How to create a D2C brand with zero marketing and branding spend?

Photo by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash

Recently I came across this video on YouTube; it is an episode from Shark Tank about a company called R Riveter. They are a handbag company but with small twists:

1. The bags here are made by military wives who often find it difficult to find employment due to constant transfers of their husbands. They therefore provide a source of constant employment to the military wives irrespective of location.
2. The bags and their other products are made from materials which are discarded by the military — uniforms, tents and so on. They are therefore recycling military equipment.
3. The third twist is their process of creation, which works like this — Each part of a final product is made by an employee, who ships it to a central location where the final product comes together. The final product that a consumer buys has a tag which lists all the women who have worked on the final product and their contribution to the product.

For example: The bag is made from a discarded military pant which was used a veteran deployed in Africa and a rucksack which was used by another military veteran while being deployed in Afghanistan. The inner pocket was made by Alice from Maryland and the outer handles were made by Nicky from Washington and so on…

How does this process make sense for creators of products across the world and especially to the new age D2C brands which are setting themselves up as challengers to the bigger brands.

Let’s look into it.

For this particular article, I am going to look into any product from 2 sides — one is the consumer who will buy and use the product, the other is the creator or the workers who are involved in creation of that product.

Photo by Diana Akhmetianova on Unsplash

Let’s look at the creator side first and understand how R Riveter adds value to them and how this can be learning lesson for others.

Apart from the monetary gains that we look for in our lives, it is very often the intangible feeling of accomplishment that we seek — the accomplishment of completing a project, the accomplishment of being a part of something, be it small or big and so on. We are social animals and seek that recognition from fellow individuals.

For R Riveter, when the creators see their names on the final product, they would feel that accomplishment apart from just the monetary gain which they would otherwise have to be contended with.

Learning out here: Can your product list out names of creators that can be included in the final product? Can you list out their story if possible? Can you list someone’s journey?

Additional idea: Can you list the journey the product took — the field where cotton was grown, the trucking company which transported it, the converter which converted the fabric into cloth and so on?

Collateral benefit: Major intangible satisfaction for the people involved and tons of free marketing being generated by the network of all the contributors. People love to boast their contributions to projects and this would be no different.

An example: Imagine a handwoven sari was made by a group of 5 craftsmen, who did all the embroidery on the saree by hand. That sari also comes with a small booklet, which has the details of people involved in making it, probably a small photo and a small bio of the same. You can put in whatever other information which probably adds more value to the product, maybe hours put in, special conditions they worked in and so on.

Future possibility: The sari has a digital version listed as an NFT which details the owner of the same and lists the people who were involved in handcrafting the same. This has multiple other use cases in the near future to showcase credibility of supply chain, which can be discussed in a separate article.

Photo by Holly Mindrup on Unsplash

Now, let us look at the consumer side of things.

Tying product to stories: People relate to stories. People relate to individuals, in essence other people. Combine these two to accumulate their power — people relate to stories of individuals. In this scenario, you are tying the product to a story of an individual or even multiple stories of multiple individuals. These stories then provoke or bring our certain emotions in people wherein they feel compelled to be a part of that product or a part of that journey. It is no longer just utility that is derived out of the product, but something much much more.

Showcase Support and Belongingness to a Community or Cause: What R Riverter does out here is to translate the intangible and sub-conscious support of people for cause or a community, in this case — military, into a very tangible and monetary support. People buy it to showcase their support for the veterans. In India, Motojojo is a collective which helps women entrepreneurs from across the country by promoting and showcasing their products.

Learning: Can your products and processes allow consumers to showcase their belongingness and support towards a particular community or a cause? If yes, you need to bring out that co-relation right away.

Collateral benefits:

1. A brand is being built basis a community and people around that community who either believe in it or want to support it in one way or the other.
2. A lot of free word of mouth marketing and PR is possible because of the strong stories that are attached to such initiatives. Infact every product can have a story of its own which automatically increases the potential for more PR.
3. Content generation for social platforms: This seems like a very small thing, but it is a major benefit for the executioners. Imagine loads of quality content being generated which can be showcased on social platforms.

An example: Asia’s largest prison complex; Tihar Jail in Delhi runs a bakery brand called TJs. The prisoners make biscuits and other confectionary items which are then sold across shops located in judicial and prison complexes, for example district courts across Delhi. In 2006, the turnover was INR 6 crore and grew to INR 31 crores in 2016. Now, this has become a famous brand across Delhi and people buy it showcase their support the rehabilitation of the prison population.

P.S. It was Manu Sharma of the Jessica Lal case fame who went ahead with this branding strategy and made this into a successful one that it is today!!

Eventually you not only create a pull for the consumers to buy your product but also a push for the creators to create the best versions!!

I am going to end it with a solid example for someone thinking of a new product on these lines — make wallets from the leather of cricket balls used in international and domestic cricket, the funds of which will be used for the support staff of the stadiums. Each wallet made will have a different story. The community of Indian cricket fans is already ready!!