And it's not uncommon to find a bot-powered chat on an eCommerce website.

But it is uncommon to find an AI-powered chat experience that is willing to negotiate with customers, and do so with ... well ... some personality.

That's exactly what Nibble provides. Rosier Bailey, Nibble's president and CEO, chatted with the DTC Growth Show about Nibble and its potential uses across eCommerce.  

Read more

In this episode we chat with Erica about topics such as the importance of hiring a great PR team for product launches, building lean teams when first launching a brand, as well as how Erica grew her brand with various partnership opportunities. Literie has had some iconic partnerships with different brands such as Juniors Cheesecake and Sivan Remedies. Her most recent collaboration was just announced with Bravo's The Real Housewives featuring scents such as "go to sleep" and "flipping tables".

But that's exactly what Boarderie did.

Boarderie has spent the past two years sending artisan charcuterie and cheese boards directly to people's homes. Their boards don't require the recipients to unpack them and put them together, they're not baskets. These go straight from the box to your table and are ready to eat. ... (READ MORE)

Key Takeaways from Abtin:

1. For brands starting with their retention marketing programs, focus on building out a solid email list first as your foundation, then focus on SMS and push notifications as you expand your retention strategy.
    
2. Brands are underutilizing building apps for their stores. It’s a cost effective way to send out push notifications without having to pay expensive fees associated with SMS marketing.
    
3. Use tools that specialize in certain retention strategies such as email marketing, SMS, and so on!

Through CROSSNET he's brought 'foursquare' to volleyball, soccer and pickleball; and he's done it all without raising venture money.

Chris and his brother, Greg, are the products of a small town in Connecticut. The brothers and a childhood friend were tired of the rat race, so they found something they were passionate about and dumped their savings and 401Ks into it.

Listen to Chris as he speaks to BANKNOTES editor in chief Ian Leslie on how CROSSNET got its start, lessons learned, and what the future holds.

The rise and fall of AND1 was quick and occurred over less than 10 years.

So what lessons can marketers learn from AND1?

Ian Leslie and Andy Rosenberg took some time to unpack the history of AND1 for the DTC Growth Show, presented by BANKNOTES minted by #PAID.

Sam has always felt a calling to start her own business and inspiration for DOM came from her own frustration with the lack of safe, effective and aesthetically pleasing products on the market. Especially during a time when hand sanitizer was and still is becoming such an integral part of our lives. DOM is here to reshape our relationship with routine.

What saved him, in the end, was moving to Israel and doing a Vipassana meditation retreat that included ten days of meditation for ten hours a day—all conducted in complete silence.

“For the first time in my life, I felt the benefits of meditation everybody had been talking about.”

Robbie became obsessed, eventually flying to Peru to participate in four Ayahuasca ceremonies, which are drug-induced experiences wherein he learned a lot about himself.

Today he’s now been sober for five years, and...(read more)

Known as the Mayor of DTC Twitter and head of Shopify’s Resilient Retail podcast, Kristen hosts discussions with entrepreneurs on a plethora of topics surrounding commerce, exploring how brands can find success within DTC and retail spaces. 

“I describe the Resilient Retail podcast as this kind of digital property or brand. It’s a space to bring the retail conversations Shopify needs to be having to the merchants we need to be reaching.”–Kristen LaFrance

Human-centered commerce is near and dear to Kristen’s heart, and I spoke to her about why she considers it so important and how to achieve it through community-building, thinking locally, and...  [Read more]

In this chat, we talk to Austin about how Morning Brew got started and its humble beginnings, from a pdf file with a watermarked logo to now having over 2 Million subscribers.

Austin also gives his insight into the now-famous advice "every company is a media company" and what that really means for brands and how to be successful at it.

We even asked him if we fast forward ten years, what do you think morning brew will look like?

"Let's call it a lifestyle company, where we represent the lifestyle of young business professionals. We make them smarter it's our job. We help them invest their money and help them save their money. We help them make all the big decisions in their lives. We make them better professionals. I think that comes in the way of content and education. It probably comes in the way of subscription and community, and you know, commerce. So they'll probably be 8 to 10 revenue streams of different things that, you know, we can engage these people with." - Austin Rief

In this conversation with Emmett, we talk about how he was drawn away from the classroom and into doing his own thing, as many founders do. We discuss his ability to do an incredible job organizing people who are just incredibly talented, which is one of the reasons that made Gin Lane so successful. Emmet dives into what makes Gin Lane so special and successful. 

