Five Subscription Box Brands Investing Big Money Into Marketing

In the past five years, the subscription e-commerce market has absolutely exploded, growing as much as 100% by some estimates.  As competition intensifies, players in the space are willing to pay a premium to marketing partners who can get their offerings into the right hands.  For anyone interested in getting their company in the door with some emerging subscription box brands, now’s your chance.

We’ve uncovered five brands that have made some significant investments in their marketing efforts, telling us spend is increasing, expansion is on the horizon and agency, media, martech and sponsorship services are required.  Check out where you can secure revenue dollars with these emerging subscription box companies.

1. StitchFix --  In February, Stitch Fix launched a new campaign focused on building brand awareness and highlighting its diverse offerings.  In its Q2 earnings call, executive team members reported that the campaign did extremely well, so we’re likely to see similar initiatives in the near future.

To remain top of mind for those campaigns, we encourage sellers to reach out sooner rather than later.  Advertising spend has increased month over month, and we don’t predict that trend to slow down with continued success.

2. WineSociety -- In August 2018, WineSociety named Lisa Perlmutter Kueffel its first Chief Marketing Officer in an effort to fuel revenue growth, support its wholesale channel and bring a bigger focus to events and brand marketing.  Kueffel’s hire confirms that WineSociety is looking to expand its reach and also signals an agency review is likely.  Emerging companies tend to consider PR agencies first in order to spread brand awareness before focusing on creative and media, but this wine subscription service is certainly one to keep on your radar as they expand their marketing initiatives across other disciplines.

Keep in mind that direct-to-consumer wine companies are heating up and its market is expected to continue growing.  From 2012 to 2017, the percentage of sales represented by DTC revenue for wineries jumped from 49% to 61%.

3.  PetPlate -- Who doesn’t love to pamper their pets?  PetPlate delivers fresh-cooked, nutritious pet meals.  The startup closed a $4 million seed funding round in June 2018, led by Dane Creek Capital, in order to support their expansion efforts.  PetPlate strives to become the market leader in the DTC fresh food category.

Budgets are likely to increase as the service continues to expand, and agency and martech readers are encouraged to reach out in order to remain top-of-mind for potential agency reviews in the upcoming months.

4. Curology -- Skincare startup Curology enables one-on-one conversations with dermatology providers, offers a digital prescription program and prescribes anti-acne and anti-aging medications that can be shipped directly to consumers.

In order to support expansion, the brand named Jadey Chow as Vice President of Marketing in May 2018. Chow brings marketing experience from Juice Beauty, Estee Lauder and Bumble, and will work to lead Curology to even larger growth.

In 2018, 98% of Curology’s digital display ads were placed site direct with top destinations, including YouTube (along with various channels), AOL and Alashed Beauty.  Other main channels of investment include social channels, such as Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter and Pinterest in order to appeal to their demographic made up largely of women.

5. DropCar -- Valet parking and vehicle care subscription DropCar is continuing to build its brand and develop new markets since its start in 2015.  According to CEO Spencer Richardson, their mission is to “power the next generation of mobility” by taking care of chores, such as parking, oil changes, state inspections, repairs and gas.

Main channels of investment up to this point have included social media advertising through Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  However, chances are high that the startup will be open to agency work as it ramps up expansion and advertising efforts within the coming months.

Want more? Download our latest eBook,10 Subscription Box Companies on the Rise, for details on marketing opportunities with emerging subscription boxes, plus each brand’s verified decision-maker contact information.

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Erynn LaFlamme

Erynn LaFlamme is the Content Strategist at The List Partners, LLC, which is home of Winmo, Catapult New Business and AAR Partners. With a diverse background in the marketing realm, Erynn’s expertise expands across digital marketing, demand generation,… read more