DTC638: Warby Parker’s Billion Dollar Rise

Good morning,

After facing scrutiny over its use of AI technology, OpenAI and Anthropic signed deals with the U.S. government last week regarding safety testing.

The agreement states the US AI Safety Institute will receive early access to AI models to evaluate capabilities and potential risks.

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Here’s what you’ll find in today’s DTC:

👓 How Warby Parker’s clear long-term vision positioned them for success in a competitive eyewear market.
🐶 Nicole Sumner, Brand Director at Ollie, shares how she grew a premium pet food brand and evolved their brand positioning.
⭐ And…don’t panic if sales are off to a slow start this month! This is normal.

You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: Lectric eBikes, Kiasma Health, and Sole Fitness. 👋

👀 Study These 2023 BFCM Success Stories to Crush Q4

Brands are gearing up for BFCM '24. And minisocial is giving you their success stories from last year's BFCM and a roundup of this year’s trends to help you succeed in Q4.

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minisocial has put together a Black Friday Deep Dive, featuring:

• TikTok Shop Q4 forecast
• case studies from successful BFCM campaigns
• early trends for this year
• a cheat sheet on how to scale with UGC and micro-influencers

Gear up and get ready to smash this year’s BFCM with the insights in minisocial’s Deep Dive 👇

🐶 The Role of Brand in Scaling a Premium DTC Pet Food Company

Today, we're thrilled to have Nicole Sumner, Brand Director at Ollie, joining us on the DTC podcast.

Founded in 2016, Ollie is a leading player in the premium pet food industry, specializing in fresh, high-quality meals for dogs.

In this episode, Nicole dives into Ollie's growth journey, particularly how the company navigated the challenges of balancing customer acquisition with a strong brand identity.

Nicole shares her insights on how brand and performance marketing can no longer operate in silos and how Ollie has successfully integrated these aspects to fuel their continued growth.

She also discusses the importance of partnerships, SEO strategies, and the future role of AI in creative processes.

"AI is transforming the way we approach creativity and strategy in branding. While it won't replace the human touch, it offers powerful tools that can enhance our processes—from generating initial concepts to optimizing content at scale. It's about using AI to work smarter, not just harder."

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In this podcast, we cover:

• Brand Differentiation: How Ollie sets itself apart in the fresh pet food market through quality, variety, and a strong brand experience.
• SEO Strategy: How Ollie captures non-branded search traffic to reach more new customers and reduce spend on paid ads.
• Partnerships & Collaborations: Insights into Ollie’s successful collaboration with ice cream brand Van Leeuwen and how strategic partnerships can drive brand awareness and sales.
• The Power of AI: How the brand is using AI tools to streamline the creative process and analyze customer data more effectively.

👉 You can listen to the full episode with Nicole here.

👓 How Warby Parker Scaled Their Eyewear Business

The backstory

The eyewear brand Warby Parker was founded in 2010 by co-founders and co-CEOs Dave Gilboa and Neil Blumenthal, who were frustrated by the high prices of eyewear.

So they sought to create an affordable option for consumers priced at $95, a fraction of the cost compared to their competitors.

Dave Gilboa explains in a recent interview:

“We realized there were a lot of other frustrated consumers, so we set out to launch a brand by designing the glasses we would want to wear and selling them directly to consumers—initially online. This enabled us to cut out all the middlemen and all the unnecessary markups and pass those savings back on to our customers.”

Their affordable pricing strategy paid off. The 14-year-old company is currently worth $1.8 billion. 💰

And they just reached a significant milestone: in early August, Warby Parker reported their highest quarterly gain in ecommerce sales in over three years. 📈

This is thanks to increased spending on brand awareness and customers using their unique try-at-home services.

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How did they do it?

Here are the customer-centric tactics Warby Parker used to stand out 👇

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1️⃣ Innovative try-on services: The brand created two mobile apps, Virtual Vision Test and Virtual Try-On Experience, for customers to quickly find the right product that fits their prescription and personal style.

More customers are becoming more comfortable purchasing glasses and contact lenses online, which benefits their DTC business.

But for those who still prefer trying them on in person, the brand also offers a Home Try-On service where customers can test up to five frames for free before deciding. Customers have five days to test them out, and free return shipping is included.

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2️⃣ Clever brand positioning: In the $28 billion eyewear industry, the company Luxottica owns 80% of the brands and can hike up prices because of their dominance.

Warby Parker makes it clear they are the disruptive underdog that can offer lower prices since they cut out the middleman and don’t mark up the product.

They positioned themselves as an anti-Luxottica brand, selling a wide range of affordable frames at under $100 but still high enough to seem like a credible eyewear company.

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3️⃣ Creative and timely marketing campaigns: During Total Eclipse Day earlier this year, Warby Parker gave away free solar-certified glasses and won brownie points with its audience by offering to recycle them for customers after the event as well.

Not only did this bring foot traffic back into their retail stores, but it also helped them gain brand awareness online.

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4️⃣ Commitment to helping low-income communities: Their Buy a Pair, Give a Pair program helps people in need access to glasses and shows how it can impact their daily livelihood.

Their philanthropic roots have never waned during their 14 years as a company, and they form a strong emotional connection with customers that support the brand.

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The takeaway?

Investing in long-term strategies that uphold its brand values of affordability and convenience gives Warby Parker an edge with their target audience.

Their clear vision and strategic brand positioning ensure Warby Parker is posed for growth.

The omnichannel brand has plans to open 900 retail stores nationwide in the next few years.

🔮 Psst… Want to See The Future of Creative Strategy?

Toss out the tarot cards and tea leaves. You don’t need a crystal ball. You need Motion’s 3rd annual Creative Strategy Summit.

This September 19th and 20th, Motion is hosting top experts in DTC advertising from brands like True Classic, Jones Road Beauty, HexClad, and Ridge.

Immerse in 10 incredible sessions sharing mind-bending perspectives and teaching DTC brands and agencies the latest trends in applying creative strategy to make winning ads. 🏆

It’s their biggest event yet, and even better, it’s free.

Don’t miss your future.

🌐 IN THE SOCIAL SPHERE

Seeing a slowdown in spending?

If you haven’t been getting as many order notifications in the past few days, don’t panic. This happens every year and is part of how consumers react leading up to the busy BFCM period.

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⚡ QUICK HITS

🎨 What challenges do you face when it comes to creative? Fill out our quick survey to help us create the content you need.

🚨 Time is running out! If you’re planning on joining us this September 18th and 19th in Victoria, BC for DTC’s C-Suite Mastermind, the time to get your ticket is NOW.

📥 Got a B2B Biz?

Join dozens of B2B companies finding demand-gen success through our niche community of 160k brand leaders and founders this year. Talk to our team to learn more.

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Have you heard our latest podcasts?

• 🦆 AKNF 435: Stocking the Pond and Planning for Q4
• 👟 How VKTRY Gear Achieved 240% Growth with Niche Marketing
• 🆚 AKNF 433: All In on Amazon v.s. Diversified DTC
• 🌪️ Cherene Aubert on Using the Tornado Effect to Scale ILIA Beauty
• 💡 AKNF 431: Develop Your Own Data-Backed Creative Strategy
• 🧊 Brock Mammoser on Frost Buddy’s $30M TikTok to Meta Pipeline
• 🤔 AKNF 429: Are Your Amazon Ads Cannibalizing Organic Results?

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Don’t forget to rate the DTC Podcast on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

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DTC Newsletter is written by Rebecca Knight and Frances Du. Edited by Eric Dyck.

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