Through his work with his Cheif Dental Officer, who has nearly thirty-five years of experience in the industry, Candid could provide something unique in the oral health space, a high-quality aligner with remote monitoring at a fraction of the cost. They set out to shake up an outdated industry and bring it into the present.

Nick talks about his experiences with Lyft and how that experience helped guide his first few years with Candid. From how to staff the initial team - what experts to bring in and why they wanted to start with the 10,15, 20-year experience executives - to when he knew it was time to expand the team.

One of the most exciting parts of this interview is how they signed Simone Biles as their spokesperson. Nick covers why she was the absolute perfect person for not only the brand but the audience serve, and his team. 

Don't pit acquisition and retention. They're friends. Marketers need to learn to split their focus, and adjust it at different times throughout the year. And if you don't know how to approach your retention, ask yourself what you'd do  if you could never acquire another customer again. I love that question.

I also appreciate the dinner party approach to building welcome and onboarding email sequences. Val calls it the dinner party strategy, and you can get her full guide for free. 

If you don't follow Val on Twitter, you're missing out. Connect with her. 

Their main objective is to get consumers consuming value-added meat, meaning meat that's 100 percent grass fed, pasture raised, and most importantly locally sourced. 

That means there are strict criteria for farmers and suppliers wanting to join the network. Marc unpacks what the expectations are for everyone joining the marketplace.

COVID-19 has changes this, but TruLocal is fortunate to be positioned as a DTC brand doing almost all of their business online. They also have the ability to fill boxes in closed-off fulfillment centres. Because operations continue, they've been able to hire as many people as possible. 

Pricing is always an interesting conversation. With a lot of brands cutting, slashing, and offering discounts, Marc shares his approach and plan with truLOCAL. 

He also shares his approach to expanding his business. Not just new products, but also his approach to moving into new territories. 

You might not know this, but Marc started in door-to-door sales. He opens up about his journey to founder of this fast-growing business operating in multiple countries. 

To learn more about truLOCAL, go to trulocal.ca. 

This is the DTC Growth Show by #paid.

We kick off by talking about Taylor's hiring approach for the digital marketer role. He's found a way to hire people with the right skillset from outside of marketing proper—within the fantasy sports community. His team has found a way to incorporate  fantasy into the hiring process. Interesting stuff.

To make sure they're hiring well, the team at CTC has also written up good/bad documents to use in interviews. He's been very generous and shared them with us. 

Moving on, we talk about 4x400 and how that fits into the overall vision at Common Thread Collective, making entrepreneurs dreams come true. And of course we talk about how CTC itself is a dream that has come true for Taylor and team.

At the heart of making dreams come true for brand owners is creative—that's one thing they hone in on at CTC. That's one of their secrets to success, and we talk about how good creative is available to anyone. At no other time in history has great creative been so readily available. 

Great quality doesn't always look like a polished and highly-produced asset, though. High-quality creative means that it sells. Content that engages, entertains, and educates is high-quality if it captures audience attention, regardless of the production value. 

We also talk about leadership, specifically, the shift from being measured as an individual contributor. Leadership is relinquishing the right to be measured based on your personal performance, says Taylor. I love the quote. And we dive a little here.

If you want to learn more about Taylor, follow him @taylorholiday His DM's are open to connect with you.

Mention Web Smith, and most in the DTC community will know exactly who you're talking about. Not in 2009, though. Back then, Web found himself unemployed—with a family of three. He wasn't discouraged. A couple hours into unemployment, and he was making his next move. Hunting for opportunity in the chaos. In the decade following, he'd move to Texas, take a role at Rogue Fitness, co-found Mizzen + Main, advise at fortune companies, and invest in a handful of other top DTC brands.

And yes, he also launched 2PM.

If you've read On Optimism and Big Ideas, you know there's five important lessons he leans on to get through tough times: optimism, dynamism, calmness, opportunity seeking, and finally, deep generalism. We dive into each of those.

