012

THE MARKET | SUMMER 2012

THE EXPORTER: HAIRY BABY
From the website
to Facebook,
everything is
oriented towards
80s Ireland.
O
ne lool af fhe producf range of
Hairy BaLy fshirfs and you quiclly
realise fhaf here is a successful Irish
company whose Lusiness meefings
sef ouf fo raise a smile.
Ve used fo have weelly meefings in a
lind of a Loardroom sfyle," admifs Hairy BaLy
founder, quiefspolen Daragh Murphy, a
former audio/visual engineer wifh a
liling for well craffed/worded fshirfs,
Luf I`m nof sure fhaf really worled.
Ve found ourselves having meefings
in fhe prinfing room, or ouf fhe
Lacl, lnocling a Lall around. Ve
jusf Lounce ideas aLouf, really.
Of course, I would have
meefings fhaf are more
serious wifh my producfion
manager and ofher
differenf deparfmenfs, Luf
in general, when we`re
coming up wifh ideas
for fshirfs, everyone
is involved. And fhose
meefings are always on a
Monday Lecause you
never lnow whaf
you`d hear over fhe
weelend."
Singular Irish
phrases, Luzzwords,
slogans and sayings
form fhe Lasis of
fhe appeal of Hairy BaLy fshirfs. Vifh producf
lines for men (Givin` If Socls, Vhaf`s The Sfory
Rory`), women (Fine Thing, Boys Are Eejifs),
lids (Culchie Beag, Vine Males Mummy Silly)
and LaLies (I`m Happy In My Nappy, I`ll Tall
Vhen I`m Good And Ready), Leing ordered
online every day, over fhe pasf seven years,
Hairy BaLy has gone from sfrengfh fo
sfrengfh.
The compacf ecommerce
company currenfly employs eighf
people, operafes ouf of a j,ooo sq
ff unif in Liffle Island, Corl, and,
according fo Murphy, expecfs fo hif
fhe c1m furnover fgure in zo1z.
Ve`re growing yearonyear, which is
fanfasfic," he says.
The success of whaf some
people mighf regard as a
frivolous or insuLsfanfial
producf is down fo
Murphy`s passion for
nof only a good arficle
of clofhing Luf for whaf
he earnesfly refers fo as
an alfernafive form of
Irishness Irish fshirfs
for Irish people."
The inuences of
fhe Hairy BaLy Lrand
come direcfly from his
upLringing in fhe 18os.
A lof of whaf we do is
The new diaspora arent looking for Tara brooches or
leprechauns. Generation X, Irish abroad have talked the talk,
seen the TV series and now want to buy the t-shirt. Tony
Clayton-Lea reports.
HAIRY BABY GROWS BIG
013
SUMMER 2012 | THE MARKET
THE EXPORTER: HAIRY BABY
sfeeped in nosfalgia," he readily admifs. From
fhe weLsife fo FaceLool, everyfhing is orienfed
fowards '8os Ireland."
According fo Murphy, Hairy BaLy was
never supposed fo Le a Lusiness, Luf rafher
a supplemenfary income fo his worl as an
audio/visual engineer. I was planning fo sef up
a weLsife, go fo worl, and on my refurn home,
I`d hope fo gef a few orders in, paclage fhem
up, ship fhem off, and fhen Le on my way ouf fo
worl fhe nexf day. Buf if didn`f pan ouf lile fhaf
if was more
I`d have fo give up my joL. In ofher words,
I had fo male a decision fo do fhe fshirfs
seriously, or drop fhe idea alfogefher."
Af fhis poinf, fhere seems fo Le no end in
sighf for Irish people af home and aLroad fo
avail of Murphy`s efhos of Irish fshirfs for
Irish people". Inferesfingly, fhe percenfage
Lrealdown of sales has shiffed in recenf fimes.
I`m Lofh sad and happy fo say fhaf,
Lecause of fhe way fhings are in Ireland af
presenf, our exporf marlef has grown in
fhe pasf 1z18 monfhs. Ve were very sfrong
domesfically for a long fime; upwards of 8j%
of our marlef was wifhin fhe counfry. Now
we`ve gof aLouf o% going aLroad info Europe
and furfher info areas lile Ausfralia and New
Zealand daily. Thaf`s poignanf, of course, Luf
we`re helping people fo refain an Irish idenfify
aLroad, in a way, fo Le in a lind of a cluL."
Being selfemployed, commenfs Murphy,
isn`f always easy. Menfion fhe worl/life Lalance
fo him and he`s more amused fhan annoyed.
If`s more a worl/worl Lalance, fo Le honesf. I
always say fhaf I gave up fhe day joL fo worl a
day and nighf joL. Seven years on, and I`m sfill
worling all fhe hours, seven days a weel."
His Lrain, he says wifh whaf sounds lile a
hinf of regref, will jusf nof swifch off, and he is
always frying fo fhinl of new ways fo develop
his Lusiness. I`d go home in fhe evening, puf
fhe child fo Led, and fhen fhe lapfop would
come ouf, and I`d Le worling away again."
Forfhcoming producf lines include
fhe referencing of classic RTE quiz shows
(Quiclsilver, Know Your Sporf, Murphy`s Micro
QuizM) and (following fhe acquiring of a
licence for sales in fhe UK and Ireland) a series
of fshirfs feafuring phrases from fhe classic
comedy series, <Wj^[hJ[Z.
If`d Le a differenf if I hafed fhe worl,
of course." Murphy draws in a Lreafh and
slowly Llows if ouf. Thanl God I have a very
undersfanding wife!"
- As a totally e-commerce business,
Hairy Baby has to apply a stringent
online strategy. Were on our third Hairy
Baby website now the most recent,
which we regard as a shop ret, was
commissioned a few weeks ago and
each site has been a learning curve.
The new one is, I hope, the one where
all the problems have been ironed out.
You learn all these things as you go on.
- One of the most important lessons
learnt from the business on the e-
commerce side is, I suppose, that
the language we use on our website
is fundamental to the success of
the business. The way we script the
content and the way we relate to the
customer on the website is key. We
also have a policy that we dont offend
anyone with any of the wording on the
products, which is another reason for
our success.
- Search Engine Optimisation is
something to get right. The Hairy Baby
website is very optimised. Ironically,
the actual brand name itself has
worked very well for us in that area.
Although were a t-shirt company
and there are an awful lot of other
t-shirt companies out there we have
a unique name which allows us to
optimize the website extremely well.
There was a plan to call the company
something very generic. Thankfully, we
didnt.
- Cash ow is very important to any
company, obviously, but luckily for our
business, were paid straight away.
Once you click the proceed with my
order button on the website were paid
within a few minutes. We dont supply
any retail outlet units although we
have plans to start selling at Dublin
Airport quite soon so Im not waiting
to be paid by anyone. Not many
companies can say that.
- Were very heavily focused on
Facebook, and we road test a lot of
our products and ideas there. A lot
of favourable response is given to
anything we do that connects with
growing up in Ireland in the 80s. The
ideas that arent received well are the
ideas we drop.
Daragh Murphy on Hairy Babys
Online Strategy