DTC853: DTC Strategy, Revel Bikes Re-Acquisition, and Revenge Saving

Good morning,

Here’s what you’ll find in today’s DTC: 

🛠️ Outdated DTC Playbook?
Why brands are pivoting to a new model.

⭐ Revel Bikes: Founder Buys It Back
How Adam Miller reclaimed the brand and what’s next.

 📦 Daily Tariff Update
Major news on trade deadline day. 

💸 What’s Sweeter Than Revenge? This search term is rising with cost-conscious consumers. 

You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: Endora Candles, Chicostart, and Wantable. 👋

🌎 Why the Next DTC Brand Won’t Look Anything Like Old Fortune 500 Companies 

Let’s be honest: household name brands aren’t dominating and certainly not evolving in the DTC space the way people-first brands are.

The Pilothouse team believes the next generation of breakout DTC brands won’t be built on tech specs, sleek logos, or even flashy ad performance.

They’ll be built on people.

Legacy Brands Are Losing Relevance

The Fortune 500 playbook—celebrity endorsements, mass media buys, rigid brand guidelines—is no longer enough. 

Modern consumers want transparency, relatability, and real voices behind the products they buy.

Some legacy brands are just waking up to this shift. 

The smartest ones? They’ve already pivoted.

New-Age Brands Winning the Long Game

Obvious example: Barstool Sports

More than a media company, Barstool is a personality engine. 

👉 They’ve turned unfiltered, raw voices into cult-level loyalty. It’s not about polish—it’s about presence.

Smarter example: Overtime

They didn’t just cover up-and-coming athletes, they built them. 

👉 Overtime created platforms that launched creators and athletes into relevance before they went pro. It’s audience-first and creator-centric by design.

Sleeper example: Gymshark

Instead of chasing celebrity endorsements, Gymshark backed everyday fitness creators, growing with them and their audiences.

👉 The result? A billion-dollar brand with organic loyalty and zero reliance on traditional playbooks.

Why Does This Work?

Two reasons:

1. Distribution > Product

Even the best product means nothing if nobody sees it. 

Today’s creators are the new distribution channels. They don’t just talk to fans, they influence buying decisions at scale.

If you’re a DTC marketer, think less about media buying and more about partnering with voices that already command trust.

2. Trust > Polish

We’re in the era of authenticity. Fans don’t want perfection. They want authenticity. They want storytelling. They want connection.

When a creator or athlete promotes gear they’ve helped design, it sells—not because of a laundry list of features, but because people trust the person, not the pitch.

What DTC Brands Need to Do Now

The old rulebook is dead. 

If you're still leading with glossy product features or brand heritage, you're not just outdated—you’re invisible.

Here’s your new formula for success:

1. Build with creators, not just agencies.
   
2. Prioritize personality, not perfection.
   
3. Let your community co-create the product—not just consume it.

This is how cult brands are born and how legacy brands are left behind.

🛍️ Selling On Walmart Marketplace Is One Of 2025’s Smartest Investments 

👀 For ecommerce brands looking to diversify their sales and expand their footprint, there’s no better time to join Walmart Marketplace. 🛒

💸 Right now, Walmart’s New-Seller Savings event is offering new sellers up to $75K in incentives, which includes up to 75% off base referral fees and generous credits toward advertising and fulfillment.*  

Walmart is one of the world's most recognizable brands with over 255 million customers and members shopping at Walmart online and in-store around the world each week. 

🤑 New-Seller Savings run from sign up to January 31, 2026, so don’t wait—the faster you start, the more opportunity you’ll have to save. 

👉  Take advantage of this unprecedented offer and the endless opportunities on Walmart.com. 

*Conditions apply. 

📦 Your Daily Tariff Check-In

Whether it’s a minor tweak or a major shift, we’ll keep you posted on the latest tariff changes—so you’re always in the know. 

July 8, 2025 update:

• 25% Tariffs on Japan and South Korea
  
  • President Trump announced 25% tariffs on goods from Japan and South Korea. These tariffs take effect on August 1, 2025.
  • Trump warned both Japan and South Korea that if they retaliate with their own tariffs, the U.S. will raise its tariffs further, using a proportional escalation model.
    

• 14 Countries Targeted
  
  • Similar tariff letters are being sent to a dozen other countries, including Germany, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Laos, with some countries facing tariffs as high as 40%.

🎧 UPDATE: Revel Bikes’ Founder Buys Back Brand After Sudden Private Equity Shutdown

In this episode of the DTC podcast, Adam Miller, founder of Revel Bikes, shares how he re-acquired his high-end DTC bike business after a private equity sale, a bankruptcy, and a founderless shutdown.

Key moments organizational leaders and DTC entrepreneurs will learn:

• Founder control vs private equity operations: how this change impacted Revel’s culture, inventory efficiency, and profitability.

“They got really inefficient in the sense of building inventory… borrowing more money to pay for more inventory is what got the company into trouble.”

• The Buy Back Story: The behind-the-scenes 10-day auction to buy back the company for pennies on the dollar.
  
• Tactical relaunch decisions: staffing lean, re-platform to Shopify, pricing –25–35%, direct Meta ads.
  
• Rebuilding Phase: Why founder-led DTC brands can beat PE‑backed exits with stronger purpose, brand affinity, and agility.

 “I don’t plan on selling the business again… I want to be in this for the long haul.”

👉 Listen to the full episode with Adam here.

Searches for revenge saving saw a major spike in the last few weeks as customers pull back on discretionary spending. 

Why is this happening? Inflation, tariffs, and economic uncertainty have led to customers being wary of making purchases and signing up for subscriptions. 

While ‘revenge spending’ was all the rage after the pandemic, consumers’ mindsets have switched to saving to prioritize emergency funds.

📥 Got a B2B Biz? 

Join dozens of B2B companies finding demand-gen success through our niche community of 150k brand leaders and founders this year. Talk to our team to learn more.

Have you heard our latest podcasts?

• 💰 How RYSE Used Meta Ads To Raise $10M+ In Equity
• 🚀 AKNF 520: How Pilothouse Tests 30+ Creatives Weekly on Meta 
• ❓Ad-venturous 7: Answering Gen Z Questions I Have As A Gen Z 
• 😀 TWBERP 39: How To Keep Your Customers Long Term 
• 🚴 Bookstrapping Revel Bikes from Innovation to Acquisition 
• 🔒 AKNF 518: CCPA/CPRA Explained For Ecomm Tech Managers  

Don’t forget to rate the DTC Podcast on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

DTC Newsletter is written by Rebecca Knight and Frances Du. Edited by Eric Dyck.

Please note that items in this newsletter marked with * contain sponsored content.