With the current global pandemic, calmness is a lesson that sticks out. Web encourages founders and leaders to step back, "don't throw a way a whole business model because of a couple weeks." Many brands have rushed to discount their products either because of a crisis, or to clear inventory. Luxury brands should avoid it. There's good inspiration to model after in these times, and we talk about those brands who are doing well.

Look for opportunity. Web is big on arbitrage. In 2003, Alibaba used the SARS outbreak to shift towards ecommerce. That's when they launched their peer to peer marketplace, Taobao. Web talks about the similarities to what's happening now with COVID-19.

One category that is thriving now is fitness—companies like Peleton, Tonal, and Mirror. In addition to the added focus on exercising at home, there's also a longing for community, and the competitiveness that it brings out. There are important benefits that Web calls out.

There's some advice he has for brands during this time of uncertainty. He offers his words of encouragement for founders and operators who are navigating through the turmoil.

If you want to be on top of shifts and trends in the direct to consumer space, we encourage you to visit 2pml.com and signup for the executive membership—we highly recommend it.

We also recommend that you follow 2PM and Web Smith on twitter.

To learn more about the DTC Growth Show and #paid, visit hashtagpaid.com/dtc

Thank you for listening. This is the DTC Growth show.

Alex talks a lot about gratitude, and the positive impact it can have. What better way to start than asking him what he's grateful for, and walking through how he's incorporated that philosophy into the Five Minute Journal. 

Next, we launch into another topic Alex is passionate about—mindset. He talks about the difference between having a fixed vs. growth, and how he's incorporated that into the productivity planner.

Did you know that his favorite movie is Wallstreet. That's right. He didn't turn into Gordon Gekko, but he did have a side hustle that got him fired from a Canadian Bank. It turned out ok, though. Him and his wife, Mimi (another co-founder), went from unemployment to launching Luxy Hair, a company that successfully exited in 2018 with 250K customers in 165 countries.

He goes on to talk about that experience—everything from creating value for customers in the early days to hiring and exiting.

He also talks about another brand he's launch called Love Hair. He talks about the differences between that and Luxy, and shares that he's looking for someone to join as a senior leader, possibly even to take over the management of the whole thing.

If you're interested, connect with him at alex@dreamcreate.it

Alex mentioned a couple books on this episode. The Alliance by Reid Hoffman, Traction by Gina Whitman, and Mindset by Carol Dweck

If you haven't already, check out the five-minute journal and the productivity planner at intelligentchange.com

To learn more about the DTC Growth Show and #paid, visit hashtagpaid.com/dtc

Thank you for listening. This is the DTC Growth show.

Steadman and team spent a lot of time interviewing customers, and working with them to build the brand. They found that a lot of men are using three-in-one products, and other products that aren't good for them. There's a lack of education in the market about skincare for men, but Bruvy is looking to step in to provide guidance. They call it GUYDANCE—on-demand text with coaches and product advisors to help men take care of themselves.

Text is a great way to do this because it allows them to be very personalized with their advice and support. As they grow, they're going to work hard to keep this personal.

They started with 4 co-founders—two of them from Shopify, one from a CPG brand, and another from  advertising. It's been great to mesh their unique skillsets.

Launch day was good. They really focused on spending time with their customers leading up to the big day, so when it came there was a significant amount of word-of-mouth, which turned into a lot of organic traffic. To this day, it continues. They've been growing primarily without any paid advertising—incredible.

They're looking at the long view with Bruvy. Brands are built over time, and they know that. As long as they can operate profitably, they're focused on running marketing programs that really help build the brand—like popups, for example. They're bootstrapped, so they feel strongly about this approach.

If you haven't already, check out bruvy.com. 

Thank you for listening. This is the DTC Growth show.

Wondering how it went? It “absolutely crushed,” and has had great traction. The platform is going live with unboxing videos rolling out. Everything is really coming together.

The interesting thing about launches is that, internally, it bunkers you into the office where the team becomes a mini-family for a few days. That’s the best part.

