Success Stories

Harney & Sons Reaches Discerning Tea Lovers on Hulu

Emeric Harney, Marketing Manager and third-generation Harney from Harney & Sons, knew years ago that Hulu would be a perfect platform for showcasing the company’s array of fine teas. However, unlike a cup of Harney & Sons’ Hot Cinnamon Spice, the high cost of streaming TV advertising at the time was difficult for leadership to swallow. Fast forward a few years, when Emeric discovered Hulu Ad Manager, the self-service solution he needed to be able to try streaming TV advertising at a much lower cost of entry. 

We caught up with Emeric to learn about how his experience with streaming TV advertising has been overall and how Hulu Ad Manager has enabled Harney & Sons to reach a very specific, very discerning audience.

Hulu Ad Manager is a nice piece of the puzzle for us. I like having something that’s different — something that’s hitting people on a different device than what we’re used to, which has been desktop and mobile exclusively.

What channels are currently part of your marketing mix, and how does streaming TV fit into everything?

We’ve been running ads on social media. Hulu Ad Manager is a nice piece of the puzzle for us. I like having something that’s different — something that’s hitting people on a different device than what we’re used to, which has been desktop and mobile exclusively.

For a brand that’s never done TV advertising, it’s great to be able to dip our toes in it, and — as we start seeing success — be able to scale it.

How has your experience been with Hulu Ad Manager?

Hulu Ad Manager is very easy to use. I like being able to build your audience. The ad approval process was really fast. I actually appreciate that there’s a quality threshold for the video; it feels like somebody really is looking out for quality on Hulu.

We ran three campaigns between October and the end of January. We had a holiday-themed campaign, a tried-and-true brand video that I wanted to get in front of a very specific audience, and a funnier one that I wanted to get in front of people in their late 20s and 30s.

You mentioned wanting to reach a very specific audience. How did you find Hulu Ad Manager’s targeting capabilities?

I really like the targeting options because it gives you a wide set of choices. You can be as specific as you want to based on the creative that you’re showing. I actually told a couple of other vendors, “You need to try this new Hulu Ad Manager”. 

Let’s talk about results. How did your campaigns perform?

Overall, we’ve seen traffic increase. We look at direct traffic, and we’re seeing more people coming to the site than before. We’re making the progress that we want to make: increasing the number of eyes on the site. Once we get people on the site, we’re quite successful at capturing them. 

It was nice to see the impressions [throughout the duration of the campaign], especially as they spiked in certain areas and we could correlate that to our analytics data.

It was nice to see the impressions [throughout the duration of the campaign], especially as they spiked in certain areas and we could correlate that to our analytics data. I also really liked being able to look at impressions by show genres, since that was a large part of our audience planning. With cable TV, it’s all top-of-funnel and there’s no real tracking. You can’t even choose who you want to see your ad. This was ideal.

Experience Hulu Ad Manager for Yourself

Hulu Ad Manager is changing the game for businesses of all sizes. Learn more about our self-serve ad platform and discover how you can showcase your ads on a platform with some of TV’s biggest shows. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.