And we’re off to a new month in DTC. This means:
competition is heating up
ad spend is getting spicy
and a lot more noise in the space
(especially as we get closer to the biggest spending season of the year…)
So if you haven’t yet…
DTC marketers: Your free Aug to Jan creator playbook for BFCM + Q5
A lot of playbooks are dropping right now, including our BFCM Operators Playbook. We’ve noticed a lot of them tell you what to do; very few tell you how or when.
By October, CPMs are already up 20–60%. The brands that win Black Friday don’t outspend everyone in November. They’re brands that win because they’ve done the prep with a clear, strategic timeline.
Insense is a partner doing it right. They’re the creator engine for consumer brands scaling past $2M, looking to save 40+ hours on creator operations per month (especially in Q4). And they’ve mapped the whole thing, August to January, in one playbook:
Four shifts that have changed how Q4 is won this year
How to source the right creators within 48 hours
A complete timeline through January: when and how to run your organic and paid social campaigns
Plus: How Insense runs as your creator engine for this peak season
P.S. Book a free strategy call by September 18th and get $200 towards your first campaign.
[ in the news ]
Rothy’s smashes $227.7 million in revenue
This footwear store grew up in the digital space and has since grown to 40 stores and is planning to add more in the US. They say key partners like Nordstrom opened the doors to reach more of their consumers while still leaning into the online game and seeing massive growth from there. Building a brand alongside this high growth is a strong priority for Rothy’s.
What this means for operators:
There’s no silver bullet in the DTC space. Partners, wholesale, online checkout, all work. No one size fits all (pun intended). Focus on what’s working and press go.
Bandit Launches Fall 26’ Line
Lots of hype around this one and for a good reason too. Bandit has been working on this drop for 11 months. They went through a “community-centered design process” to develop their new seasonal collection and dropped a whopping 116 fall products this season to load up their marathon runners.
What this means for operators:
It’s one thing to launch a new line, but when you’re focused on community, you can get data back fast, iterate, and build something worth talking about (and proud to show off during your races).
HallPass Hits Walmart
Founder of HallPass, Peter Rahal, wants this brand to “be the Coke Zero of Candy”. And with that, they recently just launched inside Walmart. They’re hitting the candy aisle hard with 70 calories and 1g of sugar. Pretty sweet launch if you ask me.
We’re going to see more and more brands compete for space in big stores like Walmart.
Chomps at Starbucks
Now you can get a solid 10g of protein with your next coffee run. They’re already in 65k Starbucks. Similar to HallPass, we’re seeing more snacks (all the healthier) be the fast-grab on the way out the door.
The important piece here:
Brands are positioning themselves to be as easy and accessible for their customers as possible. It’s a simple play, but few are executing it well. This collab is a great example of it working in action.
[ brands we’re watching ]
Khalifa Kush & Orange Juice → Wiz Khalifa’s cannabis, apparel and accessories brand announced its entrance into the THC beverage category with the launch of Khalifa Kush & Orange Juice. Check out the full announcement here →
Smalls → Is Cat is Smalls’ biggest 360° brand campaign yet, concentrated in New York City and supplemented by national TV across linear and streaming. The campaign goes live Tuesday, September 1 and runs through Sunday, September 27, with select OOH extending into October. It’ll feature:
A hero OOH takeover of New York, concentrated in Soho, Noho, and Williamsburg — the neighborhoods where the campaign’s audience actually lives, works, and lingers. The buy includes:
A national TV campaign
A one-night-only, invite-only exhibit in New York treating the “___ is Cat” lines as art pieces.
Paid creator partnerships with NYC creators, amplifying the OOH and the “___ is Cat” lines in-feed. Secured thus far: Kate Norkeliunas, Lauren Caruso, Jake Fleming, Ava T’Ocloo, Daisy Pyo, with more to come.
Native Pet → turned a US Open tie-in into a full-funnel NYC activation this weekend, wildposting across the LES leading into a dog-friendly, tennis-themed soft-serve pop-up called “It’s All in the Serve,” held Saturday at Unnecessary NYC.
The activation paired product sampling (dogs got soft serve topped with the brand’s flagship supplement, The Daily) with organic celebrity seeding; tennis commentator and creator Morgan Riddle stopped by with her newly adopted dog and tried it herself, alongside a handful of other NYC lifestyle creators, including Zarah Kelleher. The street-to-IRL structure is where it gets fun: out-of-home drove foot traffic into a branded moment built for social pickup, timed precisely to a live sports news cycle.
[ quick hits ]
Blaze → smashing water bottles with tech. Simple idea, and excited to see where they take it.
Mangone’s → dried mangos on a mission to take down Big Snack. They’re also dabbling with their single-ingredient product.
Wayve → Also on a mission, but this time taking down Big Activewear (not joking, check them out). Using all-natural fibers in their shorts.
Seek → “Clean, organic, mold-free coffee”.
Bath and Body Works → claims its growth has “tripled” through Amazon sales.
See you Thursday,
Zach and 1800DTC Team
1800DTC.com
P.S
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