• by Nina Lentini , Staff Writer @Nina_Lentini, September 26, 2018

Steve Smith, VP, editorial director of events, MediaPost, turned to Eddie Revis, senior director, marketing strategy and media, Chobani, at today’s Marketing CPG event in New York and asked that question and, before he could complete his sentence, an amused Revis cheekily replied.

In “How to D2C When You’re Not D2C,” these are some of the insights we took away.

Looked at D2C brands that provide value. We moved away from this idea that marketing is about the brand channel. We adopted DR, performance building. Balance total investment across upper and lower funnel into one approach. For a commodity, there are infinite customer journeys. Asked ourselves how do we find an adaptive solution?

We broke the idea that there is one journey. We build a partnership with an airline, or if we know you’re listening to music on Spotify, is it an opportunity to reach you. Built a DMP inhouse a year ago, helped evolve thinking. In store, they spend about .3 hours per week. 10 hours a day online. Why would we not be trying to influence you online than in store with kid yelling at you. 

Lots of internal data, studies to see effectiveness of TV, digital to change our marketing mix. 

As category changes so rapidly, marketing was one way we could start to drive business. That was the opportunity in front of us. I have a team of 11 now, we reorged with sales. Change allowed us to own more direct relationships. So much value in key partners, building a team inhouse, walking away from agencies, we owned all the insights. So much lost in missed telephone calls. 

We work with one partner very closely. On surface, sounds complex but is very easy with direct relationship. Going direct, we mitigated the complexity of partner like FB or Google. Focus on getting job done. 

Owning something end to end. Opportunity to analysis, insights, reengagements. Streamlined, more effective work, better creative, makes for stronger impact on category. Creative team, we do all our own packaging design, content, tech stack. Allows open communication, have same information, working from same place to same goal. All the data does is fuels more insightful discussion.

We lead audience first. We size, build, personify that we know have the job for the campaign. For Flip campaign, dry ingredients flips into yogurt, our platform built across indulgent, variety, functional Segments. Got crazy with creative. Which messaging works for these segments?  Played with design, copy, layout. For indulgence, it’s all about indulgent. Snackers eating because they love it. “Indulge yourself.” Digital Video as well: Always a flavor party. For variety, “Never get bored.” Inhouse, play, tweak, massage, optimize. Functional: “All day, every day.” Benefits of category. 

Key takeaways:

1. Look at your contracts, who owns them, where information is going. Insights into user, behavior, campaigns.

2. Go really big, learn and need what you need to do next. 

3. Hire people that don’t look like you, think like you. Eager, excited people who want to build something new. 

Video of this session will be available here tomorrow.