We Sell Smokeless Fire Pits. But Really We Sell Togetherness

0:00Liz Vanzura:Our brand is about experiencing. It's about getting outside, working with the products. A combination of those things is really kind of how we're headed in the future for Arkening. Are you guys leveraging AI in any particular or distinct way that you could tell us about? The area that I'm most excited about is in the media space with data and analytics. We'll help make us smarter about our media decisions, where we're getting the most traffic, what ads are performing the best. It's not their product per se, but it's the moment that is created with the people that you're sharing the experience with that make it so valuable.

0:30Liz Vanzura:People are so disconnected nowadays. So we did this big national study and we found there's like a loneliness epidemic. We thought, you know, we have the perfect solution because you don't have to go on a fancy vacation. You don't have to spend a lot of money. You can really just go in your backyard, invite your neighbors over. It's an easy way to communicate and just kind of chill and get to know people. So that's what our big insight is with our product.

0:54Hey everybody, welcome to the show. My name is Andres Figueira and I'm gonna be your host for the day. This show is brought to you by the Global Talent Company, helping fast-growing teams hire exceptional remote talent from Argentina, South Africa, and beyond. We connect companies with world-class professionals who bring skill, reliability, and a global perspective to every role. And just for our listeners, we're offering an exclusive 10 % discount on your first hire. All you need to do is visit GlobalTalent.co, click Start Hiring, and mention the podcast listener discount when we reach out. And today with me here, I am speaking with Liz Vanzura, Chief Marketing Officer at Solo Brands, a platform with distinctive brands built around experiences that form memories and connection to people, places, and the natural world.

1:43So with that said, Liz, welcome to the show. It's a pleasure to have you.

1:47Liz Vanzura:Yeah, thank you. So excited to be here. Yes, we are very excited as well. And just so that we can hit the ground running, Liz, and make sure we get the audience a bit more in context, would you be able to tell us further about your background, how you came to be CMO of Solo Brands, and maybe what Solo Brands is in your own words? Sure. Just a little bit of background on me, like most marketers. I've got a pretty broad background. I started in the automotive business. So my start in marketing, which I fell in love with, really was Volkswagen relaunching the Driver's Wanted campaign, bringing the new Beetle back way back when and launching that.

2:23Liz Vanzura:That's where I started. And then Hummer and Cadillac. So I was CMO for all three of those brands. Various stages of either a turnaround, like in the case with Volkswagen at the time, VW was deciding if they were going to stay in market or actually go out of business in the States, believe it or not. and then Hummer launching it from a military version of the Humvee to bringing it to market as the Hummer as it is today, and then Cadillac. So started in automotive, then moved to Boston and went into all different kinds of consumer brands, most notably Boston Beer, launched the Truly Spiked and Sparkling brand with the team, and then also Fanatics, worked on a variety of projects for about three and a half years with the Fanatics team.

3:07Liz Vanzura:So big background in consumer. I think my joy, if you will, like my, you know, what makes me super happy and motivates me is bringing consumer insights to life and different kinds of crazy marketing forms that end up moving the needle. And so that's I love go to market and selling things and, you know, at my heart, making consumers happy. So that's what I love to do. That is amazing. And then in terms of like, it's so cool that you work with Volkswagen, Hummer. Those are some big names. That is that is crazy. And then, how long ago did you actually enter to work with Solo Brands? So I've been with Solo now about almost like a year and four months or so, a year and a half.

3:49Liz Vanzura:I started on the board. I was put on the board, you know, in a situation where we have to sort of a turnaround situation. It's very public that, you know, we're trying to get the company back on track where it was before. and the board asked me to help out as the CMO interim and then ended up making me an offer to stay and help run the marketing. So I'm both on the board and running marketing. And in terms of what Solo Brands is, I saw that when I looked at your page, it's like an umbrella brand for some other more specified certain products, right? Yes. Solo, I am the CMO for Solo Stove, which is the smokeless fire pick.

4:27Liz Vanzura:And we are in the middle of sort of transforming the company from literally the number one world's world's number one most popular smokeless fire pit to beyond and a backyard premium experience so we now have a new griddle that we launched a pizza oven that most people that have solo stubs don't even know we offer a new cooler and other products that we've entered the market so we like to call it we're trying to own the backyard and for I've had a collection experience, which kind of centers around the pit. You know, I like to say we might sell smokeless fire pits and we're known for that and the market leader.

