1. Demographics

Hut Mentality

When deciding on a topic for my first position paper for the Publicity and Media Campaigns class, I had trouble choosing between a company or an influencer. After some research, I decided to do my paper on a duo, an influencer, and their clothing brand. Isha Punja got her start from the Netflix reality TV show Twentysomethings. The show features her and 7 other strangers moving to Austin, TX, and building a life there. Each character has their own dream and ambitions. Isha’s dream, in particular, is to create a clothing brand. While she is there she proves to be an incredible artist and establishes her brand in Austin.

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A post shared by Isha Punja (@isha_punja)

On the show, Isha tells fellow co-stars and viewers her vision for the brand and how she plans to get there. Her first obstacle is to sell her first article of clothing. After scouring Austin for a boutique to sell her pieces she finally finds one that will display them. The first few weeks are tough and she doesn’t make any sales, at this point the boutique owner is ready to return the pieces. Before her deadline, Isha makes a sale and then soon after sells all her pieces. From there she continues to design dresses, tops, bottoms, and purses. Once the show was released, demand increased and she found sustainable sources to help her produce to meet demands. 

I couldn’t find the average age of viewers for Twentysomethings, but I did find the average age of a similar show, The Real World Skeletons, and the median was 27 years old. Which would be easy to guess considering the name of the show. One could assume that those viewers are the ones that are building and helping grow the brand, Hut Mentality.

Her brand’s name is Hut Mentality. In search to learn more about her culture and herself, she found herself falling in love with the art of the tribal villages in Rann of Kutch, settled in the corners of India. Her website goes into depth about her journey and influences when designing clothes. They source textiles and fabrics from authentic artisans or from businesses that employ them. Most fabrics are naturally sourced, but in some cases, they blend them with other fabrics. The brand is very transparent about that fact. They also use natural dyes like turmeric, indigo, or jaggery. 

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Each piece is hand-crafted by an artisan and none of the pieces are mass-produced. This means each article is handcrafted and one-of-a-kind. It takes longer for her pieces to be restocked, but in retrospect that is a good thing, knowing each piece is unique and going to be of good quality. They also try to reduce waste by reusing leftover fabric to make more clothes. They source their textiles from indigenous communities, which is a great way to support cultural ecosystems and communities of poverty-stricken communities. 

There are no analytics of the demographics of her brand, but if you dive into her socials you can begin to guess who her target audience is. Easily, her largest social media platform is the Instagram page, @hutmentality. With 74.7k followers, it's safe to say she has made a name for herself. Her bio has this to say of the brand, “For a multicultural world. Slow and sustainable fashion created for you by indigenous artisans in India.” After stalking her comments and followers, I have found that a lot of her target demographic is made up of an ethnically diverse, young adult crowd. She takes time to explore the history behind the different styles and techniques used. I think that resonates with younger adults who don’t know much about their heritage and family culture. Personally, that is why I think her target audience consists of a lot of Hindu and Middle Eastern women.

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A post shared by Hut Mentality (@hutmentality)

   

Hut Mentality’s Facebook page doesn’t have nearly as many followers as their Instagram, which leads to further proof that her target demographic is younger adults/millennials or even Gen Z because Facebook users tend to be older generations. They also aren’t as active as they are on Instagram, due to a lack of engagement. Their latest post was made in July of last year and it only got 8 likes. Obviously, Isha’s brand has grown since Twentysomethings, but it seems that Facebook wasn’t the place for it to flourish like it did on Instagram. 

They do have a Twitter page, but again Instagram is their main platform so there is a significantly less amount of followers on Twitter. They also are not as active as they are on Instagram, but are more active than they are on Facebook. Their most recent posts were a showcasing post of one of the tops designed by Miss Punja and the other telling fans that there will be a restock soon.

Hut mentality corsets, inspired by our inner child’s closet preferences ✨ pic.twitter.com/YTEG1NCYrF

— HUT MENTALITY (@HutMentality) January 19, 2022

Overall her brand has what a lot of other brands lack and that's authenticity. When you look at the brands clothes, her image, and the ideas she is trying to sell it all seems genuine. She wants to teach and explore her and different cultures through art.