1/ A few things in this piece I agree with and some I don’t. Overall good for consumer entrepreneurs that more journalists are covering this trend. Just wish journalists would take the time to understand the true drivers (and results).
economist.com/business/2018/…
economist.com/business/2018/…
2/ "Microbrands" denotes size. Not channel. D2C is a channel - nothing to do w/ size. The opening saying that the two are synonymous is…….bizarrely wrong. That’s important because it is subtly, but importantly celebrating 1 specific channel that is already very misunderstood.
3/ The growth over the last 5-10 yrs of “microbrands” is not driven by co-packing. That has existed for 20+ yrs. Granted it’s easier now, but I would argue that’s not a top 3 driver. The points about Shopify are spot on.
4/ Others that IMO are more important:
-Personalization of the Consumer (consumers want products that meet their unique needs).
-Flip from fixed costs to variable in marketing (i.e. social) and distribution (i.e. lower/no slotting costs, Amazon, etc). Author mentions mkt.
-Personalization of the Consumer (consumers want products that meet their unique needs).
-Flip from fixed costs to variable in marketing (i.e. social) and distribution (i.e. lower/no slotting costs, Amazon, etc). Author mentions mkt.
5/ Another thing that’s odd about this- they quote Nielsen data (offline channel). But then the story is about how small brands are growing because of online.
Imp because had they drilled into offline- they would have identified true drivers. (Hint: not getting a ton of VC $)
Imp because had they drilled into offline- they would have identified true drivers. (Hint: not getting a ton of VC $)
6/ Reason that bothers me is that it is a further celebration of d2c as a way to scale. d2c is a brutally hard channel to scale a business- but a wonderful channel to iterate on new products.
7/ That misunderstanding is leading d2c companies to raise a ton of $ and wait for a unicorn exit that……isn’t really happening.
7/ Press is getting this whole d2c story massively wrong. (an exception IMO was @delrey)
8/ Totally agree w/ Economist’s points about acquisition. Consumer is becoming big pharma. Large CPG cant innovate so they buy the innovation.
[Am I embedding a Tweestorm inside another TS inside another TS?? Is that a thing??]
[Am I embedding a Tweestorm inside another TS inside another TS?? Is that a thing??]
9/ Maybe the topic just doesn’t’ led itself to quick hit pieces like this.
