#94 The Least Boring Weekend Newsletter

June 04, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

Good Morning Readers! 🌄

Here’s to hoping for a great weekend ahead! 🙂

Last week, we covered the current retail scenario in great detail. If you missed it, check it out here!

The current scenario all across the DTC industry may seem unsteady and glum, making it difficult for brands to hit their revenue goals for this quarter but not all is lost. We recently got a chance to speak to David Whitcroft, an industry expert who helped us understand how brands can battle the ongoing issue while giving some great financial advice.

In this episode, you’ll learn: 

➡️ How must brands plan their finances?

➡️ David’s take on the current economy & DTC market.

➡️ How can a business still leverage growth?

➡️ What does it really mean to be profitable?

➡️ How does a CFO relax?

Tune in to the conversation here ⬇️

This newsletter is going to dive into:

👟 Nike In The Metaverse! 

👪 Last-Minute Father’s Day Campaigns

🥇 Brand Of The Week - Joywell

🎁 Brand Deals Of The Week

📕 Top Reads Of The Week

⚙️ Plenty of jobs await you!

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

DTC X METAVERSE

Nike has always been the frontrunner when capitalizing on the new and exciting technological advances in the fields of artificial intelligence, eCommerce, and walk-in stores; it’s an integral part of their strategy. Most recently, they’ve taken a fascination to test out new concepts including the metaverse, web3, and NFTs. 

Nike created a very marketing-oriented metaverse space called Nikeland, using the Roblox platform. It allowed fans to meet up, socialize, partake in competitions and promotion events, engage with the brand itself, and enjoy many more experiences. Since the launch, there have been 7 million visitors to Nikeland who have enjoyed the celebrity appearances and interactions with sports stars and bought digital products.

The items bought in Nikeland can even be worn on other Roblox metaverses, making it altogether a sweeter deal! The themed attractions here include strategy-based games allowing people to test their skills. 

One of the other advances by the company has been hopping on the trend of NFTs, aka digital assets. They purchased RTFKT Studios, the maker of NFTcollectables, to appeal to their audience. Well, it certainly worked because they sold over 600 pairs in under 6 minutes. 

Riding the high from the recent successes, Nike has now ventured into experimental stores as its recent development. 

Nike is changing its New York flagship store into an experience. Visitors are encouraged to break a sweat on the treadmill or shoot hoops in the in-built courts with inbuilt cameras, allowing them to playback the highlights in real-time. The store is stimulating, enthralling, and highly entertaining—everything you need from a new-age brick-and-mortar store. 

Nike has made it very clear that they completely understand their consumers and value giving them a personalized experience, especially the millennials and Gen Z. And we’re taking notes!

Last-Minute Father’s Day Campaigns

“Oh, shoot! It’s Father’s Day and I forgot to get something for dad. Let me run to the store quickly to pick something up!” We’re sure you’ve done this a few times (we’re guilty too).

If you’re a brand that’s had the same oops moment, we’re here to help! Here are some last-minute campaigns that you can run right before Father’s Day.

📱 Email & Social Media Campaigns

A simple social media post or email as a reminder of Father’s Day is sometimes enough to nudge your customers to your eCommerce store, don’t try swarming their feed or inboxes. 

Consider sending out a drip campaign to move them down a funnel, offering a range of discounts on select products based on their search and transaction history as well as relevance to the special day.

Use the buzz around Father’s Day to drive engagement on social media. Start challenges such as picture recreations, throwbacks, video challenges, and more. With people jumping on the opportunity to make fun content for you, you can leverage the extra attention and market your products well. 

🪧 Use Ads to Promote Your Inventory

If you’re pressed for time, you surely didn’t create limited-edition merchandise for dads on this occasion. So why not advertise your goods already in the supply chain?

Use Google AdWords to display the products in your inventory or advertise the products in your brick-and-mortar stores. This can grab the attention of all last-minute shoppers and create the necessary sense of urgency.

✨ Give Additional Incentives

To persuade them to shop with you on a time crunch really just means that you must give them the best deal right when they look for gifts online. A free returns or shipping policy might sound nothing special at first but for quick shoppers, it’s heaven-sent. 

It provides them with the satisfaction of knowing that their Dad can return the gift without any hassle in case of a problem.

🧺 Put Together A Bundle

Finding a perfect git for dads can be challenging—there are just SO many options. From traditional gifts such as power tools to art supplies for creative dads, you can just walk through the whole range only to feel confused. So why not make things easier for consumers?

Send your customers a Father’s Day guide with a range of products curated based on various personas. This can help your shoppers understand better the kind of products they can buy together for their dads. 

↩️ Consider Targeting Dads

It’s not all about kids buying their dad's presents. Some fathers wish to take things into their own hands—it’s their day after all! While a majority of the buying crowd would be kids, most fathers like to shop for themselves during this time based on their own likes and taste. 

If you have a reward point or redeemable balance credit system or perhaps a special discount coupon that dads can cash in during purchases, be completely ready to see a queue of dads at your store. So, don’t miss the opportunity to market to the dads while you’re running ad campaigns for this special day. 

Hustling to put together a last-minute campaign isn’t really difficult if you’ve run some already. But it’s always better to make sure that you plan ahead—preferably a quarter before the RTM—to make the most of the special day.

So go right ahead and help the dads around the world enjoy their special day!

Brand Of The Week - Joywell

We’ve seen an evolution in the beverage industry; with multiple brands rushing to create better alternatives to sweeteners to provide the consumers with ‘healthy’ options to quench their thirst. That’s where Joywell steps in.

The company has worked in the sector for a decade and has built a sweet protein platform, ready to launch its first product.

Joywell uses a proprietary microbial fermentation process to create its special sweet proteins which are similar to those found in the exotic fruits and berries found worldwide. These proteins are made to avoid any impact on your blood sugar levels or gut microbiomes. CEO Ali Wing said, “...Over 70% of consumers are actively seeking to reduce sugar in their diets…we just need to solve it differently, and that’s the beauty of technology and what we are doing.”

They’ve raised $25 million in Series B funding. The round was led by Piva Capital, also featuring Global Brain Corporation, B37 Ventures, and the existing investors Khosla Ventures, SOSV’s IndieBio and Alumni Ventures, and Evolv Ventures.

📢 Our BETA Program link is live for another week! 📢

Test our automation tool for enhanced data acquisition, faster processing, and efficient synthesis—give your DTC brand THE edge it needs. 

Brand Deals of the Week

Enjoy Dooney & Burke’s Memorial Day Sale! Receive up to 60% off on fantastic merch.

Old Navy is making it EASY for you to shop with their ongoing sale. Check them out!

Enjoy great deals on minimum orders at Ulta.

Selena Gomez X Our Place collection just dropped. Check it out!

Traveling soon? Enjoy great deals on premium luggage at Monos.

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Top Reads For This Week

Here’s how retailers can cash in on spontaneous summer!

Cannabis tourism is taking OFF.

Build-A-Bear reportedly made $117.7 million in revenue in just Q1.

Nomono, a Norwegian startup, has recently released a revolutionary platform Nomono Sound Capsule to embrace a spatial audio recording future. 

Debbie, a Florida-based startup, is a rewards program incentivizing people to pay off their credit card debt.

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In Need Of a Job? We’ve Got Plenty Awaiting You

Sr. Assistant Manager - Under Armour

DTC Operations Manager - Love Shack Fancy

Social Media Manager - Raytheon Technologies 

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CHOOSE SUCCESS below and have a great weekend! Get that D2C business runnin'.