Home Depot leveraging TikTok ‘cool factor’ to connect with Gen Z
TikTokers love jamming to Home Depot's theme song – and the home improvement chain is leveraging the trend to bring in younger buyers.
"The Home Depot Beat" has remained one of the most popular TikTok sounds for years.
The Atlanta-based retailer created an account in 2022 and is partnering with influencers.
Home Depot hopes to connect with Gen Z and younger generations through its social media.
Home Depot organic social media manager Mike Cushing can pinpoint the exact moment the home improvement store knew it had something special with its theme song, which has "no reason to be as fun as it is."
In a TikTok in 2019, Valencia Community College student Chris Alicea danced to the Home Depot beat in his dorm room. Upon seeing that post go viral — more than 1.2 million people watched it — Cushing said he and his team uploaded the theme song to social media platforms so that people could use it.
Four years later, the song remains one of TikTok's most popular sounds. When one searches "The Home Depot Beat" on the social media platform, they find myriad videos of the song playing in the background as people, particularly dads, work to complete tasks, from installing new products in the home to getting their family ready for a travel day.
But it's usually not the dads themselves creating these videos. With Generation Z dominating TikTok, Home Depot is finding ways to connect with younger audiences through the catchiness of its theme song, Cushing said.
"We hope to change the idea that this is my dad's home improvement store," Cushing said. The social media engagement helps Home Depot "connect with younger generations and the next generation of homeowners and doers."
Home Depot's typical shopper is a middle-aged white man, who is married without children at home. They tend to live in the suburbs, have a college education, and earn more than $80,000 per year.
Those in Gen Z might not be as likely to be homeowners or have that same level of income. But they're certainly on social media. Insider's research arm, estimated in September 2022 that roughly 61.3% of Gen Zers in the US use TikTok at least once a month.
And after a few years of seeing its beat go viral, the Atlanta-based retailer is joining in on the content creation fun.
Home Depot launched its TikTok channel and posted its first video in July 2022. Like with many other retailers, it has partnered with TikTok influencers to promote its product. For example, in early December 2022, dancing duo TikTok influencers cost_n_mayor uploaded a video of themselves dancing to the Home Depot beat in a video that gained 1.7 million views.
And later in the month, Home Depot posted a video of musician and influencer Joe Porter re-creating the company's theme song solely using products in Home Depot's store. With 3.4 million views, it is by far the most-watched video on the retailer's TikTok channel.
"The reaction we've seen — a lot of comments have been along the lines of 'I'm going to Home Depot tonight' after this video came out," Cushing said.
