BANTER

Saturday, April 2, 2022

Eric here,

We just missed April Fools, but I wanted to ask you a question before we get into Brightland’s Brand Breakdown.

Would you believe me if I told you this three-inch cube of DTC tungsten weighs eight kilograms?

For reference, these are other things that weigh eight kilograms:

• Microwave
• Tv
• Small mattress
• Stack of books

🤯  Call me crazy, but I want to offer this ridiculously dense cube as a high tier reward in our revamped referral program.

Do me a favor – After you read today’s newsie, click here and tell us what you think of the cube, and/or what kind of reward it would take to get you to get every marketer you know reading DTC.

Thanks and don’t forget to tip your sponsors Adroll and BlackCrow.ai 🤠

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A new month means the start of a brand new Brand Breakdown. 💥

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In April, we’re going deep on Brightland , a California-grown olive oil company with bottles so aesthetic you’ll want to proudly showcase them in your kitchen.

If you’re a lover of classic Sunday dinners or are looking for new ways to infuse flavor into your cooking, this one’s for you!

In this newsletter, you’ll find: 👇

📦 Brand Breakdown Part 1: Brightland (Facebook Ads)

📦 Tackling your Shopify abandoned carts with Adroll

📦 Win the fight against iOS14 with Black Crow AI and first-party data

Read till the end to access exclusive DTC swag. 😎

👉 If a pal forwarded this to you, subscribe , so you never miss out.

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FACEBOOK ADS

1️⃣ UV-Coated Bottles

✨ What we like:

• In this single clip, we see the product, a brand advocate, and a message conveying how and why Brightland products differ from their competitors. ✅
• Brightland highlights its unique bottle and labeling that promises the consumer a fresh product upon purchase. ✅
• Seeing Brightland’s olive oil in action, with an appetizing closeup shot that encourages you to appreciate the product. ✅

💡 Areas of opportunity:

Visually, there isn’t anything in the video that really “pops,” or takes center stage. This culminates in a somewhat generic styling for the video. The product bottle, and the product itself, could have been featured more prominently. Brightland highlights its labeling, but we don't see the harvest date. We hear how the bottle protects the oil from light damage but are not shown how..

Formatting the copy as a single, long paragraph makes reading and digesting the content more work for the reader.

The strategies and messaging suggest that this video would be a strong performer as a middle-of-funnel consideration play. But this video would probably work better on a landing page than social media—unless its performance metrics says otherwise.

2️⃣ Luminous Capsule of Olive Oil

✨ What we like:

• Brightland reinstated its brand story, telling its audience that it's a family-run business and locally sourced: grounding the product and making it approachable. ✅
• This carefully curated and visually intriguing scene highlights the product’s marketability and beauty. You’ll have a pretty sexy-looking pantry. ✅

💡 Areas of opportunity:

The ad lacks an element that would encourage people to take action and engage. The caption claims the brand is rooted in family and local sourcing, but the highly artistic styling can make it harder to connect with the product; it can seem more likely to be featured in Vogue than on your shopping list.

The visual is better suited for an organic social post than an ad. While it doesn’t necessarily encourage conversions, the cool factor of the photo draws more brand awareness.

3️⃣ Brightland Candle

✨ What we like:

• Brightland, in the first sentence of the caption, gives the product a purpose while targeting its demographic. ✅
• The post described the benefits by providing social proof of quality. The accompanying copy also effectively reinforces this message with strong benefit statements.  ✅

💡 Areas of opportunity:

As a viewer, the tone of the ad can come off as boastful. Rather than fostering a connection to and a desire for the product, it makes it transparent to the viewer that they are being advertised to.

The headline could also be punchier to motivate a click-through and conversion. This is also true of the copy, which follows the style of Brightland’s other ads.

Mixing up the copy style can help the brand understand what is resonating, and what encourages people to convert, especially if there are multiple touchpoints across different social platforms.

4️⃣ ARDOR Chili Olive Oil 1

✨ What we like:

• The aesthetics of the video showcase how beautiful the product is, and provide an attractive serving suggestion by pairing it with avocado toast. ✅
• The strength of the creative in inspiring purchase intent reduces the concern about the length and formatting of the copy. By highlighting the details in the flavor, the copy itself compliments what is communicated through the video. ✅
• Advertising free shipping on order of $65+ is also a compelling addition to the copy. ✅

💡 Areas of opportunity:

The copy and headline could go a step further in describing how the product could really transform a meal.

Adding sauces or dressing to food can really make the entire experience, and the brand could leverage this fact to position their product as indispensable.

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SPONSOR

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The webinar will provide you with:

• Top abandoned cart prevention and recovery strategies for your Shopify store.
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👉 Click here to sign up for the webinar!

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FACEBOOK ADS

5️⃣ ARDOR Chili Olive Oil 2

✨ What we like:

• This ad really celebrates the design of the bottle. It helps people visualize how cool it will look in their kitchen, while also highlighting the artistry that went into the design. ✅
• Highlighting the NYC-based artist is a great way for Brightland to show they support local artists and they align themselves with creators that share their brand values. ✅

💡 Areas of opportunity:

The headline is generally weak and doesn’t do much to urge action.

