Efnisyfirlit

• Cover
• Endorsements
• Titlepage
• Dedication
• Contents
• About the author
• Key terms
• Introduction
• How the potential of direct-to-consumer sales revealed itself to me
• Enabling e-commerce
• Providing a platform for growth
• Establishing the rules of the game
• My frustrations with accessing best practice
• Time to move on
• What to expect from this book
• How I uncovered the stories and strategies of the best in class DTC brands
• 1 In the beginning was graze.com: graze
• Why being industry outsiders was an advantage
• Using data to drive every decision
• The advantages of keeping operations in-house
• The power of performance marketing
• The importance of looking beyond your own data
• Reaching beyond DTC and going multichannel
• Why access to technology is getting easier
• Why your brand, purpose and product is still more important than technology
• 2 From a side hustle to international stardom: Huel
• Hipster gruel
• Voucher codes and bodyhacking
• 1000 true fans
• Great customer service and not being a ‘dick’
• Using bricks and mortar as a marketing tool
• 3 Unearthing a huge problem hidden in plain sight: Snag
• A quantifiable problem
• Satisfying the customer need
• The launch and immediate traction
• The benefits of superior customer service
• 4 Measuring satisfaction and why it matters: Bloom & Wild
• Uncovering an industry ready for disruption
• More choice, better service, superior value
• Flowers through your letterbox
• The importance of managing your technology
• More thoughtful marketing
• 5 Moving with the times and the art of resilience: Cornerstone
• The pace of change
• Early entrepreneurial endeavours
• From VC to founder
• Finding suppliers and building a plan from the kitchen table
• Experiments in customer acquisition
• Free cash
• The arrival of better-funded competition
• A new strategy
• Better marketing, better products and better service
• What to do when subscription becomes less convenient
• Balancing growth and profitability
• 6 Why bigger is not always better: Sugru
• How big should your DTC brand be?
• What is Sugru?
• Beginnings
• Years of product development
• Launching small
• A better invention than the iPad and community-led marketing
• When retailers come knocking
• The problem with retail
• The cost of overstretching
• Wisdom and the future
• 7 Using DTC toilet paper to build toilets and ensure access to sanitation for every person on the planet by 2050: Who Gives A Crap
• A mission-led organization
• Matching passion with productivity and impact
• The limitations of traditional not-for-profit models
• An epiphany 10 years in the making
• Finding a way not to have to rely on exclusively philanthropic donations
• Crowdfunding the idea and going viral
• Choosing DTC instead of dealing with supermarkets
• Keeping costs low with organic marketing
• Growing 40× in a single day
• Record donations but still not enough
• Using their equity to accelerate growth
• 8 Building a community for a higher purpose: TRIBE
• The challenges launching a brand
• A tribe of runners
• The problem with Mars bars
• The TRIBE flywheel
• A tribe of investors
• Going beyond their niche
• Using their mission to motivate
• 9 Launching a DTC brand in the 2020s. The new rules of the game: Lick | Clearing
• There is always a catch
• The rising costs of digital advertising
• Removing the pain from decorating
• The importance of branding
• Multiproduct, omnichannel, multiple geographies
• Money talks
• Introducing Clearing and a new way to treat pain
• Experiments and continuous learning
• Launching smart
• The new rulebook
• 10 The importance of an emotional connection with your customers: tails.com
• Personalized dog food
• Assembling a formidable founding team
• Building a fail-proof business and then nearly failing
• The turnaround
• Opening up
• 11 From startup to IPO. How Casper achieved unicorn status but has still to win over Wall Street: Casper
• History makers
• The founding team
• Turning around sceptical investors
• The joy and pain of hitting your annual sales target in 60 days
• 175 is a crowd
• Finding new ways to stay ahead
• ‘Don’t buy Casper’
• Unfair criticism, business realities and what next
• 12 Using stress and burnout as the inspiration to build a better business: Heights
• Not a supplement company
• A flawed business model
• The obstacle is the way
• Trust as the foundation
• Trialling the products and getting support from a famous ally
• Not being about how many pills are sold
• A content and community business
• The importance of making and controlling your margins
• 13 How to use your low margin DTC channel as your omnichannel marketing machine: Ugly Drinks
• A thoroughly modern business
• Loving the category
• The problem with sugary drinks
• Starting out and choosing cans over bottles
• A brand that stands out from the crowd and celebrates being different
• Why DTC and omnichannel is consumer led
• Managing high shipping costs
• Coming to America
• Using community engagement to drive innovation
• Keeping communication relevant
• Dealing with DTC low margins
• Using social media usefully and authentically
• Putting customers before a quick profit
• Going glocal
• 14 Overcoming the challenges of a frozen supply chain to accelerate an inevitable shift to plant-based diets: allplants
• The challenge of frozen food
• How big family meals fostered a love and respect for food
• The evolution of a social entrepreneur
• Returning home with a new ambition
• Frustrations due to the accessibility of a good plant-based diet
• Using frozen food to achieve quality and flexibility
• The market test
• Veganuary
• Raising money to expand
• Building demand by turning customers into brand ambassadors
• Continually innovating and improving to encourage customers to keep coming back again and again
• Committing to a triple bottom line
• The future for allplants and your plate
• 15 How DTC is helping a whole town get its mojo back: Hiut Denim
• A maker and maverick
• The making of a maverick
• From side project to Carnaby Street
• Storm clouds over the town
• When growth becomes too much of a good thing
• Starting again
• Searching for the ‘why’
• A unique period of time
• Getting the band back together
• Staying in control
• Being responsible even if the answers are imperfect
• Connecting with people via the motorways in the sky
• Being patient and ignoring the need for immediate results
• Meghan Markle and going home
• Summing up
• What are the rules of DTC?
• Wait, there’s more
• Some thoughts on the interviews
• A note to the reader
• Acknowledgements
• Index
• Copyright