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Etos
Etos x Novel the intern
Social Campaign
Turning a retail rivalry into the internet’s favorite love story
It started with one TikTok. Novel, an Etos intern, creator and familiar face on the brand's social channels, spotted Aisha: a Kruidvat employee with a growing following of her own. We saw an opportunity to turn this unexpected discovery into something bigger. Together with Novel, we came up with a plan: what if the face of Etos made a move on the competition? From the Etos account, Novel asked Aisha out.
What followed wasn't a campaign in the traditional sense. It was a real-time internet love story, creatively developed and produced by our team, that audiences, creators, competing brands and eventually the media couldn't stop following.
WALK WITH US
Our Approach
Aisha had already built an engaged audience through her content at Kruidvat. So instead of treating the competition as off-limits, we turned one of retail's most recognizable rivalries into the hook. He is Etos. She is Kruidvat. And if even the face of Kruidvat could fall for Etos, maybe her audience wouldn't be far behind.
When Aisha responded to Novel's first move in a livestream, we knew we had something bigger than a single TikTok. Together with Novel, we developed the next chapters, using audience reactions to shape the storyline. Novel turned to the audience: what should I do next? His suggestion? A candlelit dinner at Etos. Every response, comment and unexpected interaction became an opportunity to create the next episode.
LET'S DIVE DEEPER
Our Process
Rather than scripting the entire story upfront, we developed and produced each chapter as the internet reacted. Behind the scenes, we prepared the date, planned the content and shaped each new chapter around the audience's reactions.
As audiences started picking sides, other brands and creators entered the chat. Bol, Lidl and Jesse Hoefnagels joined the conversation, turning one date invitation into an unofficial battle for Aisha's attention.
And just when people wanted to know whether the date was actually happening, we took the storytelling one step further. We staged and filmed a lo-fi paparazzi moment of Novel and Aisha meeting outside Etos, then published it through creator Nique's account. Shot from a bike and from a distance, it felt like the internet had caught the couple in the wild. Later, Etos revealed the same hug from its own behind-the-scenes perspective before taking audiences inside the actual date.
Livestream replies, audience questions, paparazzi footage, BTS reveals and a final date vlog became chapters of one unfolding story. Strategically created behind the scenes, but experienced by audiences as a spontaneous internet romance. And yes: in the end, Aisha chose Novel đŸ’–
HOW DID IT GO?
The Results
Turns out, the internet loves a forbidden retail romance.
Across TikTok and Instagram, the story generated over 1.67 million organic views, with 81.9K+ likes, 795 comments and 7.8K+ shares. On TikTok alone, the series reached 1.07M+ organic views, generating 69.7K likes, 565 comments and 5.4K shares. On Instagram, it added another 601K+ organic views, 12.1K likes, 230 comments and 2.3K shares.
But the biggest result was what happened beyond Etos' own channels. Kruidvat joined the conversation. Lidl's "It's giving forbidden love…" comment picked up 1.6K+ likes. Other brands and creators tried to win Aisha over. And the story was organically picked up by FunX, The Best Social Media and Adformatie.
Even weeks later, when Aisha hard-launched her actual boyfriend on TikTok, audiences were still asking: "But what about the Etos boy?" What started with one creator spotting another on his For You Page became a story we turned into a social phenomenon: a competitor became a love interest, a comment section became a writers' room, and a first date became a series the internet refused to forget.
Etos didn't interrupt the internet. It gave the internet a story to follow.
