Objective

The FADED Barbershop opened its doors in Budapest in autumn 2024, in a market where the number of barbershops is already heavily saturated, but consumer attention and loyalty are limited. Their goal was to:

• quickly become well-known in the capital as a new, modern alternative,

• stand out from the world of vintage barbershop clichés, and position themselves as a streamlined, premium, yet accessible brand,

• build a stable and growing customer base in a short time through digital campaigns,

• and operate with a measurable return from the very first months.

Strategy

1. Precise definition and expansion of the target audience

In the first phase of the campaign, we focused on younger men aged 14–30 who are sensitive to price-quality ratios, follow online trends, and often book services digitally.

However, throughout the campaign, it quickly became evident that the over 30 age group is also an active seeker and responds well to the FADED brand communication, thus the targeting gradually expanded – with creatives tailored to new target groups.

2. Digital channels and large-scale testing

During the campaign, advertisements ran on Meta Ads (Facebook, Instagram) and Google Ads channels:

• We built on search intent on Google (e.g., “barber Budapest”, “men's haircut”, “fade cut”),

• On Meta, we targeted interest groups and demographics with eye-catching, visually strong creatives,

• We managed the campaigns with continuous A/B testing and weekly optimization, quickly filtering out the best-performing ads.

3. Creative concept and positioning

FADED distanced itself from classic vintage barber communication and instead:

• used a modern, streamlined, friendly style,

• showed the personalities of the barber team: building trust and enhancing the community aspect,

• emphasized the advantages of easy online booking, professionalism, and a central location.