Using Enemy Marketing To Drive 2M+ Users

That narrative broke the internet.

It came from a raw founder video that struck a cultural nerve and laid the foundation for one of the most viral brands in home design.

This week, we’re breaking down how @dupe turned outrage into a movement and built a content engine that exposes Big Furniture, drives user growth, & saves people money.

📖 What’s the story?

Most people assume expensive = better.
Dupe flipped that script with a single, undeniable insight:

After getting scammed himself, one founder turned frustration into fuel.
The result? A platform that made stylish living affordable, transparent and fun to share.

Dupe didn’t just build a business.
They rallied people around a truth they already felt and offered themselves as the solution.

🧭 What’s the brand narrative?

Narrative: You’re Getting Scammed.

That’s not just a hook — it’s the emotional backbone of Dupe’s brand.

Every post, video, and update stems from this simple truth:

It’s an Us vs Them rebellion wrapped in internet-native content.

Dupe isn’t trying to compete on features.
They’re building a movement around calling bullsh*t and helping people save money.

⚡ Inflection Point: From Hack to Platform

The brand launched with a bang:

• A single video exposing a $3,000+ furniture markup

• Thousands of comments, shares, and “WTF” reactions

• The founder turning viral momentum into a mission:
  “I fell for their scram. So I built Dupe to fight back.”

From there, the format stayed simple:
→ Call out the outrage
→ Offer the fix
→ Show and tell the solution
→ Become the leader of the rebellion

📌 How do the content pillars feed this?

💥 Enemy Marketing & Myth Busting

• “Big Furniture is stealing from you”

• “The entire internet fell for this price scam”
  → Truth bombs designed for rage, relatability, and re-sharing

🎥 Relatable UGC & Creator POV

• “If you’re furnishing your apartment, you need this”

• “My interior designer showed me this insane trick”
  → Feels like FaceTime. Converts like a CTA.

🧠 Founder POV with Memeability

• “Don’t mess with nerds”

• “I built this because I got scammed first”
  → Not just a company, but a mission people want to support

🎬 How the formats support it

🟪 UGC & Creator POVs
Low fi videos: text overlays & post-it notes
→ Designed for shareability

🟧 Narrative-Led Content
Green screens & talking to camera.
→ Problem → Realization → Fix → Hero (Dupe)
→ It’s a built-in virality loop: educate, entertain, empower
→ Founder is a character in the universe

🟦 Screenshare Tutorials
“Don’t buy a single piece of furniture before you watch this”
→ Seamless product demo inside the story

🔁 The Growth Flywheel

Outrage drives:
→ Relatability + Shares
→ Traffic
→ New Users
→ Savings for Users
→ More Share-ability

Every product use case is content.
Every shared story fuels the next customer.
And every friend helped strengthens the movement.

📊 Proof It’s Working

Dupe now has:
✅ Nearly 500,000 followers
✅ Over 2 million users
✅ Countless “WTF I didn’t know this” comments from people who now do

💡 What You Can Steal

✅ Start with a truth your customer already suspects
→ “You’re being scammed” > “We’re affordable”

✅ Turn the founder story into the emotional wedge
→ People buy mission, not just product

✅ Build an enemy into your brand
→ Conflict = attention. Alignment = trust.

✅ Use UGC to speak to multiple personas
→ Same story, different POVs = more reach

Dupe didn’t go viral by shouting.
They went viral by telling a story and rallying people around a central idea.

So I’ll leave you with this:

Because once you do...
Your content writes itself.
Your community finds each other.
And your brand becomes a movement.

💬 I’m workshopping the format for these weekly breakdowns. If there’s something you wish I covered or a brand you want featured, hit reply and drop me a note.

Cheers,

Eric