5:06Liz Vanzura:But really what I sell is togetherness. People love gathering in the backyard and especially in this crazy time right now with all the hassle and things that are happening in the world. People like to chill in their backyard. And so we're a product that lets you do that. Wow. It's amazing that you're able to pinpoint that fact that it's not their product per se, but it's the moment that is created with the people that you're sharing the experience with that make it so valuable. And it's nice being able to adapt and put that emotion with the product because then people understand it a lot more.

5:38And you have more consumers because they obviously, who doesn't like to have a grill or just sit in the backyard and have a nice time with family, friends or anybody who you're gathering with? Like, I totally understand the angle there. Yeah.

5:49Liz Vanzura:And, you know, we found we did a study last year. There's usually behind every brand and what you're trying to bring to market. There's always a core insight. And ours was that, you know, this world has gotten people are so disconnected nowadays. Kids are on cell phones. Everybody's on social media. Parents are texting their kids to come to dinner. You don't even know your neighbors anymore. And so we did this big national study and we found there's like a loneliness epidemic and people just not really, you know, really connecting with their neighbors or really under, you know, kind of have feeling like parents are not spending enough time, quality time with their kids.

6:22Liz Vanzura:And a lot of that we thought, you know, we have the perfect solution because you don't have to go on a fancy vacation. You don't have to spend a lot of money. You can really just go in your backyard, invite your neighbors over, have a glass of wine around the pit. It's an easy way to communicate and just kind of chill and get to know people and take the phone down, you know, relax a little bit, just kind of be yourself and connect. And so that's what our big insight is with our products. Liz, in terms of where you guys sell like the Smokeless Pit or maybe the other products, is this available throughout all of the U.S.

6:56or is it certain states or can you also buy this abroad internationally or is it only in the U.S.?

7:02Liz Vanzura:Yeah, so we are all over in the U.S. Not only do we sell on solostope.com, we also sell on Amazon and major retailers. So you can find us in Ace, you can find us in other areas, retailers. And then in the international, we are big in the U.K., Germany, Australia, and Canada. So the UK and Canada are two of our biggest markets, and we're growing internationally. A lot of people are discovering the same kind of insights there that we have here. Now, albeit tailored towards maybe a smaller backyard or a more urban area, but, you know, that's definitely we're finding that similarity. Okay. And are there plans to keep on expanding then to even other countries, or are you trying to just make sure you have these markets dominated, for lack of a better word?

7:50But is it like you're trying to keep your what's it called? Try not to bite off more than you can chew.

7:55Liz Vanzura:Yeah, we're expanding internationally and basically we'll offer wherever we see growth. You're seeing growth in various areas there. But those are the primary areas that we're focusing on in addition to our retailers. Of course. Now, I think about it because I'm located in Argentina and the barbecue culture here is very big. And I just think about a smokeless pit included in the asados that the Argentinos do. and it would be a very good match in my opinion. Interesting. Well, we hired, you know, we're looking for people to help us expand. But yes, you know, if there's opportunities that we're seeing, we plan a big push in both retail this year as well as overseas internationally.

8:39Okay. Okay. If I see one of those fire pits there, I will not hesitate to get one.

8:43Liz Vanzura:You know, and like I saw with retailers, you know, We're working with Lowe's and Dick's Sporting Goods and Costco and lots of different big box stores here that have us and have had us for a while and partnerships there, too. Because one of the things we're finding, of course, like most marketers, awareness is our biggest challenge. Just getting out as many eyeballs as we can, letting people get exposed to us. Because once they do, our satisfaction is through the roof. We have a really high net promoter score. We have three and a half million customers in our database, loyal customers. They are fans of the brand.

9:18Liz Vanzura:So once you have a solo stove and you do a smokeless fire pit experience where you're not like dodging the smoke or smell like a campfire afterward, you know, people just love it. You know, it's a great way to chill. And so, yeah, the more people we can spread the word to, the better. That's so cool. And Liz, do you have any example of a campaign you've run for the solo stove that really worked well, that allowed you guys to get even more eyes on you and just make sure that the awareness was increased? Yeah. So a couple of examples in the past, you were probably best known for the Snoop Dogg campaign, raised a lot of awareness.

9:53Liz Vanzura:It was called What Marketing is the whole stunt about stopping smoke and us being smootless. And that raised a lot of awareness and was really great. That was you guys. I know that campaign. It was so funny. Everybody was like, what's wrong with Snoop? I know, right? So that was kind of a viral moment for us. But then post-Snoop and trying to translate that into sales into what really matters, like family campaigns, we actually went to New York, based on that research I was quoting about the world feeling a little disconnected and isolated. We did two or three programs. One was in New York last September during National Family Day, where we went outside of Grand Central Station.

