Build Brand Awareness by Marketing to Everyday Customers

Most startups try to sound “premium” from day one—and end up sounding like everyone else.

Mojo Underwear took the opposite route. Founder Adam Rakowski built the brand around a very specific promise: underwear that fits and performs for everyday blokes doing real work—bending, climbing, sweating, moving. That positioning isn’t just a product choice. It’s a startup marketing strategy that buys you attention when you don’t have a big budget.

This post is part of the Startup Marketing Australia series, and it’s a practical case study in how to build brand awareness on a budget by being relatable, specific, and customer-obsessed. The lesson isn’t “start an underwear brand.” It’s: pick a real customer, solve a real irritation, and market like a human.

Mojo Underwear’s big advantage: a clear “everyday customer” position

The fastest way to build brand awareness is to be instantly understood. Mojo’s positioning is simple: underwear built for real life. In Adam’s words, he was “sick of wearing underwear that never fit right on the job” as a plumber—and he built the product around movement and durability.

A lot of early-stage branding fails because it tries to appeal to everyone. Mojo does the opposite by anchoring on a recognisable identity: tradies, athletes, surfers, and everyday guys who care about comfort and fit.

Why “everyday” is a niche (not a compromise)

“Everyday customer” sounds broad, but it works when you define it with detail:

• Context: on the job, active, moving all day
• Pain: riding up, falling apart, uncomfortable fit
• Standard: won’t release anything that “felt average”

That’s not generic. That’s a clear mental picture—which is exactly what you want in startup branding.

Snippet-worthy stance: If a stranger can’t explain who your product is for in one sentence, you don’t have positioning—you have a brochure.

Quick positioning template you can copy

If you’re refining your own startup positioning, steal this format:

• For [specific type of customer]
• Who [situation they’re in]
• We provide [simple outcome]
• Unlike [what currently disappoints them]

Example (Mojo-style):

For men who move all day, we make underwear that stays comfortable and holds up—unlike pairs that ride up or fall apart by lunchtime.

Product-first marketing: let the customer’s irritation drive the message

Mojo’s origin story is marketing gold because it starts with a real problem: “underwear that never fit right on the job.” That’s the kind of frustration people instantly recognise.

For startups, this is the most reliable source of marketing copy:

• what customers complain about
• what they’re embarrassed to admit
• what annoys them daily

Mojo didn’t lead with fabric technology or fashion credentials (Adam openly had “no fashion background”). It led with honesty and usefulness.

Build messaging from “anti-features” (what you refuse to do)

Mojo’s language is full of what it won’t tolerate:

• “didn’t ride up”
• “didn’t fall apart”
• “refusing to release anything that felt average”

This is a great tactic for brand awareness: define the enemy (the disappointing default option) and position your startup as the alternative.

Try this exercise for your brand:

1. List the top 5 things customers hate about the category.
2. Translate each into an “anti-feature” statement.
3. Turn those into headlines, product bullets, and ad hooks.

Example:

• Hate: “Support takes days.”
• Anti-feature: “We don’t take days to respond.”
• Hook: “Support that replies in hours, not days.”

January timing note: make “fresh start” messaging practical

It’s January 2026—people are back at work, setting routines, and buying replacements for worn-out essentials. This is a strong seasonal window for “upgrade your everyday” positioning because it’s not aspirational fluff; it’s routine-driven.

If you sell practical products or services (software included), January is the time to market:

• reliability
• consistency
• “less hassle” outcomes

Cut-through without big budgets: authenticity beats polish

Adam names the core challenge: competing in a category dominated by huge brands with massive budgets. The solution was not to outspend—because startups can’t. It was to out-believe.

Mojo focused on:

• real people
• real movement
• real stories

That approach scales because it doesn’t require high production value. It requires clarity and consistency.

The budget-friendly brand awareness stack (Mojo-style)

If you’re building brand awareness on a startup budget, this stack works across industries:

1. Proof before polish: customer feedback, before-and-after stories, UGC.
2. A repeatable content theme: e.g., “built for movement” shown in dozens of scenarios.
3. A face and a voice: founders and team members telling the truth.
4. Community feedback loops: invite customers to shape V2, V3, V4.

