Mojo Underwear’s Marketing Playbook for Aussie Startups

Most startups waste months polishing a brand story nobody asked for. Mojo Underwear did the opposite: it started with a painfully specific problem—men’s underwear that doesn’t hold up when you’re bending, climbing, and moving all day—and built everything (product, messaging, content, retail strategy) around solving that problem for “everyday blokes.”

That’s why this story matters for the Startup Marketing Australia series. If you’re trying to build brand awareness on a budget, you don’t need louder ads. You need sharper product-market fit, clearer positioning, and a marketing system that creates first trials—because once people try a product that genuinely feels different, marketing gets easier.

Mojo’s founder, Adam Rakowski, went from plumbing to building a consumer brand by leaning into authenticity, real-world testing, and community-led marketing. Here’s how to translate those lessons into a practical startup marketing plan you can use in 2026.

Start with product-market fit, not a marketing plan

Product-market fit isn’t a vibe; it’s evidence. It’s repeat purchases, unsolicited referrals, and customers explaining your product better than you do.

Rakowski didn’t start with a trend forecast or a “premium lifestyle brand” moodboard. He started with a job-site truth: most underwear isn’t designed for constant movement, sweat, and long days. That gave him three advantages many Australian startups miss:

1. A clear use case (work, movement, durability)
2. A clear audience (tradies and active everyday men)
3. A clear standard (no riding up, no falling apart, actually comfortable)

Here’s the stance I’ll take: if you can’t describe the pain your product solves in one sentence that a customer would say out loud, your marketing will always feel expensive. You’ll keep paying to “educate the market” because you haven’t nailed the problem.

A simple product-market fit checklist (that doesn’t require a data team)

Use this before you spend big on ads:

• Problem clarity: Can customers describe the problem without your help?
• Switch trigger: What makes them switch from their current option today?
• First-trial moment: What’s the fastest way someone can feel the benefit?
• Retention reason: Why would they buy again in 30–60 days?
• Word-of-mouth hook: What do they tell friends after trying it?

Mojo’s “feel the difference” angle matters because it points to the real growth constraint for many physical-product startups: getting someone to try it once.

Build a brand that sounds like your customers (not a boardroom)

Mojo’s marketing challenge was predictable: underwear is a noisy category dominated by big brands with big budgets. Their response was smarter than trying to outspend competitors.

They leaned into:

• Authenticity over polish (real people, real movement)
• Social proof over slogans (feedback, community response)
• Specific identity over broad appeal (“everyday blokes” beats “everyone”)

A lot of founders think brand voice is a copywriting exercise. It’s not. It’s a positioning decision.

A brand voice works when customers think, “That sounds like us,” not “That sounds like marketing.”

What “authenticity” actually means in startup marketing

“Authentic” is often used as fluff. In practice, it means:

• You show the product in the context it’s designed for (worksites, sport, surf, daily life)
• You use the words customers use (tradie language, direct claims, no fancy euphemisms)
• You don’t overpromise (performance, comfort, fit—clear, testable benefits)

If you’re building brand awareness on a budget, this approach reduces production costs and increases conversion because it’s believable.

Win on a budget by engineering “first trial” opportunities

Mojo’s most strategic marketing insight is this: once customers try it, the product sells itself.

That’s a clue about where marketing effort should go. Not into endless awareness campaigns, but into trial mechanisms.

Trial mechanisms that work for Australian startups in 2026

You don’t need all of these. Pick one or two and execute properly.

1. Bundles that reduce decision friction

   • Example: “2-pack starter kit” or “Workweek pack”
   • Goal: make the first purchase feel like a sensible test

2. Customer proof that matches the use case

   • Reviews are good; reviews from the right segment are better
   • Ask reviewers to answer: “What were you doing when you noticed the difference?”

3. Micro-influencers with real context

   • Don’t pay for glamour shots; pay for a real demo
   • Tradies, coaches, surf community figures—people who can credibly say “I wear this when…”

4. Retail as a sampling engine (not just distribution)

   • Retail partnerships can compress time-to-trust
   • Shoppers assume: “If it’s on this shelf, it’s passed some test”

Mojo’s plan to roll out retail partnerships starting with Best & Less is a classic credibility move. For startups, retail isn’t only about volume; it’s about mass trial and trust transfer.

