D2Cs Leveraging Traditional Media

A recent article on eMarketer highlighted that consumer D2C brands have now “shifted their focus to more traditional mediums” such as OOH (out-of-home).  To help support this, the author of the article cites a stat that shows one in four US internet users first heard about a D2C brand they purchased from through traditional channels such as word-of-mouth or out-of-home. Of course, leveraging traditional media isn’t a cookie cutter approach that works for all D2Cs and this is acknowledged in the article as continuous testing is needed to determine the most effective channels for specific products or audiences. 

Several C-suit executives from D2Cs across food, apparel, and beauty brands are cited in the article and each of the executives cite different kinds of OOH ads they are testing or offering to consumers to not only introduce them to their respective brands, but to then learn more about them in an effort to re-target and find ways to retain them.

Personally, I’m curious to see how the below chart evolves for D2C brands over the next few years. As the article mentions, the effectiveness of using traditional methods of media to attract new consumers will truly depend on the product and potential audience it is targeting. One of the executives from the article cited a promotional offer used on subways to immediately understand the impact of that media. At the same time, while that may be effective for one brand, I believe another may find much more success in using that same promotional offer through a sponsorship of a popular podcast that better relates to the brand’s potential audience. Brands should and will continue to test these levers to see what registers most prominently with their audience 

As the chart from the article demonstrates, almost 60% of US internet users are still discovering D2C brands from an ad on social media (35%) or an online search (25%). Consequently, while D2C brands may in fact be leveraging traditional media to have a broader reach to a potential consumer base, it may not necessarily mean that a brand is now changing the focus of its marketing efforts to support traditional media. Rather, I believe it could simply mean that a D2C brand is trying to explore all avenues to make its brand marketing campaigns have as much reach as possible.

 

https://www.emarketer.com/content/more-d2c-brands-are-relying-on-traditional-channels-here-s-why