Mojo’s product journey involved “testing fabrics,” “fixing design flaws,” and getting feedback from tradies who “would tell me the truth.” That’s not just product development. That’s a marketing engine—because your customers become your credibility.

Social proof that actually moves buyers

Most startups misunderstand social proof. It’s not testimonials like “great service!” It’s specific outcomes in the customer’s language.

For your next 10 reviews or interviews, aim to capture:

• the situation (“on my feet 10 hours a day”)
• the old frustration (“always rode up by midday”)
• the change (“stayed put, no chafing”)

Those three elements become:

• ad copy
• landing page sections
• product page bullets
• short-form video scripts

Quotable line: Social proof works when it sounds like your customer texting a mate.

Team and brand growth: alignment is a marketing channel

Mojo didn’t just hire skills—it hired attitude and belief in the mission. Adam’s view is blunt: “alignment is everything.”

For early-stage startups, team alignment shows up in marketing more than you think:

• inconsistent tone across posts
• unclear offers
• scattered campaigns
• “we do everything” positioning

When everyone knows who you’re for and what you’re against, your marketing gets simpler and cheaper to run.

A practical alignment checklist for startups

If you want your team (or freelancers) to strengthen your brand awareness instead of diluting it, document these in one page:

• Ideal customer profile (ICP): who you serve, who you don’t
• Primary pain point: the #1 irritation you solve
• Brand voice: 5 adjectives + 3 forbidden phrases
• Proof points: 3-5 measurable claims or product truths
• Content pillars: 3 recurring themes you’ll repeat for 90 days

This is the unsexy work that prevents you from burning money on random marketing.

Scaling the brand: retail, extensions, and staying coherent

Mojo expanded from underwear into board shorts, tees, and socks—and plans retail partnerships (including Best & Less) plus women’s and broader lifestyle categories.

Growth like that only works if your brand is more than a SKU. The common failure mode is expansion that confuses the customer.

The rule for product extensions

Your next product should be a “yes, obviously” for your existing customer.

Mojo’s core promise—comfort and performance for everyday movement—translates naturally into adjacent categories like socks and shorts. If you’re a SaaS or service startup, the same logic applies:

• Don’t add features because competitors have them.
• Add features because your customer’s day demands them.

“Movement” brands are built through repetition

Adam described Mojo evolving into a “youth-culture movement.” Whether you like that phrasing or not, the mechanism is real: movements are built through repeated signals:

• consistent visuals
• repeated phrases customers adopt
• community identity

For startups, that doesn’t mean trying to be cool. It means being recognisable.

A brand is what people remember when they’re not looking at your website.

3 branding strategies from Mojo Underwear you can steal this week

Here are three immediate actions you can take (even if you’re pre-revenue):

1. Write your “jobsite sentence.”

   • Describe where your customer is when the problem happens.
   • Example: “When you’re managing invoices on your phone between client calls…”

2. Create one “anti-average” promise.

   • A line your team can rally around.
   • Example: “We don’t ship anything that feels average.”

3. Turn feedback into content, not just fixes.

   • Post what you changed and why.
   • Customers trust brands that admit iteration.

If you’re building startup branding in Australia right now, I’d prioritise this over most “growth hacks.” Being clear, specific, and relatable compounds faster than chasing every channel.

Where to go next (and a question worth answering)

Mojo Underwear’s story is a reminder that brand awareness doesn’t come from louder ads—it comes from sharper positioning and proof that travels by word of mouth.

If you’re working on your own startup marketing, pick one part of your offer that’s genuinely built for the everyday customer and tighten the language until it’s instantly repeatable. Then show it in real contexts, with real people, and let specificity do the heavy lifting.

What would your customers say you’re “sick of” in your category—and are you brave enough to build your messaging around that?

Source: https://insidesmallbusiness.com.au/management/growth/qa-mojo-underwear-fitting-for-the-everyday-man