Yotpo Executive Thought Leadership Program
As an emerging eCommerce marketing platform that offers solutions for customer reviews, visual marketing, loyalty, referrals, and SMS marketing, Yotpo needed to fend off more established rivals in the space. The team at SourceCode Communications proposed a solution: align Yotpo with challenger eCommerce brands by highlighting the company's nimble start-up culture. We developed a thought leadership series that highlighted relationships with challenger D2C brands like Chubbies and underscored the relatability factor for other eCommerce startup CEOs. I worked closely with the team to execute the series of pieces attributed to Yotpo CEO Tomer Tagrin and published on Forbes Technology Council. Below you'll find two of the many pieces I wrote.
Why Movado's Acquisition of MVMT Signals a Shift for eCommerce
The recent acquisition of MVMT by Movado reminds me of an old movie from the 1980s called “Can’t Buy Me Love.” In the film, an awkward young man pays his beautiful high school classmate to teach him how to be popular. She pretends to be his girlfriend, takes him around town, and introduces him to all the popular people, giving him pointers on how to behave. Eventually, he learns the ropes and becomes popular in his own right, much to the young woman’s annoyance. In the digital realm, most established brands today are like the nerd who somehow finds out about the cool kids’ party and, upon arrival, just doesn’t fit in. Established brands need a guide like the teenager in our ’80s movie—and that’s where challenger brands like MVMT come into play.
Fitting in online isn’t just about using the right hashtags. It’s about creating a memorable experience that binds consumers to brands in a club where everyone has something to say. It involves mobile-ready eCommerce, user-generated content, recommendations, and a two-way conversation in which a brand isn’t the one in charge, it’s just the first among equals. Youthful, digital native brands like MVMT understand this—and older, established brands are starting to realize they have a lot to learn. But how willing are they to listen?
This shift in the eCommerce industry can be seen in a number of recent examples where bigger brands look to challengers to help them navigate the complexity of online interactions. Big brands have given up on imitation and shifted to acquisition. Serta Simmons recently merged with its erstwhile digital rival Tuft & Needle and according to news reports, the main driver of the deal was Tuft & Needle’s eCommerce infrastructure. The Home Depot’s acquisition of The Company Store late last year wasn’t just about a need to extend its home decor offerings and attract more female customers. It was widely reported to be about gaining digital expertise to help Home Depot imitate The Company Store’s online success. Walmart’s acquisitions in 2017 of cool kid clothiers Modcloth and Bonobos are further proof that a shift in strategy is well underway. It’s also worth noting that not all challenger brands are ready to merge. Boxed.com, the so-called “Costco for Millennials” that offers club-sized packages with free two-day delivery, recently rebuffed an offer from Kroger. The company is rumored to be holding out for a deal with Amazon. Basically, Boxed.com knows it’s hot and knows it has options.
So now, the multi-million dollar question: will these mergers actually work? In other words, will the established brands learn how to be cool? Older brands would be wise to take the advice of their younger rivals. Decision making at bigger, more established brands usually happens at a slower pace and that could hinder one of the most important contributions of the challenger brands: their ability to iterate quickly in response to changing customer desires. Established brands are going to have to realize that being cool online means being fast and flexible—not something companies like Walmart are known for. Older brands like Movado will have to change the way they communicate too. They’re going to have to consider that luxury doesn’t mean the same thing for younger people who have very different aspirations and want a different type of service, namely: responsiveness.
The success of these mergers is far from certain. The potential clash of cultures brings to mind all kinds of questions. The digital expertise that comes attached to companies like MVMT is likely to remain important under its new corporate Movado umbrella, but the youthful brand maybe less so. Will established brands be able to shepherd challengers and learn from them, or will companies like Movado become just another place where startups go to die? Watch this space.
