668: (Solo) The One Marketing Concept Behind the Fastest Growing DTC Brands Right Now

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1:03Hey Founder fam, Nathan here. Welcome back to another episode of the Founder to Founder solo show. So today I want to talk to you about something that I've been thinking about a lot when, as you guys know, like I interview so many super successful D2C brands and this concept is something that kind of just like, I'm like, oh my God, I was revisiting some of my old copywriting stuff and I'm interested obviously in marketing. And there is something that I've noticed across all of these brands, all of these D2C brands that are absolutely just crushing it and like growing really fast. And it's this idea of having a unique mechanism.

1:41Nathan Chan:Hear the stories, learn the proven methods and accelerate your growth and future through entrepreneurship. Welcome to the Founder Podcast with Nathan Chan.

1:55Now, I haven't come up with this concept. I definitely didn't invent it, but it's definitely something I've noticed amongst a lot of successful D2C brands. So one of the biggest challenges that brands face today is standing out. And, you know, you don't want to create a Me Too product. You want to differentiate yourself in some way, shape or form. Like, you know, I just interviewed Danny Jung from IMA and like that business has grown from zero to$10 million a month in 12 months. And he has got all the marketing elements that really craft a super successful brand. But, you know, yes, he's got David Beckham behind him.

2:38Right. And you've got to listen to that episode if you haven't yet. It is crazy. But like he co-founded with David Beckham. He's got, you know, Sabalenka as like he's got all these celebrities. But one thing that he does have, which I think is so critical to the product, is this idea of your all-in-one daily supplement. But it has 90-plus clinically dosed ingredients across nine organ systems. See how fancy that sounds? See how it sounds like it's a unique blend that you can't get anywhere else and it feels like a superior product. Let's look at one of our instructors, Jordan Maynard, his brand Instant Hydration.

3:17So what is their unique mechanism? So it's a electrolyte drink mix and there's a lot of electrolyte drink powders and mixes out there. But what makes these guys different is it is formulated with premium, all natural organic ingredients and sal gris. So Sal Gris essentially is French salt. And that is one of the things that makes these guys super different. So this idea of using Sal Gris high quality from France that's hand harvested using traditional Celtic methods. Do you see where I'm going with this? This is not just any hydration mix. It's uniquely formulated with this, you know, special hydration formula.

4:06Most hydration supplements use low-grade table salt, but these guys are using high-quality cell gris from France that's hand-harvested using traditional Celtic methods. So more and more brands are starting to catch on to this idea that you need a unique mechanism. And I see a lot of founders out there that are missing this. So that's where your unique mechanism comes in. Because from a customer's perspective, everything sounds the same. And when everything sounds the same, nothing stands out. So let's dive in. A unique mechanism is simply the specific way your product or service delivers a result.

4:44It gives the potential prospect or potential customer hope that this product is different and it's different than anything else they've seen or tried before. And if you can get someone to believe that, then they're more likely to buy. Because here's the thing, customers don't just buy outcomes. They're by belief that your way of getting there is different and better. So if you just say this is a better skincare product, that's extremely vague. But if you say this uses a three-step hydration layering system designed to lock in moisture for 12 hours, now you've got something specific. Now your ears are perking up, right?

5:24It's different and it's memorable. And that's the mechanism. So here are some other examples that I'll share with you. Like a fitness brand doesn't just sell workouts. They sell a 12-minute metabolic reset method. A supplement brand doesn't just improve sleep. They use a dual-phase release formula. A productivity tool doesn't just organize tasks. It uses a second brain system. So you notice what's happening. We're naming the process, not just the outcome. We have unique formula or secret sauce. And you don't want to just make it up for the sake of making it up. It has to be legit. it. You have to have a unique secret blend of herbs and spices.

6:03And it's actually got to be the real deal. Like you see some of this stuff that it's just crap that people put out there, right? But like you want to create curiosity, belief, but it makes your product feel proprietary because it actually has to be. So I talked about iMate. There was another founder that I interviewed, Damien Fitzpatrick. He's the founder and CEO of Pillar Performance. So he used to be a rugby player and he created this brand called Pillar Performance. And one of his products that is absolutely crushing it is their triple magnesium. So it's really massive for recovery, right? And what he was able to do was he was able to go to the pharmacies and create pharmaceutical grade magnesium, which is three times more powerful than usual magnesium that you would buy from anywhere else.

6:53So why wouldn't you want something three times more powerful? And then they were able to get a lot of WHOOP users. For those of you that use WHOOP, they saw a massive increase in their HRV and their recovery. So the product clearly works. So this wasn't rubbish. But being able to say it's triple magnesium, it's literally three times the strength and you can't get it anywhere else. Why would you go anywhere else? You see what I mean? And that's what's interesting. So it answers the question, why should I use your product instead of anyone else's? and even if your product is similar under the hood, perception drives that action.

7:27So, you know, would you rather get a standard magnesium tablet or powder or a triple grade one pharmaceutical, right? Who wouldn't want the heavy stuff, right? So most founders actually already have something unique, but they don't communicate it clearly. If you're building a business, you're getting sales, it is growing. You obviously have something, but you need to highlight it. You can't have generic messaging. And so if you're listening to this and thinking, oh that sounds great and I think I don't have one you need to ask yourself these four questions what do we do differently what do customers notice what do people always comment on and what makes our product either easier faster or better to use so another example I'll give you is the brand whoop so I interviewed the founder so I interviewed the founder Will Ahmed incredible business incredible products I'm a massive power user of whoop I love it I've been wearing mine for years and you know what do they do differently they don't focus on steps or calories they focus on recovery and performance what do customers notice they get a daily recovery score that actually tells them whether to train or rest so what do people comment on they say things like this actually changed how i train so for me personally i focus on my sleep score that's a form of recovery right i want to get the green i want to get at least 70 plus score every day so these are the things that actually matter.

8:49These are the things that are different. I would choose Whoop over Fitbit. I would choose Whoop over my Apple Watch. Now, don't get me wrong. I have Apple Watch, but I use it for steps. But measuring my recovery, I use Whoop. Measuring my sleep, I use Whoop. This is what I think is very, very special. And what makes it better to use, it doesn't just give you data. It tells you what to do with it. So instead of them positioning themselves as a fitness tracker they've built what they call a recovery based performance system then you name it simplify it and repeat it consistently so there you have it guys now you can see how unique mechanism gives customers a reason to believe that your product will work for them it gives them hope

9:44Thank you.