Externally, Sharma and his team had great press with celebrities like Chrissy Teagan and Kim Kardashian posting about the product. He’s never been part of a launch with such high calibre celebrity star power, so it's interesting to see the effects. Considering founder, Simon Huck’s relationship with them, Nik was confident celebrity endorsement would come. But, he did not know when or what the influence would be in terms of revenue and influence

The OG way is to pay somebody with X amount of followers to post and tag you with a link involved, which doesn’t really work anymore. When Nik was at Hint, they found Influencers to partner and grow with, not just hire. Nik and the Hint team sent a influencer named Sara Dietschy around 100 bottles of water in the mail randomly. Dietschy opened it and the video ended up on her Youtube channel.

Sharma understands the fit between creator and product, and started a conversation about creating content that can last. That works organically as well as for a paid—Nobody at the time was running content through influencer handles using a brand’s media dollars, so it launched a new level of influencer marketing.

Nik thinks the worst influencer marketing examples are those that are so obvious that it's a completely sponsored post. More and more, consumers dig deep to find out if creators are only doing it for the money. It always comes down to authenticity.

Simon and his cofounder are very much experienced operators, so Nik was extremely excited to work with them to learn something from them.

Nik is a huge advocate for text. if you follow him on Twitter you can find his own personal text line. He is also a fan of really good copy dedicated to this channel. With Cha Cha, it was more about:

• How do we incentivize reorders?
• How do we make it easy to order?
• Text with SMS allows brands to do that because anyone with a flip phone to an iPhone 11 has the ability to do it seamlessly .

With Judy, they’re using text like a broadcast system, it would have anything from your standard alerts of post-purchase and shipping. What they’re seeing, though, is that consumers are responding, whether it's for a customer service inquiry, or a question they have that they need answered.

He takes some time to unpack what he calls, “Performance branding.” It’s building brand equity on the back of your working media dollars. How do you take your paid media, and create ads that sticks with people? Not necessarily just like an ad that says: “Come buy this; get X percent off.”

If you follow @mrsharma, you know he tweeted something recently that caused some stir.

Back in the day, you’d create this insanely large funnel where you try and convince people to buy things. There was so system of tracking or attribution, which was why AIDA was really invented. The tweet came in from frustration and working with a client with terrible media plan. They wanted to bring people to the site and then retarget them via email, but Nik wanted to run a full funnel campaign with the goal to take cold traffic and convert them on first try/. This required really good creative, experiences on the page, and audience selection. Nik calls this the Ace Model. It is performance branding. It is how well you can tell the story so you don’t have to keep convincing somebody to buy something.

917-905-2340. This is Nik’s public texting number and has been a really cool experiment for him. This is where he chats with founders, operators, and VCs. He also sends out DTC tips and tricks regularly.

Text the number.

Thank you for listening. This is the DTC Growth show.

This isn't Andy's first launch. He launched a Warby Parker look-a-like before Lensabl. That's where he first formed the idea to de-couple the purchase of frames and lenses online. Instead of jumping into a saturated market, they launched the first ever lens replacement service online.

As they evaluated entering the prescription lens space, one of the most glaring bits of information was the sheer size of the market, in comparison to the frames-only market. Glasses used to be purely a medical device—you own one pair becuase they were expensive. But now, they're a fashion accessory. And you can buy many pairs at a reasonable price off resellers like Amazon.

Did you know that frames and lenses have completely different supply chains? The materials are different. They come from different places. On the lens side, there’s different functionality of lenses for different types of prescriptions and different requirements. It was key for Lensabl to get this right. And they did. That's partly why they felt so comfortable launching their second product, frames.

The frames-only product was a customer idea. Not everyone had a replacement pair to use after sending their main glasses in to Lensabl. So Andy and team thought this was a big opportunity to improve conversion on the lens replacement product, and offer some new and affordable.

Andy has raised some VC money, and he's using it to grow their existing and most successful channels. The team is also working on some new and exciting stuff for 2020. Andy shared one bit of news—they're expanding their lens replacement product into Canada.

If he were to launch a new brand, one bit of advice he would have for himself is to stay narrowly focused. Make sure that you become a master of one before you start to look outside that. Time is so precious, and the requirements to do one thing incredibly well are so, so high.

