TikTok stars and entrepreneurial duo Josh Richards and Griffin Johnson, who count a combined 50 million followers across all platforms, have launched yet another business venture together.
The former Sway Housers have pacted with Erik Huberman, the founder and CEO of marketing consultancy Hawke Media, to launch HawkeZ — which, as its name suggests, is a spin-off agency squarely focused on selling to the Gen Z set.
Hawke Media bills itself as an outsourced CMO to clients including Red Bull, Alibaba, and Proactiv. HawkeZ will provide comprehensive advertising and multimedia support, including social, search, email, chatbots, branding, production, and more.
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Richards and Johnson will serve as creative directors for the new agency, while Huberman will manage day-to-day operations. The agency says its first signed client is footwear brand Crocs, which has onboarded HawkeZ as part of a larger marketing push targeting younger shoppers.
“To effectively communicate with younger generations, brands need to understand how to tell their stories in an authentic way,” Richards said in a statement. “Griffin and I know what resonates, and we’re excited to partner with businesses to build brand loyalty with younger consumers, with the goal of influencing their buying decisions for decades to come.”
In addition to myriad investments in startups like Lendtable and Breakr, Richards and Johnson have launched several of their companies in collaboration with established industry experts, including content studio CrossCheck (alongside Mark Wahlberg), sports agency CrossCheck Sports, and VC firm Animal Capital in collaboration with fellow TikTok star Noah Beck.