***
The New Rules for Brand Building
Making and keeping connections with customers is critical for retailers. While established brands are struggling to maintain loyalty, digital native brands are busy building cult followings that drive growth and profitability. How are they doing it? I sought answers to that question when I attended the eTail West conference recently. While there, I had a lot of insightful conversations about emerging digital-first brands. I noticed three traits these challenger brands have in common: authenticity, responsiveness, and inclusivity. These online brands are overtaking the competition by following a new set of rules.
Rule Nº1: Be Authentic
Even though most established retailers have an online presence, they’re still using an old-fashioned approach to consumer promotions. They rely on advertising to sway opinion rather than leveraging peer-to-peer recommendations. Digital native brands excel at identifying brand evangelists and amplifying them. One great example is Bando, an online accessories company that really knows how to leverage its community. With over 575,000 followers on Instagram, this brand knows how to talk to customers. Founded online in 2008 by two friends, Bando now sells in over 3000 stores in more than 50 countries. The brand’s authenticity has been maintained all along by repurposing user-generated content that resonates with its customer base, allowing it to feel like a small specialty store, even while it becomes a global powerhouse.
A lot of brands rely on influencer marketing to fuel expansion but that approach doesn’t necessarily come across as authentic. I had an illuminating conversation about influencers with one of my clients at Chubbies, a casual menswear brand and digital native. I heard an example of a loyal customer who had an upcoming spot on ABC’s The Bachelorette. This person had been following the brand on social media for some time and when he got the spot on reality TV, he emailed Chubbies asking for swim trunks to wear on the show, which the brand provided. This enabled Chubbies to get prime time TV product placement for weeks—and the only expense was the cost of a few swimsuits and shipping to the customer. Because Chubbies has invested so much in building its online community, all of the influencers touting the brand have been organic and not paid, lending greater authenticity to the promotions.
Rule Nº2: Be Responsive
Big brands have gotten pretty good at responding to complaints before things get out of control on Twitter but many are still missing the opportunity to use social media proactively. A good example is Fashion Nova, an affordable womenswear company that has become one of the most searched-for brands on Google. The company truly embraces community engagement, with employees constantly analyzing user-generated content for clues to the next big trend. The this approach has given the design team at Fashion Nova an edge over other fast-fashion brands and enabled the brand to launch 500 new styles every week last year. Spotting trends fast and responding to the desires of its customers means Fashion Nova always stays relevant and maintains a loyal following.
In a world where everyone is busy, customers who take the time to provide feedback should be treated like gold. This is the approach Chubbies takes when responding to customer feedback, good or bad. The brand has internal systems in place to respond and react to customer feedback immediately. The team has a rule that if they hear something three times, it automatically gets posted in Slack so the whole company can stay on top of trends, monitor situations, and take action on the intel.
Rule Nº3: Be Inclusive
Most major retailers have staked their future on being aspirational and exclusive. That approach may have worked in the past, but today’s customers aren’t going for it. Again, Bando provides a great example of this shift. The company’s co-founder and chief creative officer has been very open about her personal struggles with mental illness, a stance that has lent a greater sense of relatability to the brand and the people behind it. Bando recently issued two new gold nameplate necklaces, one of which said “Anxiety” and the other “Depression.” The brand was essentially saying to its customers, “you’re okay the way you are.” The necklaces were so popular, they sold out in just 12 hours and all proceeds were given to a non-profit organization. Normalizing a formerly stigmatized population has helped Bando build a loyal following.
Chubbies also excels in the area of inclusivity. The brand’s website features regular guys instead of classically handsome models. The company treats its customers almost like friends, periodically sending out gifts to loyal customers. The leadership team at Chubbies is very clear that they are running a brand for everyone. The company actively engages in social media, running photography contests to increase user-generated content, or inviting customers to vote on new products. All these efforts are always seen as community-building first, and not just a sales pitch.
For retailers that want to thrive in today’s market, the importance of authenticity, responsiveness, and inclusivity cannot be overstated. It’s not good enough to just pay social media influencers or buy product placement on television; you have to build real loyalty based on shared values inside of a community. Brands like Chubbies, Bando, and Fashion Nova provide solid examples of the value of simply being authentic with your customers.