After six years of building a following almost entirely through word of mouth and consumer love, Dae is stepping into a new era — and they’re doing it by doubling down on the product that got them here. As of today, the brand has launched “Most Likely To Do The Most,” its first-ever integrated brand campaign, and the star of the show is a face you already know; the Cactus Fruit 3-in-1 Styling Cream.
A Cult Favorite Goes Mainstream
Cactus Fruit isn’t just Dae’s best-seller — it’s a bona fide category leader. The product sells one unit every 15 seconds based on 2025 retail sales, and currently ranks as Sephora’s #1 styling product line and #1 overall hair product line by 2025 unit sales. That kind of traction usually happens slowly, through the kind of organic buzz that can’t be manufactured — which is exactly how Dae built it.
Betting Big On What Already Works
Rather than launching something new, Dae is doing something bolder: putting its largest marketing investment to date behind a product people already love, in an effort to introduce the brand itself to consumers who know Cactus Fruit but haven’t yet connected the dots to Dae. The campaign spans paid social, digital, CTV, TikTok, Youtube, podcasts, and out-of-home — including 500+ creators, 200+ NYC wild postings, and Dae’s first-ever YouTube and podcast partnerships.
We caught up with Kelley Martin, Head of Marketing at Dae, to get more details on the campaign — keep reading for her insights.
The Tease: Cactus Fruit is formulated as a 3-in-1 — what makes it work across so many styling needs at once, and how does that versatility explain why it’s become Dae’s best-seller?
Kelley Martin: Cactus Fruit 3-in-1 Styling Cream was designed to be a truly versatile styling essential and something that can work across different hair types, styles, and routines rather than being limited to one specific use. There are three key ways to use it: for smooth styles, apply a small amount to damp hair and let it air dry, or use it on dry hair as a sleek finishing step; for shiny blowouts, work a small amount through the mid-lengths to ends before blow-drying; and for natural curls or waves, work it through wet or dry hair for definition.
What’s been especially exciting is seeing our community discover even more ways to use it beyond those core applications, from slick-backs and buns to smoothing flyaways, air-drying, waves, and everything in between.
That versatility is a big part of why it has become such a hero for dae. Consumers may initially discover it for one use (often its viral slick-back reputation) but then find themselves reaching for it again and again as they realize how much it can do. The product has really been validated by our community through organic word of mouth, creator advocacy, and repeat purchase. It became our #1 product long before we made a significant investment in telling its story at scale, which is ultimately what gave us the confidence to build a much bigger campaign around it.
What’s the most common “aha” moment customers report after adding Cactus Fruit into their routine — is it the hold, the finish, the scent, something else?
Martin: The biggest “aha” moment is really realizing how much one product can do. A lot of people come to Cactus Fruit because they’ve seen it used for slick-backs or smoothing, and then discover that it can become part of so many other styling routines.
That versatility is what tends to turn someone from a first-time user into a repeat customer. They realize they don’t need a separate product for every hairstyle or styling moment. Cactus Fruit can help create the look while also adding polish and control. That discovery has been a huge part of the product’s organic growth and why it has become such a staple within our community, and truly does it all.
This is Dae’s largest integrated marketing investment to date, all behind an existing hero product rather than a new launch — what made you confident that Cactus Fruit could carry a campaign of this scale?
Martin: The biggest reason was that consumers had already done the work of making Cactus Fruit an icon. It became dae’s #1 product and one of Sephora’s top hair styling products through organic discovery, creator advocacy, word of mouth, and repeat purchase before we ever put significant marketing investment behind it.
For us, that made this less about creating demand and more about amplifying something that was already happening. Cactus Fruit has proven that it can bring consumers into the dae world, and we saw a huge opportunity to introduce that hero product and the broader brand to even more people.
We want to build products that become icons, rather than constantly moving on to the next launch. This campaign represents a new chapter for dae: taking the product our community has already validated and giving it the platform it deserves. We’ve proven that people love Cactus Fruit; now we’re investing in making sure more consumers know about it and, ultimately, know dae.
Turns out you don’t need a new product to make a splash — you just need the right one, and the guts to go all in on it. Shop the Cactus Fruit 3-in-1 Styling Cream ($30.00) on daehair.com and Sephora.