Wondering what DTC brand Andy looks up to for inspiration? Check them out here: drinktrade.com and takecareof.com.

Learn more about Lensabl’s lens replacement service: lensabl.com  

To learn more about the DTC Growth Show and #paid, visit hashtagpaid.com/dtc

Thanks for listening. If you prefer reading, we have the full transcript below.

-DTCGrowth Show team.

The opportunity is huge. Think about it, the razor industry is a fraction of the size of the laundry detergent industry, and on top of that, Frey is expanding the market by appealing to groups outside of the laundry category.

Part of their approach to customer acquisition is partnering with high-end clothing retail partners. These partners are open to offering clothing care products in their stores because Frey’s brand skews luxurious and pairs well. How does it work? They charge a nominal fee for samples, and then continue the relationship with new customers online, and try to convert those sample users to full customers.

There’s a review war happening between Frey’s customers. They’re trying to out do each other. Great problem to have.

They started in the basement with some chemistry sets. So it was a big milestone when they started working with a top chemical manufacturing company in the US, and then got a warehouse to store and ship their products.

Getting into Y Combinator was another milestone, which lead to a 2MM round (that took 10 days to close).

Wondering what DTC brand Erin and team look up to for inspiration? Check them out: Native.

Learn more about Frey’s eco-friendly detergent at Frey.com.

To learn more about the DTC Growth Show and #paid, visit hashtagpaid.com/dtc

Thanks for listening!

-DTC Growth team

Why Bamboo? Phoebe says, “it’s a wonder plant.” It requires way less water than cotton, doesn’t require pesticides or fertilizers to grow, and when you harvest the plant you don’t need to cut the root (which means you’re not damaging the soil). 

Some people call it vegan silk because it’s as smooth as silk, but the worm isn’t disturbed. 

Because they’re on a mission to change the world, they’ve partnered with 1% Percent For The Planet, One Girl, and CO2 Website.

Phoebe needed a partner to expand into the United States. She found Kat Dey, who shares the Ettitude’s values, and Phoebe’s founder mentality.

The duo says that balancing sustainability and growth isn’t that hard. Use technology, and make it happen—it’s a founder’s job to make it happen. The journey there is hard, filled with difficulty, but doable.

The brand is resonated in the US—the product and the message. They’re seen incredible growth in sales, and customer reviews are incredibly positive. 

Going direct to consumer has given them the ability to get feedback and iterate their products and packaging quickly—like software companies. The DTC model is just way more efficient for them. 

They’ve opened up a store, and it gives them the opportunity to educate people in person. They can share personal stories, and let customers touch and feel the products. People are driving as much as two hours to come and visit the physical location.

They’re also partnering with several other brands who share their values and mission. Sometimes, they’ll have their partner products in store to showcase. 

Kat was pregnant when they pitched VC’s for funding. She shares what that was like, and talks about being a mother, and balancing her work and home life. 

Her daughter Anna made her become even more environmentally conscious. She’s more aware of the products that come into contact with her baby, and it makes her think about what she’s purchasing. 

Phoebe and Kat were very generous. They’re giving DTC Growth listeners 20% off orders! Just visit Ettitude.com, and usethe promo code 

GROWTH20.

To learn more about the DTC Growth Show and #paid, visit hashtagpaid.com/dtc

Thanks for listening. 

If you prefer reading, we have the full transcript below.

-DTCGrowth Show team.

Vino and team are on a mission to improve the life of dogs. It's personal for him because his first dog, Kabo, passed away. That got him and his co-founder searching for answers-what influence do owners have on the lifespan of their dogs.

Research shows that more fresh dog food, and an increase activity, reduces a dog's chance for cancer, and increases a their life significantly.

Questions turned into intentional research. They started sending out surveys to understand whether human-grade dog food was something people wanted.

The moment they made the first sale is when it all become real for Kabo. Getting to that first sale took a lot so of manual and unscalable work. They searched on Instagram for dog owners in their city, and then they sent direct messages to each one. Tedious, but it helped them bring in their first purchase.

Kabo takes a personalized approach to buying dog food. Because this is new for most people, getting the messaging right takes time. Understanding your consumer and iterating on product are the most important things to focus on as you launch a brand.

