In this episode, we meet Jacob Zuppke, CEO of Whisper.
Whisker is the maker of high-end pet products that replace house chores. Its flagship product is the Litter Robot, the #1 self-cleaning litter box for cats.
In this episode, we discussed transitioning from DTC to a genuine omnichannel brand and the power of TV commercials.
Topics covered
- Category building for new products
- Channel expansion
- Storytelling
- Retailing
- TV commercial strategy
- How to get customers to upgrade
Takeaways
- When you are building a new category, no one is looking for you. You need to invest in building awareness.
- New category products often start DTC because retailers don’t want to risk shelf space on an unknown product.
- Move to Amazon when your category or brand has keyword search volume
- For a considered purchase, whether it's online or offline, you need to tell a compelling story
- Great retail partnerships are where you can tell your store and merchandise well. In store, story can be communicated through packaging, in-store displays, and point of sale.
- When you go into retail, you need to invest in ads for high-funnel awareness to drive in-store sales, allowing customers to choose where they want to buy.
- If you are considering writing a TV commercial, read “From Poop to Gold” by the Harmon Brothers.
- A good commercial can be used in any channel (Meta, YouTube, streaming), not just linear TV.
- However, it may need to be designed or recut to work for different channels, i.e., what works on TikTok, won’t work on TV or Meta, etc.
- You get customers returning for your latest products by upgrading with value-added problem-solving features.
Please let us know your thoughts about the episode!
Where to find Jacob:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobzuppke
Website: https://www.whisker.com
Where to find Kait Stephens:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kait-margraf-stephens/
Website: www.brij.it
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