FinT Thailand partnered with Kobayashi Healthcare (Thailand) Co., Ltd. to expand the market presence of HOTHANS, a disposable hand warmer brand, in Thailand. While hand warmers have year-round demand—including regular retail sales and commercial use—the peak consumption period occurs between November and January. This surge is largely driven by Thai people’s strong yearning to travel to cold-weather destinations such as Japan and South Korea. By executing a full-funnel influencer strategy, the campaign achieved an incredible 37.7 million impressions and generated 48,884 engagements across TikTok and Instagram.

Objective

In early 2025, Kobayashi Healthcare ran a KOL/KOC campaign that led to a noticeable increase in sales—proving that social media-driven influencer marketing was highly effective for HOTHANS. Building on this success, the client decided to increase investment to capture the overseas travel market before competitors could establish themselves. The primary objective was to build brand awareness and drive purchase intent among Thai travelers heading to cold-weather destinations, timed perfectly for the October–December peak travel season.

The Challenge: Creating Demand for a Niche Product Marketing a cold-weather product in a tropical country presented two critical challenges:

• Low Brand Awareness: HOTHANS had no advertising investment outside of social media, resulting in limited brand recognition among Thai consumers.

• Deepening Target Needs and Optimization: Mass advertising would be highly inefficient for a niche audience. The biggest BtoC opportunity lies in the peak travel season, meaning the challenge was to deliver authentic content at precisely the right timing to capture the Thai consumers’ high interest in “traveling to cold destinations.”

The Strategy: A Full-Funnel Influencer Approach

FinT proposed influencer marketing as the ideal approach to reach precisely the right users through targeted, authentic content. We designed a full-funnel strategy based on a deep understanding of Thai travelers’ customer journey—from initial trip research through to in-store purchase. Each funnel stage was matched with a specific influencer tactic to maximize efficiency.

1. Awareness (Mega KOLs) A travel-focused mega KOL was selected—not just for follower count, but because their average views across the last 5 posts exceeded their follower count, indicating strong content quality. The KOL actually traveled overseas and filmed authentic content featuring HOTHANS, establishing brand credibility and a strong “endorsement effect.”

2. Interest & Consideration (KOC Army) Travel-focused KOCs (Key Opinion Consumers) were engaged through paid partnerships to produce authentic review content at scale. This layer served dual purposes: generating a massive volume of awareness and building product credibility through trusted third-party reviews.

3. Purchase (Nano-Influencers & Affiliates) Nano-influencers with high purchasing influence were activated through TikTok Shop’s affiliate program. Their content was further amplified using Spark Ads to boost reach and drive direct conversions.

The Results: Measurable Success Across the Funnel

The integrated campaign delivered exceptional results, driving massive online visibility and contributing to offline sales growth through simultaneous in-store promotions.

Combined Campaign Totals: Metric Total

• Total Impressions: 37,700,000+ (170% of KPI)

• Total Engagements: 48,884

• Offline Impact: Contributed to noticeable in-store sales growth.

Key Takeaways

• The power of a layered influencer approach: The combination of KOL authority (establishing brand credibility), KOC volume (generating mass awareness and trust), and Affiliate conversion (driving direct purchases) created a synergistic full-funnel effect that far exceeded individual KPIs.

• Riding the micro-influencer wave with precision: FinT leveraged mass micro-influencer deployment by combining localized Thai consumer insights with Japanese-standard execution quality and rigorous content direction—enabling the production of high-performing content at scale.

• Leveraging the “Travel Need” Context: By positioning the product within the context of the highly desired “travel to cold-weather destinations” rather than simply introducing its features, we successfully encouraged consumers to relate to the product and envision it as an essential part of their own travel plans.