📦 - I’ll Take My Whiskey Neeeeeeat 🥃

DTC 608 - Coola’s Packaging Refresh, Rod Stewart’s Whiskey Brand and CrowdStrike’s Impact Wednesday, July 24, 2024 Good morning, Organizations are still dealing with the ripple effects of the CrowdStrike outage last Friday otherwise known as Blue Screen of Death Day. 🙁 US airlines, banks, hospitals, and supply chains were affected. Although sea shipping has resumed, experts say air shipping may take a few weeks to get back on track. Here’s what you’ll find in today’s DTC: ☀️ Sunscreen brand Coola celebrates their 20th anniversary with a packaging refresh. We analyze whether this gradient design is a glow up or glow down. 🍻 How a night of drinking with Rod Stewart led to the creation of whiskey brand Wolfie’s 🍫 And…how KitKat leveraged the global CrowdStrike IT outage last week and reminded everyone to take a much needed break. You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: [Cayo Cookies](, [Heavenly Spirits](, and [Puris Foods](. 👋 GROWTH 👀 Revenue? Up. ROAS? Up. Conversion Rate? Up. AOV? Up. A wellness brand joined Pilothouse’s brand accelerator, Pilot Program, [dreaming of growth](… 💭📈 The team strategized with their time tested and data-backed tactics, took over the brand's campaigns, rebuilt their creative approach, and geared up to see the brand crush their goals. And crush they did… An 80% increase in ad spend, coupled with a ROAS and AOV improvement, yielded a 155% increase in revenue! 🔥 Q4 is just around the corner, and [Pilot Program has three slots remaining]( for brands looking to achieve results like these. Will one of those slots be yours? 👇 [Book your free call with the partnerships team today](. PACKAGING DESIGN ☀️ Coola’s New Ombre Look Appeals To Gen Z Sunscreen brand Coola changes its packaging design just in time for summer. The twenty-year-old brand felt it was time for a change and wanted a more modern design that would stand out online and appeal to younger Gen Z customers. Christina Peng, Coola's CMO, shares, "There's a lot of competition now [in the sun care market], and that makes it all the more important for us to find a way to break through to current consumers on what makes us unique." Here are the design tweaks Coola made: - Ombre detail: While Coola kept their signature bright blue color, they wanted to modernize the look by removing the flower details and adding an eye-catching gradient to the bottom of the bottle. - Elegant font style: They changed the sans serif font to a serif font so the branding looked more sophisticated, and the bottle went from glossy to matte. - Less waste: Although it's not visible at first glance, Coola has been working on removing secondary packaging to reduce waste and be more sustainable. The verdict? This is definitely a packaging glow-up! Coola's rebranding aligns with the latest trends in packaging design. Gen Z favors minimalist designs with bold text. The new design features an elegant pairing of sleek sans-serif and serif fonts. The rebranding enhances rather than departs from its previous look, resulting in a more sophisticated appearance. PODCAST 🎧 Scaling Rod Stewart’s Wolfie’s Whisky Brand In this episode of the DTC podcast, we dive into the world of whiskey with Duncan Frew from [Wolfie's](, the rock star whisky brand co-founded with Rod Stewart. Wolfie's is not just another celebrity-endorsed product; it's a unique blend of Scottish tradition and rock and roll rebellion that’s disrupted the whisky market. Learn how Duncan leveraged a celebrity story to create a unique product that resonates with a broad audience and the strategies they used to scale rapidly. In this podcast, we cover: - Brand Origin: Duncan shares how a night of drinking with Rod Stewart led to the birth of Wolfie's - Product development: How they focused on creating a high-quality product and a rock and roll brand with extensive taste testing and market research - Rapid expansion: How they went from DTC to being sold in 23 countries within a year 👉 You can listen to the full episode with Duncan [here](. GENUINE AND REAL 👀 Influencer Content Works For So Much More Than Just Social Media… For many brands, just traditional paid media isn’t cutting it anymore. 😕 Enter: Influencer content. It’s genuine, real, and perfect for social media, delivering more bang for your buck. [It’s not just an ad; it tells a story and forms a connection](. That influencer post isn’t just for social media. Use it on your website, emails, and retail stores. Spread it wide, and your marketing budget will thank you. 👏 🤳 Ready to get started? [SARAL]( is with you every step of the way: - Find and connect with brand-aligned influencers - Manage and track conversations - Monitor brand mentions - Ask for usage rights - Share content across all channels [Try SARAL for 7 days without spending a single dollar]( Or [talk to their team first]( – that’s free, too. *Sponsored 🎉 CELEBRATE THIS! 👖 July 27: Take Your Pants For A Walk Day, National Day Of The Cowboy 💑 July 28: Milk Chocolate Day, Parent’s Day 💄 July 29: National Lipstick Day, Lasagna Day, National Chicken Wing Day 📖 July 30: National Cheesecake Day, Father-In-Law Day, Paperback Book Day 🥑 July 31: Uncommon Musical Instrument Day, National Avocado Day 🀄 August 1: Girlfriends Day, Mahjong Day, Mountain Climbing Day 🍺 August 2: Ice Cream Sandwich Day, Beer Day, National Coloring Book Day 🌐 IN THE SOCIAL SPHERE After last week’s historic global IT outage, everyone quickly shared their Blue Screen of Death online. For Kit Kat, this was a golden marketing opportunity. The chocolate brand took advantage of this trending topic to mock up their own screenshot in their brand colors and reminded everyone it was OK to take a break and recharge. Can't view the image? [Click here]( ⚡ QUICK HITS 👀 What are you doing on August 14th? Join DTC x Pilothouse’s virtual webinar — The Ultimate Q4 Guide: Big Wins and Even Bigger Mistakes. [Register here](! 📰 NEWS - Meta [can now detect offers based on your chosen URL in ads](. - Wiz [walks away from a $23 billion deal with Google to seek an IPO instead](. - Google URL shortener [will no longer be available after August 25th](. - Nike [releases their ‘Winning Isn’t For Everyone’ ad campaign ahead of the Summer Games](. SPONSOR DTC 📥 Got a B2B Biz? Join dozens of B2B companies finding demand-gen success through our niche community of 160k brand leaders and founders this year. [Talk to our team to learn more](. Have you heard our latest podcasts? - ⚡ [AKNF 423:]( Optimize Post-Click Experience With Landing Pages - 🕶️ Parker Godfrey on [How Kiaura Went Viral on TikTok Shops]( - 😆 [AKNF 421:]( Grow Top Of Funnel With Humor and Controversy - 🌽 FFUPS founder Sam Tichnor on [How He Scaled Snacking]( - 💰 [AKNF 419:]( Bidding on Branded Keywords on Google Ads - 🦙 Paka Founder Kris Cody on [His Peruvian Retail Journey]( - 🤖 [AKNF 417:]( Learn How To Build Your Own Brand GPT Don’t forget to [rate the DTC Podcast]( on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) DTC Newsletter is written by [Rebecca Knight]( and [Frances Du](. Edited by [Eric Dyck](. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. Please note that items in this newsletter marked with * contain sponsored content. [Direct To Consumer]( Pilothouse, 1011 Government St., Victoria, BC V8W 1X6, Canada [Advertise with DTC]( | [Work With Pilothouse]( [Unsubscribe](