One rebrand at a time: How this branding expert built a following on TikTok

You can learn a silly dance on TikTok. You can learn obscure trivia about Civil War generals. And you can obtain a de facto master’s degree in branding—at least if you follow Ashwinn Krishnaswamy, a branding guru in New York.

He’s built an audience by ripping into brands on TikTok, pointing out branding “fails” and explaining where he thinks they went wrong. He also posts walk-throughs of design trends and how-tos, producing what are essentially stylized marketing case studies that have amassed an audience of more than 124,000, resulted in brand deals, and helped his burgeoning consulting business, with many leads coming from the social platform.

Krishnaswamy’s videos are often more digestible than your average Twitter thread, more clever than much of the thought leadership one might find on Linkedin. He shows his work, frequently offering a critique of a specific brand and what he’d do differently.

For example, one video is a “teardown” of Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy’s watch brand Brick, followed by how he’d rebrand it. In another, he rewrote ad copy for Allbirds running shoes (his suggestion of “all nerds wear Allbirds” probably wouldn’t make it far).

“I’m going to critique this, but I’m also going to take my shot at trying to make it better or trying to improve this. I think that resonates with people because they’re like, ‘Okay, he’s not just a hater,’” he said.

LinkedIn longer than a CVS receipt

As his #content might suggest, Krishnaswamy has a diverse résumé paired with a deep reservoir of opinions in design, product, and vibes.

A graduate of NYU’s Stern School of Business, he founded a browser extension called Point, worked product and design for Ense (now SmallTalk), an audio platform similar to Clubhouse, founded a jeep-rental company for New Yorkers looking to go upstate, and *deep breath* co-founded design and branding agency Forge, which has worked with brands like Muddy Bites and Troy Aikman’s Eight beer.

Oh, and he found the time to start his own hemp-flower CBD cigarette brand, Oklahoma Smokes. It was with this brand that he initially found success on TikTok in October of 2020. His first post for the brand went viral, leading to “several thousand dollars in sales,” he told Marketing Brew. There was a demonstrable link between virality and sales.

“For our business, it’s clear as day,” he told Marketing Brew. “We don’t run any paid marketing activities, we just can’t, so the predominant channels for customer acquisition are our TikTok, word of mouth, and SEO.”

Krishnaswamy’s varied experience in tech and branding at the ground level has helped hone his expertise, he told Marketing Brew. In late 2022, he put himself in front of the camera. By his fifth TikTok video—a look at the marketing strategy behind the luxury cookie company Last Crumb—he started to get some traction, reaching nearly half a million views.

Hired on TikTok

He’s turned those pithy videos into branded deals, working with the organization platform Notion on sponsored posts as well as creating content for Adobe and Pair Eyewear.

They’ve also led to work for Forge, which is working on a rebrand of the cannabis company Flying Monkey; Krishnaswamy said the brand found his agency on TikTok. He’s also sold his time, offering hourly consulting services for $600. Sometimes, he'll do up to five a day.

His client work does involve helping brands with TikTok, though he doesn’t make any promises of virality. “There’s a high-level strategy that applies across the board, whether it’s personal or brand-related stuff,” he said. “I never say, ‘Hey, you’re going to go viral if you create this type of content.’”

Tony Piloseno, the founder of Tonester Paints, came across Krishnaswamy—you guessed it—scrolling TikTok. Piloseno, who has his own history with virality, was looking to monetize his audience of 2.1 million followers on TikTok. Though the two have only met once so far, in early January, Krishnaswamy suggested Piloseno offer viewers virtual color consultations at $100 a pop, and that he shouldn’t just position himself as someone who mixes paint, but as an expert. He’s already sold three.

Kristine Locker is the founder of Locker, which she described as “Pinterest for online shopping.” After seeing his TikToks, she became a fan of Krishnaswamy, whom she described as “super punchy, no flower,” so she hired him to help write and review the brand’s landing page. But is it risky to hire someone based on their TikTok?

“You can learn so much about somebody from watching like a handful of their videos on TikTok, and it’s such a way for people to market their knowledge,” she said. “I do understand the hesitation…but to me, it actually felt really natural.”