to grow in and out of the plushie category, increase brand awareness, and introduce new products and licensing opportunities. 

TeeTurtle uses Intentwise Ad Optimizer and Intentwise DSP to manage both on and off-Amazon advertising. In the first eight months of this year, TeeTurtle has experienced steady growth, with a 47% increase year-over-year in total order items and a 10% year-over-year increase in return on advertising spend (ROAS).

“The platform is very robust, the team is knowledgeable and attentive, and they consistently help us introduce new products through new ads and optimizations,” Takemori says.