The Problem

# Launching a New DTC Channel

Faced with an expired patent and increasing competition, a specialty consumer product brand sought to launch a direct-to-consumer (DTC) channel to supplement its wholesale business. They hoped to leverage customer data to develop and test new products and increase customer lifetime value (CLV) through personalized experiences, making customers less likely to switch to competitors. The brand already held a 20% market share and wanted to determine the viability of the channel as self-sustaining and develop a marketing plan to drive DTC demand.

Our Approach

# A Customer-Centric, Data-Driven Roadmap

In partnership with a market research firm, we built out customer segment personas, highlighting motivators and purchase behavior. Next, we built a financial model for expected demand based on a six-week pilot and industry benchmarks for costs and likely conversion and retention rates. We defined a clear program vision to validate key baseline metrics on a small scale before launching a large enterprise investment. Crucial features for user experience and technical e-commerce capabilities were captured, delivering a prioritized list of must-haves for a minimum viable product and targeted future sprints.

# Services Provided

  • Branding Sprint
  • Customer Research
  • CX Strategy + Roadmap
  • Financial Impact Assessment
  • Personas + Journey Mapping

Value Delivered

# Pivoting for Growth

Propeller identified key business drivers: D2C profit margin, site conversion, and retention. We delivered strategies for positioning the brand as a high-quality leader. To serve demand generation, marketing tactics and campaigns were designed to move profitable leads through the sales funnel to the site. The Total Addressable Market (TAM) was determined to be too small to sustain an enterprise platform, so the strategy was pivoted to focus on small-scale testing and product development. We focused on driving an approach with a positive Net Present Value, or ROI, for the company and the affected $45M business division.