Amazon? 👀

Pride Month is just weeks away, but not every brand is fully onboard. This year, Target is offering its Pride merchandise in "select stores" only. The move follows right-wing backlash that reportedly hurt the retailer's sales in 2023.

Why more DTC brands are turning to Amazon—The risks and rewards

DTC brands are increasingly turning to Amazon for distribution amidst rising customer acquisition costs and dwindling venture capital funding. Why? For DTC brands of all sizes, Amazon offers both sales and advertising channels, aiding brand awareness and credibility, especially crucial after Apple's data privacy changes. 

Benefits:

• Increased brand awareness: Brands like Allbirds and Curology have turned to Amazon to boost visibility and credibility. Amazon’s vast reach helps DTC brands prove their worth to larger retailers.

• Marketing efficiency: With Apple’s 2021 data privacy changes and rising marketing costs on platforms like Meta, Amazon offers a more cost-effective and less competitive alternative.

• Sales and advertising: Amazon’s tools, like PPC advertising, help DTC brands increase visibility and drive sales. Curology and Apothékary have seen significant brand awareness gains since joining Amazon.

Challenges:

• Lower margins: Selling on Amazon often results in lower profit margins due to the platform’s discount demands and event participation requirements.

• Customer connection: DTC brands struggle to maintain personalized connections with Amazon customers, impacting repeat purchase rates and customer loyalty.

• Sustainability concerns: Brands face challenges aligning their sustainability values with Amazon’s practices, prompting efforts to communicate these values clearly in product listings.

Selling on Amazon offers DTC brands a way to navigate the complexities of modern retail, though it comes with trade-offs. The platform’s reach and efficiency can drive significant growth, but brands must balance this with maintaining margins, customer relationships, and their values.

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Creator trends roundup

Brand marketers, heads up! This week’s creator and influencer trends include Coca-Cola showering love on a Diet Coke superfan, Marc Jacobs teaming up with a TikTok sensation, and more. Key trends…

• Coca-Cola and Kristen Hollingshaus: Coca-Cola gave a massive shout-out to Kristen Hollingshaus, known for her midday Diet Coke breaks, with a custom PR package packed with merch and drink mixes.

• Marc Jacobs and Sylvaniandrama: Marc Jacobs nailed it with a Gen Z collab, teaming up with TikTok’s Sylvaniandrama for a dark comedy Mother’s Day video that quickly went viral.

• Swehl and Molly Baz: Swehl’s Mother’s Day campaign with Molly Baz featured “Big Titty Cookies” to boost milk production for breastfeeding moms. A cheeky Times Square billboard was taken down for being “inappropriate,” sparking a conversation about ad standards.

• Disney’s Black Creator Summit: Disney hosted its “Power of Joy Creator Summit” for 80 Black content creators, offering exclusive panels, classes, and experiences, with attendees sharing their journey on social media.

These hot collaborations show the power of tapping into creator culture to create buzz and connect with diverse audiences. Keep watching for the next big trends in the influencer world.

How Hatch went from baby brand to TikTok sensation

Hatch Baby started ten years ago with tech-enabled nursery products, but by 2020, its light-up sound machine had become a must-have for baby registries. Today, celebrities like Lizzo and Jimmy Fallon rave about Hatch's Restore alarm clock and its sleep benefits.

• Brand evolution: Hatch dropped "Baby" from its name and revamped its colors to appeal to adults.

• UGC & celebrity endorsements: Hatch leveraged user-generated content and celebrity shoutouts, leading to over 3 billion TikTok mentions.

• Sales impact: This strategy tripled sales to $140 million by 2023, with the Restore 2 alarm clock becoming a top seller.

• Social media strategy: Hatch's social team capitalizes on viral moments and listens to social trends, boosting traffic by up to 57% after influencer posts.

• Targeted gifting: Hatch sends products to celebrities and health influencers to highlight the link between rest and wellness.

Hatch's pivot from baby products to adult wellness items showcases the power of social media and authentic influencer connections. Despite its success, Hatch aims to grow its presence in the adult sleep market, currently in about 1% of bedrooms.

Glossier hits Space NK retailers across the pond

The DTC beauty brand is expanding its retailer footprint in the UK and Ireland. From June 8, the brand will be sold in 48 of luxury British beauty retailer Space NK’s stores including branches in Cambridge, Cardiff, Dublin, Edinburgh, Liverpool and Norwich, WWD reported.

Glossier’s current retail presence in the UK includes one flagship store in London’s Covent Garden and a partnership with Sephora. Most young customers, including myself, buy directly from the Glossier.co.uk website. This venture promises a more immersive experience for British consumers of the DTC brand. 

Glossier chief executive Kyle Leahy said expanding the brand’s reach beyond London has been “a key goal as we strive to meet our UK customers where they are”.

Space NK head of makeup Suze College told WWD: “People in the UK know Glossier through social media, but so many customers in our regional locations haven’t had the chance to try the brand before they buy it [...] we are eager to get the product into people’s hands, and bring an exciting twist on Glossier.”

TikTok of the week

@cnetdotcom

Is it just us or is this chatbot kinda… flirty? 👀 #OpenAI debuted their new flagship engine model GPT-4o, on Tuesday. The demo showed off ... See more

That’s a wrap!

We’ll see you again on Friday 👋