The brand created a product that spoke to, and worked for, an unserved market: women of color with dermatological issues like hyper-pigmentation and eczema.
Did Nordstrom place the buy on purpose, knowing it was likely to rile people up? Unclear. But any PR is good PR, as they say.
Collab w/another brand. This strategy has become so common that no specific examples are needed-several have probably come to mind already.
A collab is a great way to introduce a new, sometimes completely different audience to your product. Even more so if you can launch at an entry-level price point without diluting your brand.
Palace Atrois is a collaboration between a skate brand and a beer brand. Will this transformation bring new awareness, and new customers, to both venues? You betcha.
Open a popup store. This is another tactic that has almost become part of the standard DTC playbook. It’s a great way to build awareness in a new market, or test out the IRL potential of locations where a lot of your eCom customers live.
This is a relatively low-overhead way to enable sampling, especially for products where traditional “free samples” aren’t feasible.
Give away free samples. This is a tried and true tactic almost as old as modern marketing itself. From Costco to Sephora, giving out freebies is a great way to hook people into your product, especially if it’s consumable.
Bonus points for providing a 1–2 week supply to turn it into a habit.
Become an authority in your space. This strategy is most often employed by B2B brands, but consumer brands can do it too, especially if your product serves a specific need or is part of a hobby. MOZ sells SEO software, but they are also
synonymous with SEO education and content.
There is a natural pipeline from learning about SEO to purchasing their products.
In Haus’ case, it was an alcoholic beverage designed for moderate drinking with low ABV and an intriguing flavor profile.
Launch an ambassador program. Jewelry brand Kendra Scott recently went viral on
“rushtok” due to the groundwork laid by the brand’s
Gems campus ambassador program. Think of this strategy as a way to leverage micro-influencers IRL. It doesn’t just work for sororities-you can target any niche, engaged community.
You can also sell product, give out samples, or collect emails and phone numbers.
Instead, there is ample room for visitors to sit and work on their art. The brand also hosts regular
figure drawing events in the space that quickly sell out.