Part
01
of one
Part
01
Case Studies - From Retail to Online
Moon Juice is a CPG brand that started with a brick and mortar store in 2011 and eventually launched an e-commerce store in 2014. The company became successful as the launch of an e-commerce store enabled them to cater to customers worldwide. Their success is also because of the advertising campaign launched on their various social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
MOON JUICE
- Moon Juice is a CPG brand founded in 2011 as a physical location in Venice, California.
- They were successful in their brick and mortar stores where they offered a variety of cold beverages.
- In 2014, Moon Juice launched its e-commerce store that also includes beverages that targeted beauty and wellness-conscious consumers. With the shift to online, the company could market its products worldwide as they ship products internationally.
- Moon Juice’s success is partly because of their strong social media presence, where they have cultivated a strong following. They have leveraged paid advertising to build their brands and drive website traffic.
- Launching paid campaign advertisements on Facebook and Instagram helped create awareness around the brand. Also, most of their customers go to these platforms to look for the latest product updates and information. These channels show strong growth in metrics across platforms.
- Another pivotal moment to success was when the company launched the e-commerce store. They also shifted their product from juice to powder-based. The company became the source of plant-based beauty and well-being products for health-conscious consumers.
- According to Moon Juice’s Director of e-commerce, Mila Aldrin, the company is using “Google PPC ads, re-targeting ads and prospecting ads running on Facebook” and they have optimized email marketing strategy.
- Marketing Manager Ashley Murphy stated that they use different social media platforms such as Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram to engage customers. They also strategically create campaigns aiming to create a buzz or impact through teaser posts and Instagram stories. They also use influencers in their marketing efforts.
- Because of its success, Moon Juice won the hearts of A-list Hollywood celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Zoe Kravitz who had already established their brand and reputation in the health and wellness community.
- They have also established major retail partnerships with Nordstrom, Sephora, and Barneys NY.
- In the first quarter of 2018, Moon Juice realized a 27% increase in its revenue.
ADDITIONAL FINDINGS:
WINE LIBRARY
- Gary Vaynerchuk, a Russian born who grew up in the US, owns a wine library. Upon immigrating to New Jersey, Vaynerchuk’s father started a small wine store called Shoppers Discount Liquors where Vaynerchuk works in the store that taught him a lesson on building up relationships with customers.
- When he graduated from college, Vaynerchuk got access to computers and the Internet and was thinking of using these powerful resources for his father’s wine store.
- He initially emailed customers of weekly discounts and special offers, including his own wine recommendations. Email marketing hadn’t become popular yet.
- Vaynerchuk’s goal was to expand the store by establishing more brick and mortar locations within the US. But then, he instead launched a website called Wine Library, which displays the wine store inventories.
- He gained popularity because of his YouTube channel, Wine Library TV. He started this show in 2006, where he shared wine reviews. This platform became a critical part of promoting the Wine Library website. From this, the store’s revenue dramatically increased from $3 million to $60 million since the launch of the website.
- Over time, YouTube followers of Vaynerchuk grew with almost 1.9 million subscribers that eventually landed him a TV appearance on The Conan Show in 2008. This proved to be a hit as subsequent TV shows and publications featuring Vaynerchuk became frequent and the number of followers on his social media accounts grew. When he became active on Twitter, he established over 1.3 million followers.
- He now hires social media specialists, graphic designers and videographers to help boost Vaynerchuk’s brand across social media platforms. Because of his success on online platforms, Vaynerchuk established a digital marketing agency.
Research Strategy:
We started our search by reviewing industry reports and publications from industry associations in Canada to find small to medium CPG brands that started with a brick and mortar store and thereafter transitioned to an online platform. We searched through sources such as the Canadian Marketing Association, Food & Consumer Products of Canada, and CPG Connect-Canada. However, we only came across CPG industry news updates, but nothing that could assist us in addressing the question at hand.
Our next strategy was to adjust our geographic scope as allowed in the question. As we expanded our scope, we identified Moon Juice, a brand that exactly fits the criteria. Unfortunately, we could not find any other two companies to complete the required numbers of case studies. There is information available for companies that have moved from bricks to clicks, but the majority are not for CPG brands nor are they in the broad category of CPG. Other information found pertains to “clicks to bricks” where an e-commerce CPG brand that started as online is now building physical stores.
Our final search strategy was to identify any CPG brand that started as a brick-and-mortar store and eventually launched an e-commerce site and currently uses both. While this did not exactly match the request criteria, it is similar. We have therefore presented this information under additional information. This criterion got the Wine Library. Most CPG brands and companies only manufacture the goods and then sell them to retailers and distributors such as supermarkets and department stores.