10:33Liz Vanzura:So really the most chaotic place in New York. Right. And we set up an oasis, a backyard oasis where people could make s'mores. Who doesn't like to make s'mores? Could chill and have, we call it fireside chats and just kind of right outside of Nutsoville, New York. And Good Morning America featured us. We had a three minute segment with them about, you know, the importance of connecting these days and real conversations and non-AI and putting down the phone and, you know, you know, kind of bringing your kids into the mix. And also had a conversation about the health benefits, like staring in a flame for 40 seconds.

11:09Liz Vanzura:And we have really mesmerizing flames. We have patented our flames. Oh, wow. Takes your health and all your benefits, like sort of your blood pressure down and your serotonin levels up. And there's health benefits to that, too. And we had chats with that with an expert from Harvard and Penn who told us and talked to us about that. So we did that cool little stunt in New York that was fun in September. And then we continued it. We did one with most recently with the Super Bowl with the players tailgate in that one because we were featuring our griddle, which is our new Steelfire griddle. We had a called squash the beef campaign where rival teams had beefs or people could submit what their beef was.

11:51Liz Vanzura:And then we literally smashed it on the griddle. and so we had our beef board and so people came to our activation and mine personal one was i'm a big dire detroit lions fan and somehow they never make it in the playoffs and they only made it you know once or twice and it's like dan campbell you know so anyway we squashed the beef but we had a lot of players and a lot of fans like in interact with us on that and also get a chance to have a great smash burger because our griddle is phenomenal and it's a brand new product and it gave a little product dental. So I'd say that was a really wildly successful campaign.

12:25Liz Vanzura:We're still running now with squash the beef with our griddle. So it's been a combination of experiential marketing and advertising and kind of word of mouth that we, our brand is about experiencing. It's about getting outside and working with the products. So I think a combination of those things is really kind of how we're headed in the future for marketing. Oh, but when you have such a good product and you are so sure that it works so well, it really turns more into just being able to put yourself in front of the consumer and just proving that it's an excellent product. And then if you're telling me as well that the satisfaction rates are through the roof, that everybody is happy with what they're obtaining, then you can really market it from a position of honesty and just say like, this is the best smokeless pit you can find.

13:12And it really is a true fact that you're stating. And I believe that is something that consumers, when it's fake, they can see through it. But when it's actually real, they empathize and they align with the brand. So it's so cool that you're being able to do these like experiences for people to actually get to know the smokeless pit a bit more.

13:31Liz Vanzura:Yeah, I think most brands these days are born the hard way. You know, you got to have your strengths and your weaknesses out there. So if there's things we got to work on, you know, we're all about listening and working with our customers. We have a voice to the customer meeting, you know, like most brands do, where we go through our ratings and reviews, and we really take that seriously. So yeah, it's been a lot of fun. We also have some other fun partnerships, like as we've been expanding our lineup, a lot of other brands have come to us and said, hey, we love tailgate culture too, you know, so can you come here?

14:04Liz Vanzura:And so we're interested getting into the music side of the business, I think will be fun. It's just and natural singing and, you know, playing guitar around the campfire is an natural for families and just very cool. And sports, big time NFL, you know, college football, tailgate is us, you know, we're built for that. So we're really excited. And, you know, if you think about it, the tailgate culture, somebody who likes to entertain, have their friends over, same guys that love to entertain and tailgate. So we're really honing in on that as our market. And that's our kind of source of truth and letting people know about us.

14:40Liz Vanzura:And then they're like, oh, I didn't know you guys made a pizza oven. You know, I didn't know that you made a griddle. And we have a cooler too, which is so fun that it's an ace. Our engineering team is fantastic. They're such talented product engineers and they made this cooler where it mist you and air conditions you. So in addition to cooling the cans, you can use it. So if you're in Dallas and it's a hundred degrees outside at a baseball game with your kids, you can mist the kids and you can use this little hose where it ACs you. So super popular. We just debuted a smaller version of that at South by Southwest.

15:13Liz Vanzura:But a lot of people, we just, we need to spread the word that we have these products and then let customers be our advocates. And also I would love to know Liz, cause like I hear everything you guys are doing and it sounds so, so good. And it's like a big endeavor, but how big is solo brands as a company? Like how many people do you have helping you out in the marketing department or maybe just the whole company as a whole? What side is it? So we're a lean, I call it a lean, mean marketing machine. You know, we have, we have a small group of very dedicated, passionate people on the team. My team is probably about, I want to say 20 people and then partners that we bring in as we need them.

