DTC Dispatch #003

LATEST NEWS

Allbirds launches on Amazon

Eco-friendly shoe brand Allbirds launched on Amazon recently without much fanfare. “The move comes as Allbirds revamps its product assortment to focus on classic styles as part of a transformation plan outlined in March meant to jumpstart growth and improve capital efficiency.”

Our take: Allbirds joins the recent crop of DTC brands that took the time to build a brand before launching on Amazon. Particularly in a time when it’s easier than ever for competitors to replicate products, investing in a strong brand identity and loyal customer base appear to be must-haves before entering the consumer wild-west that is Amazon. The new expansion should increase product availability without substantively endangering the business.

Peach & Lily hit $100M

Peach & Lily have experienced a meteoric rise in their first 5 years. Crediting a “20:1” ratio of consumer to influencer events and a 10X investment into product development over marketing, Peach & Lily boast $100M in revenue now. Notably, the brand also maintains full ownership of its formulations and intellectual property.

Our take: The rise of Peach & Lily is a testament to real innovation, ownership, and product over everything else. At a time when it seems there are more drop shipping stores than stars in the sky, it’s refreshing to hear that brands investing in truly great products are still succeeding.

Snoop Dogg is… NOT giving up smoke

Snoop Dogg took the internet by storm when he recently announced that he was “giving up smoke.” Garnering 150M impressions on Twitter alone, endless speculation ensued. The Monday before Black Friday, it was revealed to be a marketing stunt in coordination with smokeless firepit brand Solo Stove.

Our take: This is easily a top candidate for ad of the year. With perfect execution across channels, Solo Stove brought unprecedented awareness to their brand and hero products. Hats off to the marketing minds at The Martin Agency and digital team at Common Thread Collective for pulling this off.

Big Brands use BOGO to collect data and drive loyalty

The Wall Street Journal reports that some of the biggest brands, including Dominoes, Starbucks, Shake Shack, and Popeyes are leveraging BOGO offers with strings attached: leveraging these offers to collect data about their customers, drive loyalty-program adoption, and push consumers into repeat purchases.

Our take: As algorithms, platforms, and macro-economics are continuously in flux, it’s very telling to see major brands double-down on first-party data to drive loyalty and LTV. We’ll say it until we’re blue in the face: an owned audience is the #1 way to add predictability to revenue.

FEATURED CONTENT

Men’s Skincare Brand, Disco, Files for Bankruptcy

Our take: Disco founder Benjamin Smith shares invaluable insights from his experience building what appeared to be an incredibly promising skin care brand for men. This is a must-read for everyone working in DTC.

OUR SPONSOR

The DTC Dispatch is sponsored by my email & SMS marketing agency, NOBLE. We build, maintain, and leverage your #1 business asset: first-party data.

As the marketing landscape changes constantly, it’s a particularly good time to invest in owned-audiences you can leverage across channels to reach the right audiences at the right time with the right message.

Interested in driving predictable revenue through owned-audiences? Just reply to this email.