👋Hello lovely people of the D2C Community! This is your host Berkay writing.
In the 16th episode of the D2CVille Podcast, we had a very insightful conversation with Lynn Power , founder of the natural haircareD2C brand Masami .
After spending many years huge names of the advertising world like BBDO , Lynn started her own haircare brand in 2019. She now doing very well, leveraging her years of experience and her brand community, Conscious Beauty Collective.
In a 44 mins episode, she gave us valuable insights about her digital strategy, retention game, community-building efforts, and more.
Without further ado, let me leave you with Isobel’s great entrepreneurial story. Sit back, relax, and enjoy!
👀 A Quick Intro - Who is Lynn Power? Lynn's extensive experience in the advertising world covered diverse brands across categories, but she always felt a pull toward beauty.
In her role as the CEO of J Walter Thompson , New York, she found the environment to be increasingly bureaucratic within a large agency and holding company.
According to Lynn, beauty uniquely combines emotional and rational aspects, blending both left and right-brain thinking. It sells not only hope and emotion but also aspiration, offering tangible results and benefits. Lynn highlights the challenge of approaching the beauty industry holistically, finding the right balance between emotion and value, especially when consumers are making significant skincare investments. She values the intricate mix of right and left-brain thinking essential in the beauty sector.
Ad Agencies In an amusing twist of her career, Lynn led the global TV campaign launch for Clinique , a brand renowned for iconic print ads but venturing into television for the first time. This challenge of translating the brand's essence from print to dynamic video format fascinated Lynn. Her versatility in navigating diverse beauty projects is evident in her contributions to Nexus, the launch of L'Oréal's hair products, and her role in relaunching L'Oréal V, showcasing her expertise from iconic print campaigns to the dynamic world of television.
🧴 Starting MASAMI Sometimes the universe guides your path, and in Lynn's case, it led her to a shift in her career. After leaving advertising in 2018, she transitioned to consulting and found fulfillment in working with startups, where she felt she could make a meaningful impact on their businesses. Lynn had grown distant from using creativity to drive business during her time as a CEO, a role she describes as less glamorous due to the bureaucratic aspects.
Lynn's journey took an unexpected turn when she met James, her co-founder, through her husband. James, drawing from a decade at Clairol, sought to create clean, super-premium, and hydrating hair care to address the needs of models with colored and treated hair. Recognizing the formulations were 80% there but needed refinement, Lynn and the team conducted consumer testing, cleaned up the formulations, and embarked on the branding process. This journey reflects the dynamic process of building a brand from the ground up in the world of clean and high-performing hair care.
Having a Technical Cofounder In Lynn's perspective, the partnership with her co-founder James has proven to be excellent due to their highly complementary skill sets. While James possesses extensive knowledge about formulations, not as a chemist but through thorough research, Lynn highlights his ability to clearly communicate what he envisions to the chemists. On the other hand, Lynn takes charge of the commercialization aspect, running the business, overseeing marketing, and handling the day-to-day operations – areas where James lacks experience.
According to Lynn, their partnership is effective because they bring different strengths to the table. She emphasizes the importance of seeking a complementary partner rather than a clone. Lynn advises aspiring business owners to find a partner with skills that complement their own, as partnerships with clones often lead to conflicts and obstacles. Lynn believes that while partnerships with twins or best friends can work, it's crucial to consider the dynamics that often come into play in partnerships with similar skill sets.
How did she start? Lynn's journey began with perfecting their formulas and conducting extensive consumer testing across various hair types for their inclusive brand. She emphasizes the importance of appealing to diverse hair types, including her own post-chemo hair.
The team dedicated attention to developing the brand's story and values, naming it "Masami" after co-founder James's husband, Masahiro, and incorporating the hero ingredient, Mekabu.
Mekabu (Seaweed)
The name, meaning "truly beautiful" in Japanese, added a serendipitous touch to the brand's identity. Lynn recalls a "goosebump moment" when they realized the profound meaning behind the chosen name, underscoring the importance of securing the trademark for Masami in building the brand.