15:54Liz Vanzura:So we work with experiential partners when we're doing a bigger activation or ideas if we need to we'll reach like the martin agency obviously came up with the whole snoop dog campaign and we have other local agencies actually one in boston called fuse that we use when we are looking for ideas so we're sort of a scale up when we need it brand and i mean nowadays a lot of companies are being lean that way and using people when we need it. But yeah, so we're not a very big brand in terms of the amount of people, but we I call it punch above our weight. I also agree with that. I'm seeing is that the company remains lean and according to the situation that is presented, then they expand the team fractionally for a few months or anything like that.

16:38They get that project done and then it goes back to being how it was. But Liz, and also we would love to know, is Solo Brands a remote first company or do you guys have headquarters in different places where you get to go to the office and actually work physically there?

16:53Liz Vanzura:Yeah. So we're out of Dallas and big emphasis on being in the office when we can, but also recognize that when we need talent and if the talent is remote, we will bring them on the team. So we have folks in Dallas and Grapevine, a phenomenal headquarters. If you walk into our headquarters it's like an rei we have because our other sister brands are oru and isle and chubbies and so chubbies is a as you probably know a men's apparel brand we also just launched cheekies which is a women's swimsuit brand and we so if you walk in it's like a studio with all these swimsuits and kind of men's and women's like all over and then we do inflatable kayaks and paddle boards as well as other products.

17:40Liz Vanzura:So that's Oru and Isle, which are the paddleboard and kayak, you know, that we, that we sell. And, and so it's a really, that those are our sister brands with, with Solo Stove and it's a really outdoor lifestyle. So we do promote that. It's fun to see it. We love being in Dallas. Our CEO is a big believer in being together. We also, And our team loves being together. So, you know, having said that, we also realize sometimes the best media talent or others may not be, you know, all in the same area. But, yeah, we're trying to centralize as much as we can in Dallas. And in terms of also, I always use this as a segue to enter into this other topic that is trending right now, which is when we speak about teams nowadays, it's being very linked to AI.

18:31as people feel that AI is here to take their jobs. I personally disagree with that notion. But I would love to know, Liz, are you guys at Solo Brands leveraging AI in any particular or distinct way that you could tell us about?

18:45Liz Vanzura:There isn't a company that isn't talking about AI. So we are definitely, we are a very AI forward company. In fact, if anything, we're pushing it and I'm excited about it. Not because I believe it's going to replace jobs at all. I think it's just going to make the jobs we have better. and more and focus on the things that we want them to focus on and not on the dreary things that take too much time. So we're, we're of the philosophy that, Hey, if this could make us smarter, better, faster, let's use it. I'm, um, incredibly encouraged by, we have like a very curious learning, you know, kind of culture.

19:20Liz Vanzura:And so people are embracing it. Um, I'd say the area that I'm most focused on right now, there's like four key areas that we're working on and experimenting and seeing what works and what doesn't work. But the area that I'm most excited about is in the media space with data and analytics, where we're building a mixed model with AI that will help make us smarter about our media decisions, where we're getting the most traffic, what ads are performing the best, and then connecting it to, okay, if that's the case, can we do an AI-oriented landing page where people can then go and get very specific information that matches them and personalize the message.

19:53Liz Vanzura:So that's an area that I'm particularly passionate about and working on with some really good companies. We have a good partnership that we're working on that we're so excited about. And with Claude now coming out, it's making it so much easier to get into the agentic space where then it can take it. You know, I like to call it like digital teammates. You can take those, make it into like little, you know, we call we have a digital genius teammate on our site called Ember, you know, and we're training Ember on what fire pits are best for you. And she can help you through the journey. And, you know, so we're trying to do more things like that where we make it more personal, but it helps us and helps sell the product to us and eventually makes us just more profitable and better.

20:39Liz Vanzura:So, yeah, we are leaning big time into that where it makes sense. And as it should be done, because I feel some companies are shying away from AI or trying to adopt it, but thinking it's going to take their jobs. when I also believe it's actually just going to elevate us and help us optimize our times, make us more efficient, and actually just take away some tasks that you don't have to do anymore just so that you can focus on what matters most, which is human judgment and just making sure that what the AI is analyzing, you look through it and understand it and then apply it in your own way. But it really is taking out a lot of the legwork that had to be done before.

21:15Yeah.