A practical “first trial” funnel (steal this)

If you sell DTC or through marketplaces, build your funnel like this:

1. Hook: one specific pain point (e.g., “no ride-up on the job”)
2. Proof: 3–5 short testimonials from the exact audience
3. Offer: a low-risk starter option (bundle, guarantee, or entry SKU)
4. Follow-up: reorder prompt at the moment of likely repeat (30–45 days)
5. Referral: give customers a reason to tell mates (credit, gift, limited drop)

This is “growth hacking for Australian startups” when it’s done properly: fewer tactics, more intentional design.

Use community feedback as your R&D and your content engine

Mojo didn’t pretend the first run was perfect. Rakowski openly describes years of testing fabrics, cutting samples, fixing flaws, and collecting honest feedback—especially from tradies who would “tell me the truth.”

That’s not just product development. It’s content marketing.

Turn product iteration into marketing assets

Most startups hide iteration because they think it looks messy. I think the opposite: iteration is persuasive when it’s anchored in customer truth.

Content ideas you can produce from an iteration mindset:

• “Version 1 vs Version 3: what we changed and why”
• Short videos showing the product under stress (movement tests)
• Customer quotes that describe the before/after experience
• Behind-the-scenes of material selection and durability testing

Two benefits come out of this:

1. Higher trust: people can see you take quality seriously
2. Lower ad costs over time: better content improves click-through and conversion

If you’re a startup marketer, make this a habit: every customer feedback loop should create both a product improvement and a piece of content.

Build a team by hiring for mission fit, not just resumes

Growth doesn’t break because of marketing first; it breaks because of people and alignment. Rakowski describes building a team by backing people with the right attitude, operating straight, communicating openly, and keeping the vision front and centre.

This is especially relevant if you’re running lean (which most Australian startups are).

The “trusted team” approach you can apply immediately

You don’t need a huge headcount. You need clear ownership and fast feedback.

• One person owns the customer voice (support + reviews + insights)
• One person owns the growth loop (trial offer → conversion → reorder)
• One person owns the creative pipeline (UGC briefs, shoots, edits)

Even if these are part-time or fractional roles, the point is clarity. When everyone’s responsible for “marketing,” nobody is.

From niche to mainstream: how startups scale without losing the plot

Mojo’s next step is mainstream scale: expanding categories (board shorts, tees, socks), moving into women’s, and building retail presence while aiming for licensing and a broader lifestyle identity.

Scaling creates a common trap: the brand gets diluted to appeal to everyone, and suddenly the original audience stops caring.

A simple rule for category expansion

Add products only if they meet one of these criteria:

• They serve the same “moment” (work, movement, everyday comfort)
• They strengthen the core brand promise (fit, durability, confidence)
• They increase repeat purchase frequency without confusing positioning

If you’re expanding, keep your marketing anchored to the core narrative:

• Who it’s for (be specific)
• What problem you solve (be concrete)
• Why you’re credible (show receipts: testing, feedback, proof)

Quick answers to common startup marketing questions (Mojo edition)

What’s the best way to build brand awareness on a budget?

Be specific, prove it fast, and drive trial. Broad awareness campaigns are expensive. “This is for tradies who move all day” is cheaper and converts better.

How do you compete with big brands?

Don’t mirror them. Big brands win on reach. Startups win on focus, speed, and community trust.

When should an Australian startup consider retail partnerships?

When retail increases trial and trust faster than DTC alone. Retail isn’t only a sales channel; it’s a credibility channel.

Your next move: build a product that markets itself (then prove it)

Mojo Underwear is a clean case study in startup marketing done the right way: start with a real problem, iterate until the product is genuinely better, then build marketing around authentic proof and easy first trials. That’s how you get brand awareness without burning cash.

If you’re working on Startup Marketing Australia goals this quarter, I’d focus on one metric: how quickly can a new customer experience the core benefit? When you improve that, your ads, content, retail, and referrals all perform better.

What would happen to your growth in 2026 if you stopped trying to sound big—and started being unmistakably useful to a very specific audience?