Leveraging advertising skills Lynn, drawing on her advertising background, incorporates brand considerations into her thinking. Despite occasional imperfections in execution due to a small team, she emphasizes the value of starting with strategic thinking. Lynn recognizes instances where speed takes precedence over perfection but appreciates the discipline of strategic beginnings. Leveraging basic marketing principles, she highlights the importance of aligning with consumer behavior, evident in their choice to be on Amazon. Lynn's insights reflect the delicate balance between strategic thinking and practical decision-making in entrepreneurship.
📈 Growth Channels Lynn values podcasts for their evergreen nature, emphasizing their SEO benefits and storytelling potential.
Masami maintains an active digital presence on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter, exploring paid advertising on these platforms.
Additionally, they invest in Google and Pinterest advertising, with Pinterest proving notably efficient in driving website traffic. While Facebook's direct advertising falls short, it excels in retargeting, aligning with its ROI strategy.
Customer Acquisition Costs on Facebook Lynn discusses the challenge faced by the business when it comes to acquisition costs on Facebook, noting that it exceeds $100. She emphasizes the difficulty of managing such high costs, particularly for a small business.
🤓 Traffic from Pinterest, Retargeting on Facebook Lynn details the Facebook retargeting strategy for Pinterest, emphasizing a broad audience approach to drive website traffic efficiently. She highlights the unexpected revelation that the customer base is more West Coast-oriented, older (30+), and inclined towards clean beauty, challenging initial assumptions. Lynn explains that the product's impact is more significant for those over 30 dealing with hair issues, leading to a substantial uptick in performance. This insight has shifted their target demographic understanding and marketing strategy.
Target audience - trials and errors Lynn emphasizes the trial-and-error nature of their marketing, advising beginners to start wide and adjust based on audience response. She advocates avoiding assumptions and adapting strategies based on real-world feedback.
Lynn appreciates the diverse customer base, noting that if a specific demographic, like pregnant women, shows interest, it makes sense to cater to them.
Despite not actively targeting men, about 40% of their customers are male, showcasing the brand's gender-neutral appeal.
Lynn values the loyalty of male customers, highlighting the importance of flexibility in marketing strategies.
🏄 Automated Targeting on Amazon vs. Facebook Lynn discusses their testing approach, highlighting the success of automated targeting on Amazon, where it outperforms manual efforts.
She clarifies that when it comes to platforms like Amazon, their automated targeting outperforms manual efforts. The example of running catalog sales and product displays on Amazon with automated targeting showcases the platform's ability to make connections between seemingly unrelated products, resulting in highly efficient spending.
Amazon's automatic targeting She contrasts this with Facebook, where automatic targeting didn't yield the desired results.
Lynn acknowledges the challenge of scaling on certain platforms, emphasizing the need to explore and understand the nuances of each one individually. She emphasizes the necessity of playing around with platforms and discovering what works best for the specific business context. Lynn recognizes the diversity of user behavior on different platforms, noting that what may work on Pinterest in terms of wide targeting might not be effective on Facebook or Instagram.
Her explanation reflects a nuanced and adaptive approach to digital advertising, recognizing that each platform requires unique strategies tailored to its specific characteristics. Lynn's understanding of the distinct user behavior on Pinterest, where users are more likely to browse than buy, highlights the importance of considering touchpoints and the user journey in the advertising process.
TikTok Lynn explores TikTok's potential as a cost-effective platform for scrappy businesses. While acknowledging its educational value and affordability, she admits challenges with creative aspects.
While Lynn acknowledges that TikTok may not directly translate into sales, she sees its value in driving people to the site and providing useful content.
🤝 Brand partnerships Lynn underscores the effectiveness of brand partnerships, collaborating with like-minded brands such as clean skincare and jewelry brands. These partnerships, involving activities like blogs, giveaways, and live streams, have been crucial for organic growth, connecting with the right customers, and expanding their reach. Lynn's experience illustrates the versatility of brand collaborations and the evolution of their strategy with the establishment of the Conscious Beauty Collective .
Conscious Beauty Collective Lynn introduces the Conscious Beauty Collective, conceived during her chemotherapy sessions, as a way to combine enjoyable activities with advancing her business. She emphasizes the harmony between joy and business success, highlighting the collaborative nature of partnerships with other brands.
Lynn envisions scaling the concept to involve multiple collaborations simultaneously, aiming for a more significant impact. Recognizing the potential social impact through collective efforts, she fosters a supportive ecosystem for founders facing similar challenges.
