#45 The Least Boring Weekly Newsletter

Good Morning readers!🌞

Feeling Christmassy already? 🎄🎅

We had an exclusive focus group discussion yesterday on how to plan your budget for 2022.🗣️ And that's not it, We've also compiled a few takeaways from the discussion and will share them with you soon. Wanna be a part of it? Keep an eye out for the next edition! 🥳 

Almund's newsletter will let you in on all kinds of tips for D2C brands and much much more. 

Alright, so let's get right to it! 

This newsletter is going to dive into :

🌏 Gen Zers relied on buy now, pay later during the holidays.

👌 TOO LATE FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON RUN? These Short-Term Strategies Can Help.

🗝️ Content Intelligence: All you need to know about it

 🙎 BRAND of the week - Kombucha

📜 Top reads for this week

👩🏻‍💼 Plenty of jobs awaiting you!

So, scroll down already to THE VERY END & read up on what's yet to come your way!

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WHAT’S COOKING, HUH?

Gen Zers relied on buy now, pay later during the holidays. 

It's time to pay up.

Even though the biggest days of the holiday shopping season have passed, some young people have yet to pay their bills to companies like Klarna and Afterpay. 

BNPL allows consumers to pay for large-ticket purchases in smaller monthly installments, often interest-free, making it an appealing alternative for younger buyers who may not have the resources to pay for everything all at once. 

According to NerdWallet's survey, about 30% of consumers had not paid down their bills from the 2020 holiday season. 😧

In a November study conducted by credit card company Discover, 44 percent of Gen Zers expected to spend more during the holiday season, compared to 33 percent of Millennials. 🤷‍♀️

 The buy now, pay later format addresses three of Gen Z's common characteristics: their negative perception of credit cards, their desire to get trendy items, and their impulse to get those items immediately while they're cool. 

So, what prompted Generation Z to change its tune? 

According to a StitcherAds study, social media is the culprit. According to the study, 57 percent of Gen Z respondents purchased an item on social media that included a BNPL option. 

Experts agreed that the way the model currently works, retailers face little to no risk if they offer BNPL services. Most of the time, the provider pays merchants after the transaction is initiated, while the provider collects payment from shoppers.

"Social media platforms have done an excellent job of locating and displaying the right product to the right person at the right time," Cano said. 

"Brands are seeing and will continue to see higher conversion rates, average order values, and even click-through rates where we are capturing the attention of consumers who would have otherwise skipped the ad without that messaging."  and that's awesome 🥳

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TOO LATE FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON RUN? 

These Short-Term Strategies Can Help.

We’re towards the end of the holiday season! Most D2C brands begin celebrating at the start of the month (much like those who start with Christmas decorations around the house before Halloween). 

If you missed out on potential month-long campaign strategies, don’t worry, we’ve got your back!

We’ve all found ourselves in the dilemma of wanting to buy great presents for the once-a-decade family get-together but wishing to get good deals when doing so. 

After all, no one wants to splurge for their cousins, cousins of cousins, the uncle who only talks politics, the aunt you haven’t seen since your 3rd birthday party—you get the point. And so, most people procrastinate until the very end to buy something.  And this is the time you strike!🥳

What is a short-term strategy?

A short-term marketing strategy helps promote your brand through numerous channels for a limited period. These high-intensity campaigns give you better (read: personalized) access to your customers and a greater ROI. 

As a D2C brand, your task is to understand when your customers need your help the most and curate your business strategy accordingly. So, here’s how short-term promotional campaigns can help you make the most of the holiday season. 

🎁Hosting Holiday Giveaways

A present right before Christmas is always welcome! Receiving a gift from a brand you’ve shopped or are planning to shop from always makes the customers feel special. Hosting a giveaway online can be a great lead magnet, allowing you to drive traffic to your website.

Let the campaign run for about a week for the best results. 

🎫 Handing Out E-Coupons & E-Vouchers

Opening a mail to find an e-voucher is always a delight to any customer. No T&C applied, no minimum order crap - a simple coupon to shop at your online store can incentivize every customer to visit your website at least once. 

Publishing the voucher right before Christmas allows you to seize the holiday spirit and nudge your customers for that last purchase.

🧺Curate Just What They Need

We’re living in a quick-moving world now. If you didn’t get a chance to create something special for the holiday season, you could simply make the shopping experience more efficient for your customers, using your existing inventory. 

Create holiday-special gift hampers and product bundles that are checkout-ready for your customers in a hurry!

🔥 Incentivize An Older Strategy

Have an ongoing campaign but don’t wish to create competition for your brand? Just raise the stakes! Update your offer right before Christmas—make it a deal so sweet, your customers won’t want to miss it.

💵 Use Paid Ads

It’s the holiday season; your customers are looking for you now, more than ever. Thus, it’s not a bad time to invest in paid ads that give you targeted access to your customers. 

To sum it all up and tie it with a ribbon (see what we did there?) short-term strategies aren’t just a great way to celebrate the holiday season at your D2C business. They help sweeten the deal for your customers, making them feel special. 

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BRAND OF THE WEEK is…

Kombucha… 

The World’s Largest Kombucha Company Is Entering The Cannabis Space. 

According to information obtained exclusively, the company is releasing Cannabliss ( Cool name, right?), a cannabis-infused beer, in California, based on its more than 25 years of experience manufacturing healthy beverages. 🥳

"We couldn't miss the potential of the cannabis plant as we continue to innovate with plant-based wellness, which goes beyond recreational and matches with our conviction that food and plants are medicine," said GT Dave, founder, and CEO of GT's Living Foods. 

It’s all a Bliss in a Bottle 

THC ( tetrahydrocannabinol)  and CBD ( cannabidiol)  are combined with a blend of adaptogenic mushrooms( Yum), 😋 full-spectrum cannabis, and prebiotics from apple cider vinegar in the new Cannabliss range to nourish the gut.

On December 8, Cannabliss made its debut at Palm Springs' Hall of Flowers 🌺. It will then be sold in dispensaries across the state of California. (Awesome) 

Why Does It Matter?

For more than two decades, GT's Living Foods has been a leader in the health and wellness industry. Management claims that it retains roughly 47 percent of the category market share through continual innovation. It joins the likes of Constellation Brands, which has invested billions in Canopy Growth, as one of the largest mainstream beverage businesses in the cannabis market. ( Woahh) 🤯🤯

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TOP READS FOR THIS WEEK

👬 MYOS CORP Announces Partnership with Midwest Veterinary Supply. 

💄Public Goods expands into skincare with a $15-and-under line. 

💦 Brand incubator Harry’s Labs acquires D2C deodorant brand Lumē

👓 Pair Eyewear Announces a $60M Series B Led by NEA and Connect Ventures. 

🥩 Jack & annie’s closes $23M; aims to make jackfruit hero among meat alternatives. 

🐶 Maev secures $9M; will have your dog howling for more of its raw pet food. 

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In need of a  job? We’ve got plenty awaiting you!

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CHOOSE SUCCESS below and have a great week! ‘Get that D2C business runnin’.