In this episode, we meet Jacob Zuppke, CEO of Whisper.
Whisker is the maker of high-end pet products that replace house chores. Its flagship product is the Litter Robot, the #1 self-cleaning litter box for cats.
In this episode, we discussed transitioning from DTC to a genuine omnichannel brand and the power of TV commercials.
Topics covered
Category building for new products
Channel expansion
Storytelling
Retailing
TV commercial strategy
How to get customers to upgrade
Takeaways
When you are building a new category, no one is looking for you. You need to invest in building awareness.
New category products often start DTC because retailers don’t want to risk shelf space on an unknown product.
Move to Amazon when your category or brand has keyword search volume
For a considered purchase, whether it's online or offline, you need to tell a compelling story
Great retail partnerships are where you can tell your store and merchandise well. In store, story can be communicated through packaging, in-store displays, and point of sale.
When you go into retail, you need to invest in ads for high-funnel awareness to drive in-store sales, allowing customers to choose where they want to buy.
If you are considering writing a TV commercial, read “From Poop to Gold” by the Harmon Brothers.
A good commercial can be used in any channel (Meta, YouTube, streaming), not just linear TV.
However, it may need to be designed or recut to work for different channels, i.e., what works on TikTok, won’t work on TV or Meta, etc.
You get customers returning for your latest products by upgrading with value-added problem-solving features.
Please let us know your thoughts about the episode!