The copy is also disconnected from the creative; while the messaging describes a taste as good as the look of the bottle, the product itself isn’t pictured. Instead, your eyes go to the bottle and the less-than-appetizing bananas behind it.

This copy could be better suited for Ad #4, which would be worth testing. Emphasizing how delicious the product is while positioning the nice bottle as a secondary benefit, could be paired with a direct response callout to take action and upgrade your dining experience at home today.

6️⃣ Next Level Snack

✨ What we like:

This POV video of someone creating a snack with Brightland olive oil could be their top performing ad.

• We get a look at the product in action! ✅
• The style of video is engaging, and has the potential to perform very well and its structure is very easy to replicate! ✅

💡 Areas of opportunity:

It’s unclear from the video what product is being used, and the copy doesn’t mention it. The on-screen text hides the bottle, and it’s hard to tell if those three lines of text are listing different flavors to choose from, or the ingredients of the dip.

The video could also benefit from a live shot of the product poured onto the food, or a charcuterie-style spread with which to pair the dip.

Brightland could also include some punchier in-video copy with emojis at the top, as well as a stronger headline.

While the copy is a step in the right direction, some of the ‘power statements’ (“elevate your everyday”) are easy to gloss over. Elaborating on these statements with some specifics can help Brightland take it to the next level, and capture the essence of their brand.

7️⃣ California-Grown Frantoio Olives

✨ What we like:

• All the products included in the capsule are clearly labeled and displayed. ✅
• The composition of the image draws your eye to each of the products. ✅
• The friendly headline is a nice touch, and establishes a personal connection. ✅

💡 Areas of opportunity:

The personal connection created by the headline is somewhat lost in reading the copy. The description of the products comes off as pretentious—what even is a Frantoio olive?

An easier-to-read, general statement about the quality of the natural ingredients would be more inviting to a broader audience.

Creating a carousel with some action shots of the products, along with an offer CTA could really level up this ad.

8️⃣ Mini Essentials

✨ What we like:

• The eye-catching, well-staged creative is well suited for showing off the really cool packaging for this product. ✅
• In the copy Brightland appeals to its returning customers by stating that this could be a great opportunity to “treat” those that have yet to try their products. ✅  
• The copy clearly describes the contents of the set, and the use of star emojis around the ‘new look’ text is a fun way to highlight that part of the copy. ✅

💡 Areas of opportunity

There is an opportunity to create a sense of urgency around this product, especially if it is only available for the holiday season.

Brightland could also emphasize the newness of the product, with callouts like “just dropped” or “just became available.”

9️⃣ Women’s Health

✨ What we like:

• Brightland did well to capitalize on the success of the news/publication style, which lends a very organic feel to the ad. In this style, the testimonial doesn’t sound too self-aggrandizing, but instead suggests credibility from outside sources. ✅
• The “spice is nice” headline shows some of the brand’s personality, which helps form a connection with its audience. ✅
• The graphic design is also quite strong, with powerful and colorful elements that make for a memorable creative. ✅

💡 Areas of opportunity‍

This ad would be a great occasion to leverage some user generated content in the form of a carousel post, showing the product in action.

This creative could also be tested with different styles of copy with benefit statements, as well as playing with more on-brand humor.

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SPONSOR

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It's not easy fighting against iOS14. 🥊

Marketing costs on platforms like Facebook have been up, up, up–while the results have been going down, down, down.

Before you throw in the towel, there is a solution, and it’s something you already have…

First-party data.

Head back to your corner and have a few words with Black Crow AI’s Founder, Richard Harris. Richard will walk you through how brands use their data to optimize retargeting, boost their ROAS by 25% or more, and slash their CAC by 30%.

Don't let iOS14 stop you from getting your knockout. 👊

👉 Watch the webinar now.

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BRANDS

🕶 Crapeyewear: Fighting a hangover? Feel like crap? You might as well look dope doing it. Crapeyewear has made some super wavey bioacetate sunglasses without the massive markup. Designed in Los Angeles, CA, and tested by a family of surfers, skaters, musicians & artists.

🕯 Malathebrand: From mood setting to séance, malathebrand has you covered. Their scented candles contain natural coconut and soy wax, a crackling wood wick, and essential oils. Malathebrand runs a project called: Trees for the Future so that with every purchase made, a tree will be planted across the globe!

🥄 Magicspoon: The debate is over. Cereal is not just breakfast food. So if you’re eating it for breaki, lunch, and dinner, we suggest checking out Magic Spoon’s healthy cereal! Their cereal is naturally-sweetened with Allulose, a “rare” sugar found in things like figs and maple syrup.

🔊 HAVE YOU HEARD OUR LATEST PODCASTS?

👀 If You Shelve It, Will They Come? With Fractional CMO Bryan Holladay.

🏋️‍♂️ Why Personalization Might be the Biggest Opportunity in DTC with Eric Ji Sun Wu, Cofounder of Gainful.

💄The Fast Road to 8 Figures with Jones Road Beauty's Cody Plofker.

❣️ Molly Garraway on Growing a CX Team to 100, and Then Starting from Scratch with LoveSeen.

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

DTC Newsletter is written by Rebecca Knight, Jordan Gillis, and Tina Donati. Edited by Claire Beveridge and Eric Dyck.

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