Her realization that the collective effort could significantly amplify their social impact, reaching close to a million followers collectively, compared to her individual reach of 25,000 to 30,000 on Instagram, underscores the power of collaboration and collective influence. She recognizes a commonality among founders like herself—self-funded, lacking significant marketing budgets, and without investors—and sees an opportunity for mutual support.
The Conscious Beauty Collective becomes a platform for founders facing similar challenges to help each other, creating a supportive ecosystem. Lynn's journey reflects a blend of personal resilience, strategic thinking, and the realization of collective strength in achieving shared goals.
How does she meet other people to partner up? Lynn discusses the inception and growth of the Conscious Beauty Collective, starting with her industry connections from advertising and expanding the network organically. The concept arose pragmatically during the pandemic, leveraging relationships with other founders like Becky Mercer (Check Becky’s story here ). The pop-up store initiative, beginning with Brookfield Properties, aimed at retail exposure and co-marketing, leading to successful events in various locations.
The Collective operates on a hub-and-spokes model, extending beyond retail to include events, giveaways, and shared pop-up tables. Lynn notes the diverse engagement levels, acknowledging that active participation benefits founders who enjoy ideation and learning. The platform evolves into a collaborative learning environment, with master classes on topics like Amazon and SEO, creating a dynamic space for founders to share diverse expertise.
Lynn emphasizes the transformation of the Collective into a collaborative ecosystem, describing it as "our own little school."
How many active founders do they have? Lynn discusses the growth of Conscious Beauty Collective pop-ups, revealing the participation of 40 founders in the last event. Despite occasional changes in participation, the strategy involves recruiting more local founders for each location to enhance active engagement. Approximately 100 brands have participated across three pop-ups, showcasing the collective's diversity.
Pop-Up Shop Benefits Lynn highlights the significant advantages of the Conscious Beauty Collective's physical store presence. Customers spending 30-40 minutes in the store create an opportunity for education on clean beauty. The engaged interaction results in "sticky" customers who return and form deeper connections with the brand. Lynn values the immediate feedback loop achieved by distributing targeted samples, considering it as valuable as gold.
Product Bundles Lynn discusses successful sales strategies employed by the Conscious Beauty Collective. Bundles, themed around topics like sensitive skin, simplify decision-making for customers. "Products of the week" and in-store events, utilizing unique educational installations, further enhance customer interaction. Lynn emphasizes the importance of curated options, creating an engaging and educational in-store experience.
🗣️ Customer Engagement and Conversions Lynn outlines strategies to enhance customer experience and drive conversions on the Masami website. One effective tactic is the use of One Click Upsell , despite its potential intrusiveness, to capitalize on the short attention spans of online consumers. Lynn emphasizes the pragmatic approach of employing tools that work.
Another key element is the incorporation of User-Generated Content (UGC) videos, hosted by Tolstoy , providing authentic engagement and relatability in the beauty industry. Lynn's insights underscore Masami's commitment to personalized and genuine online experiences.
Subscription Management and Tool Selection Lynn discusses Masami's approach to managing subscriptions, opting for Yotpo over Recharge due to consolidation benefits. She parallels this with their experience in email and SMS subscriptions, emphasizing the need to integrate tools seamlessly based on the brand's stage. Lynn's insights highlight Masami's focus on efficiency and practicality in selecting subscription management tools, aligning with their current business scale.
Tool Selection and Conscious Beauty Collective Lynn emphasizes the significance of recommendations and collaborative learning within the Conscious Beauty Collective. The collective's giant spreadsheet compiles members' app and platform preferences, facilitating informed tool choices. This collaborative approach reflects the collective's commitment to shared knowledge and mutual support among founders.
AI in Marketing Lynn shares a nuanced perspective on AI, recognizing its benefits in saving time and costs. She uses Studio.trend.io for AI-generated images, particularly for Amazon posts. Lynn leverages AI to review Amazon reviews, identify policy violations, and generate ideas for keywords and blog posts. Emphasizing the importance of using AI as an inspirational tool, Lynn showcases its practical applications in content creation and policy adherence.
Well, we hope you got some DTC wisdom if you reach this point! Check out our other content to keep up with what's happening in the DTC market, some more DTC wisdom, and more!
And, if you want to learn more about Masami's toolkit, check it out here !
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