Hey - it's Marco.
Thanks for subscribing to the first edition of Full Court Press. Each week I have dozens conversations with founders, execs, agencies, and other people in the DTC space, so with each edition of this newsletter I'll share the most interesting things I come across.
I also want to make this email as useful and interesting as possible for you. So please hit reply and let me know what you're working on and what topics you'd like to see me write about. I read every email :)
So let's jump right in to what I found most interesting this week:
Elliot. Marrakech. π To get started, I joined Elliot as Head of Marketing (see announcement here). And as my first act as head marketer, we're running a pretty sweet eCom contest over the next couple weeks. The Elliot store that generates the most sales between Monday Dec 16th and January 1st, 2020 wins an all expenses paid trip to Marrakech, Morocco from January 5-7 to workshop your DTC brand with Team Elliot. Would love to see you there / help you get set up. It's dummy easy. More details here π Oh yeah! Elliot's Cashless POS is powering the Ethel's Club store. Totally worth checking out how seamless the experience is.
Glossier Design. π While doing research for some new landing page themes we're working on at Elliot, I took a look at Glossier's site for the first time in a while. I was so impressed with their digital product design, craftsmanship, and attention to detail that I wrote a thread about it. I was really intrigued by a response that touched on makeup being a vehicle for virtue signaling. I never really considered that before, but reflecting on it more I can't shake the statement.
Away. 𧳠I won't rehash the Away debacle, but it appears to be the Rorschach test of 2019 - your opinion on it says a lot more about you than anything else. In the end, I think "our" collective and outspoken reaction says a lot about how oversimplified our perspective on leadership has become. It's either "her fault" or it's justified because "building a startup is hard." I think it's both, and lands somewhere in the middle. Can Steph Korey be both wrong in her actions while simultaneously feeling the pressure of building a startup? And can we also acknowledge that the tone of article tried to discredit her and stir up trouble within Away? I haven't forgotten about Elon Musk going on firing sprees, yelling at employees etc, but that somehow that seems to have been accepted because of the ambitious nature of his projects, smh.
Newsletters from brands. π I've had a conversation a few times now with first time founders about how to run a newsletter. Here's the trick: instead of creating new content, recycle and share recent developments β what's been happening, updates with your brand, recent interesting convos you've had, community feedback, etc. Think of it more as a way to connect with your following frequently and relatively informally instead of having to come up with a brilliant insight each week. Also, consider the difference between plain text and designed newsletters (header banners, custom fonts, etc). Plain text feels more person to person and will likely have higher readership, and won't trigger the "oh, this is marketing" reptile brain. Designed newsletters feel like marketing materials no matter how much you try to keep it grounded in valuable content (unless your newsletter is your business - then design away).
#WashedKing π For you basketball fans, remember when everyone said LeBron was done last year? Well he's not, but thanks to my friend Cat, I was reminded of the D. Wade x LeBron power team in Miami (I still don't count Chris Bosh). Check out the video she brought onto my timeline.
That wraps up the first edition of Full Court. Thanks for reading! We'll be back next week with more interesting finds and insights into building DTC brands.
In the meantime, please don't hesitate to hit reply and let me know what you're working on. I live for personal connections and get excited about meeting new people. Introduce yourself! π
Talk soon,
Marco