There's a lot that goes into the customer experience at Kabo. A large part of that is done up front-they ask for information about the dog, so that they can suggest the best meal plan. Another large part of the experience is customer support. They make it easy for customers to get in touch and chat with a team member. Those are things that make it hard for "big kibble" to cut into their market.

Grow at all costs isn't an option. They're looking to scale in a way that maintains their unit economics.

What are some hard decisions they've made? Saying no to dog owners and dogs in markets that they can't support.

Wondering what DTC brand Vino is excited about? Check them out: harrys.com
Learn more about Kabo at kabo.co

To learn more about the DTC Growth Show and #paid, visit hashtagpaid.com/dtc
Thanks for listening!

-DTC Growth team

Consumers were becoming more interested in what they consumed—they wanted to know origin stories for their products, and there was a big emphasis on quality.

The entire visual identity, from clothing colours to website, was rooted in the farm-to-table movement. 

They launched with one product on Kickstarter. All of their focus and effort went into that one item, and fortunately the campaign took off.

There's so many steps to creating a prototype, and then making it at scale. For help David leaned on friends and family for support and help. 

One thing David recommends: Get one thing right. Don't focus on a collection. Focus on getting one product right, and then move on to a second.

If you go to their site, you'll see a "House Rules" section.  There's one in particular that keep David healthy and sane: "Direction > Speed." In other words, Focus on where you're going, and not on how fast you get there.

Wondering what DTC brand David is excited about? Check them out: rapha.cc/

Learn more about Olivers at oliversapparel.com/

To learn more about the DTC Growth Show and #paid, visit hashtagpaid.com/dtc

Thanks for listening!

- DTC Growth team.

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Always be networking. That's how Bryan connected with Bree, his Chief Creative Officer, and part of the founding team. Why this role? Why her? Because Bryan isn't good at content creation, and you have to hire for areas that you're weak—that's foundational to build a 50MM+ brand.

Why not launch with subscription right away? Customers want to see what they're purchasing, so they're giving customers some time to see, feel, and try the clothing before going live with it. He learned this from his previous company, FabCrate.

Start with why you're making a garment. If you focus on that, it'll help you make good manufacturing decision. Another tip, share your vision with vendors early! That will get you better terms, and more leniency when it comes to minimum order quantities.

What's Bryan's philosophy on funding? if you're in eCommerce, figure out how to cover your costs, then try and get net terms with vendors, and then try and get some funding. Don't raise too much money, only raise what you absolutely need. Having less money helps you make better decisions.

When it comes to user experience, the buying process should mimic the feel you have when you engage on Instagram. After buying, people should get a phone call, and all unboxing material should be high-quality and made from sustainable material.

The vision is large! Bryan wants The Sweat Club to be about everything sweaty—The amazon of fitness. Keep an eye out for more products and services from them, like yoga studios, supplement hydration, and more. If you think fitness, he wants to associate that with The Sweat Club.

Wondering what DTC brand Bryan is excited about. Check them out: sailawaycoffee.com

Learn more about The Sweat Club, and maybe pick out a kit at the thesweatclub.com

To learn more about the DTC Growth Show and #paid, visit hashtagpaid.com/dtc

Thanks for listening!

- DTC Growth team.

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She was working as a TV producer for House Hunters (yeah, the TV show). She was travelling over the country, and soon realized that she was going through those little plastic tubes at a rapid pace. That didn’t line up with her values—conservation and sustainability. So she did something about it..

She’s not a chemic. She had to learn all about making toothpaste. She credits her deep knowledge with free online chemistry courses that she has enrolled in over the years. #hustle.

She tells us about the initial burst in demand, marketing, and fundraising.

Balancing profitability, customer experience, and sustainability is a large task. Lindsay shares some practical ways that she uses to keep her mentally and physically well.

Wondering what DTC brand she’s excited about?? Check them out here: hellohibar.com

You can place an order, and learn more at Bite Toothpaste Bits: bitetoothpastebits.com

To learn more about the DTC Growth Show and #paid, visit hashtagpaid.com/dtc

Thanks for listening!

- DTC Growth team.