DTC929: Silk & Snow Brand Breakdown and Owala’s Viral TikTok

Good morning,

Founded in 2017 by Albert Chow and Kenneth Mo, Silk & Snow set out to redefine what a premium sleep brand could be.

From the start, they stood apart in a crowded category by prioritizing transparency and local craftsmanship, designing and manufacturing products right in their hometown of Toronto.

Today, Silk & Snow has expanded beyond mattresses into a full line of bedding, furniture, and home essentials, and in 2023, the brand joined Sleep Country, Canada’s largest mattress retailer.

But while their products promise comfort and quality, how well does that experience carry over into their emails?

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

💤 Optimizing Comfort: Silk & Snow’s Email Opportunity
Why delaying sends can cost you.

😱 Owala To The Rescue!
Turning a horror story into a brand win.

You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: Van Horlicks, Injinji, and Odd Bunch. 👋

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💤 Fine-Tuning Flow Timing for Stronger Sleep-Brand Revenue

When your brand promise is comfort, every touchpoint should reflect that same calm confidence, including your emails.

For Canadian sleep brand Silk & Snow, their emails already introduce the brand with warmth and clarity. The biggest opportunity now lies in refining the timing of key flows like Welcome and Abandon Cart.

Arguably, these are two of the most critical automations in any DTC lifecycle strategy.

Below, the Pilothouse Email team highlights what’s working well and where a few simple adjustments could make a meaningful impact.

💤 The Welcome Flow

The current Welcome flow design is calm, clean, and on-brand. It’s a great reflection of Silk & Snow’s identity. One opportunity worth testing would be surfacing the discount incentive earlier in the journey.

Right now, new subscribers don’t see an offer until they open the third welcome email, which appears three days after signing up.

That’s too long of a wait for shoppers who signed up specifically hoping for a deal.

By day three, some shoppers may have already shifted focus to another brand.

🚀 Pilothouse Tips:

✅ Lead with value early: Moving the $10 discount to the first Welcome email could help boost both list growth and first-time purchases.

Consider testing a subject line that highlights the offer. For example, “Snuggle In With $10 Off” keeps brand warmth while communicating clear value.

✅ Show off product assortment: Silk & Snow’s catalog is strong and could take center stage across multiple touchpoints.

With mattresses, furniture, and bedding essentials, Silk & Snow could easily expand this into a 4–5 email Welcome series.

Each one could showcase a different product category and teach new subscribers about the brand’s extensive offerings.

Keep scrolling to hear about Silk & Snow’s abandoned cart flow! 👇

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🛒 The Abandon Cart Flow

Silk & Snow’s Abandon Cart emails capture the brand’s cozy tone perfectly. The next opportunity is refining send timing to maximize purchase intent.

The first email currently triggers two days after a cart is left behind. That timing is most definitely on the later side compared to industry benchmarks.

And while subject lines like “Ready to have your best night’s sleep?” keep the tone on-brand, they may not immediately signal a cart reminder.

From a design standpoint, ensuring all visuals and CTAs function cleanly would reinforce Silk & Snow’s reputation for quality and care.

A clean, branded layout with a clear “Return to Cart” button builds trust and makes checkout feel effortless.

🚀 Pilothouse Tips:

✅ Move faster on abandoned cart triggers: The industry standard is around 20 minutes post-abandonment, with a follow-up 8 hours later. This is the moment of highest intent, and brands need to strike while the mattress is still warm.

✅ Use urgency copy: Subject lines like “Ready to have your best night’s sleep” don’t motivate customers to act. Instead, try urgency-driven language such as:

Subject: “Your Cart Is About To Expire!”
Preview: “Don’t let a good night’s sleep slip away.”

✅ Keep QA tight: Double-checking rendering, links, and copy ensures every email meets Silk & Snow’s high design standards.

✅ Add a funnel-flusher: Two abandonment emails just aren’t enough. Add at least one more touchpoint to seal the deal. A funnel-flusher email should offer your strongest discount and is the final nudge that can recover customers right at the finish line.

✨ Conclusion

Silk & Snow’s brand is built on carefully curated comfort. Their email automations should feel just as thoughtfully designed.

Timely, warm, and rewarding.

These are small, strategic shifts that could turn already-strong flows into consistent revenue drivers.

Because when your promise is “better sleep,” your email flows should feel just as restorative and high performing as the product itself.

TikTok user @binoymusic recently went viral after sharing a wild storytime about fending off two intruders trying to break into his LA home using none other than… his Owala water bottle.

The video has since racked up almost 10M views, and while the dented bottle became an instant talking point, Owala’s response stole the show.

Within days, the brand sent a PR package featuring replacement bottles tucked inside a black safe labeled “Sipcurity”.

The response was the perfect blend of humor, empathy, and brand awareness, turning a scary viral moment into a clever marketing opportunity.

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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.