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The stage is set. The year is 2014. Entrepreneurs, note: Instagram is still, at this juncture in time, its own independent entity and company. Four friends rejoice an NBA matchup between the Golden State Warriors & Houston Rockets, accompanied by a 30-pack of Busch, a portable THC pen, and a fresh pack of Mango JUUL pods. Under a drunken stupor, one friend suggests a wager. The monetary amount in this wager will not be disclosed due to personal requests by CEOs and MGMT for TopTier, famed Instagram college apparel & media brand.
The bet was posed to Jay & Dylan entitling them to a (undisclosed) reward if they could create an Instagram account and reach 10,000 followers within one month. They crushed this innocuous bet. TopTier reached 10,000 followers in a mere 2 weeks after going live! The viral-like nature of TopTier’s rapid growth and page expansion is largely an attribution to the…
“Casual, laid-back nature of running a business & posting lit content.” – Dylan, from TopTier
Seemingly, after the fun of the bet subsided, CEOs of TopTier Jay & Dylan had a serious brand in-the-making on their hands. Cracking cold one after cold one with the boys, Saturdays, previous for the boys, now became for TopTier.
After collaborations with Bierstick and other related college brands, TopTier kept surging. The “bet” turned household name began to take the internet by storm, cited as the outlet for viral video after viral video, TopTier had to keep up with its movement as its followers grew by thousands every week. Initially, TopTier hosted polls and requested feedback from followers on what to satirize on the brand’s first apparel launch.
2015 – The Shirt.
Credit: TopTier
2015 went down in TopTier history as its biggest leap in growth, mainly due to the virality of its satirical “Busch” T-shirt, poking fun at female anatomy while referencing the most bro thing possible- beer. A hit among all ages, sororities, fraternities, adolescents, and perennial alcoholics, TopTier saw its first taste in mainstream media spotlight. Jay & Dylan often cite this T-shirt as the turning point for their Instagram business. Graciously and geniusly avoiding copyright strike, TopTier embraced their newfangled fame in the most TopTier way they could have- developing a core, cult-like fan base consistently through Instagram and Snapchat.
Pictured: Riff Raff Credit: TopTier