Thread by @allthingsmarco

Ahhh, the Gin Lane / Pattern Brands team came up with a great name for a brand focused on finding some balance in our modern lives: Equal Parts.

Thread 1/x

The product and site design are incredibly well thought out, paired with a stylistically eclectic site. It has an aesthetically pleasing and intriguing sense that really shines through on social.

It’s a good idea.

Create a high priced product with presumably great margins and deliver the product with a texting companion to help you learn skills for making great meals as a relief from our regular digitally infused lives.

The way the coaching/texting aspect is packaged might be kind of backwards tho. I have to buy the product in order to get coached through learning how to cook.

It’s weird to put that much value on the texting, where there’s a multi-hundred dollar barrier to entry.

The clearer value ladder, in my humble opinion, is getting people to opt in for free for text service that teaches them how to cut carrots and onions, boil pasta, (that’s cooking, right?) and ramp them up into getting excited about buying an EP product.

https://twitter.com/emmettshine/status/1191572142007164930

The mission and messaging also feels a little incongruent with the offering.

“Want to get back that feeling of fulfillment? Start with a $75 knife or $400 dollars in pots and pans.”

The product doesn't feel accessible to the large majority of people who face this problem.

The brand is approachable but the positioning says that only the “well on their way to being wealthy” can afford the luxury of being screen free and fulfilled.

It’s been a couple months since the launch and I haven’t said anything about it because I couldn’t put my finger on the disconnect between the brand and the customer. Almost like the decision to make high margin kitchen equipment was decided before the mission was discovered.

Because tbh, I personally don’t know anyone that has bought these pans.

Who, in this target demo, can both afford this and actually has the time/desire to cook?

This is an interesting case study on finding and creating the right tension between your product, its price point and the narrative of the brand.

I’m a little stuck.

I’m bullish on Pattern: This team has had a maaajor influence on the quality of modern brand work, and has set the bar extremely high over and over and over again.

And simultaneously confused by Equal Parts:

Over to practical eCom 👇🏾

eCommerce sites need to focus on driving you somewhere. Things will become *much more transactional* as crafted/branded digital experiences give way to compelling content (video and writing).

Expensive eCommerce build outs are just that... Expensive.

Once a customer is sold on the story, the process of purchasing should be as close to instant as possible.

It’s interesting because the other brands that went through the Gin Lane process - Recess, Harry’s, Hims etc - all have a pulling force: the checkout.

The Equal Parts site feels like a site designed for browsing.

At least for me and my common folk.

My engagement with the site is similar to my interest for Louis Vuitton: A really nice thing that I don’t really *want*.

All the digital touch points are exquisitely crafted for usability but not for conversion. There is no sense of purpose for the customer. Time and time again, I aimlessly clicked around looking at all the cool little interactions and how well the color palette blends together.

The lazy loading of the product list page is designed to provide focus on each product as it slides in, but instead I’m greeted with... frustration with not being able to scan quickly to find what I’m looking for.

First time I went through, I didn’t even register any of the products because subconsciously I was just trying to figure out how many products were available.

I do enjoy that the Equal Parts brand doesn’t give off the vibe of the average VC backed *must scale revenue now* frantic & breathless pace of the average DNVB / DTC brand... even if that is the case.