Stop Fearing Idea Theft

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I think what needs to die is the idea that someone's gonna steal your idea.

Trevor 0:04

Yeah, I mean everybody's already doing that.

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Your idea that you have right now that you think is special is probably already in production from somebody else.

Trevor 0:10

Yeah, and chances are you stole it from somebody too.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

So don't gatekeep ideas with product. Don't be worried that if you show people, then all of a sudden your competitor will steal. They're gonna steal it anyways. But the more active you are, the more people talk about you.

Trevor 0:26

Yo,

Family Halloween Costumes And Nostalgia

Trevor 0:27

what's going on, everybody? Welcome to the Unstoppable Marketer Podcast. With me, as always, is Mark Goldhart, my co-host. How are you, Mark? Great. Um what's new?

SPEAKER_00 0:42

Oh, my kids are just uh deciding on Halloween costumes.

Trevor 0:46

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

It's gonna be great. Have they decided? Yeah.

Trevor 0:50

Are you gonna do it a family costume?

SPEAKER_00 0:52

It's gonna be a family.

Trevor 0:54

Nice. We're out of that stage of life, and it makes Ken's and I so sad. It's gonna be really funny. Once again, me.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

Our Wayne's World costume was great. That was a costume, yeah.

Trevor 1:06

Solid costume.

SPEAKER_00 1:07

When Theo was Garth. Yeah. That was so funny. Uh they all want to do Lord of the Rings. Nice. And my wife is going to be an ent.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

What's an end?

SPEAKER_00 1:21

I'm sure I know what it is. This guy doesn't know what an ant is. What is it? The w the trees. The walking trees. Oh nice.

Trevor 1:28

I didn't know that's what they were called.

SPEAKER_00 1:30

And baby Lyle is gonna be a hobbit in the end. In the tree. In the tree. That's awesome. That's super smart. That's funny. What will you be? I'll be Gandalf. The ring. I'll be Gandalf. And then my second child is gonna be a ballrog.

Trevor 1:44

So pretentious. Of course you're Gandalf.

SPEAKER_00 1:47

I already have the wizard hat. Nice. And the kids want me to go to as Gandalf.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

Nice.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

They say I have a good wizard voice. Because you read the books to him. Because I read the books to. And then Theo is gonna be uh Legolas. Nice. And then Anna is going to be Lady Galadriel. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

Nice. Very nice.

SPEAKER_00 2:14

Yeah, good mix. That'll be a funny costume.

Trevor 2:17

Yeah, we we haven't been able to get our kids to do a family costume in probably like three years, I feel like.

SPEAKER_00 2:24

I really wanted Theo and Boo to go as Mario and Luigi. That'd be sweet. Because they like their body types are like exactly what Mario and Luigi are. It would have been really funny, but oh well.

Trevor 2:34

Ken's and I, so we do uh couples because the kids just do whatever.

SPEAKER_00 2:37

Yeah.

Trevor 2:38

We've got two. I'm afraid to say it because some people we have like a surprise Halloween, and and some of my family listens to this, so I might be giving it out, but swoop it out. We're gonna be uh Tim the Toolman Taylor and Al. Nice. Yeah. So that's usually what we like to do. We like to be like a 90s or Marty McFly and Doc. No, does it do do Tim and my only problem with that is Why not Wilson?

SPEAKER_00 3:06

Wilson would be funny. Uh, with the fence. Because you can just have a fence. Yeah. Either one would be funny. Wilson would be funny.

Trevor 3:16

See, I I think we both like that. I think we like that one more. But I was like, I don't know if people will get it.

SPEAKER_00 3:27

The right people will.

Trevor 3:28

As much, you know. Whereas like the red vest and the white lab coat. Well, yeah, I mean that's yeah, that's more recognized.

SPEAKER_00 3:36

It is less, I think, creative too. You'll get it immediately, but I don't know. I bet Wilson would be hilarious. Home improvement, huh? Home improvement with Kenzie is Wilson.

Trevor 3:47

Yeah, Kenzie was gonna be Al. That was gonna be Tim.

SPEAKER_00 3:53

Yeah, the Wilson with the fence would be really funny.

Trevor 3:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 3:56

I think.

October Cohorts And Q4 Efficiency

Trevor 3:57

Alright. Well, Halloween's coming up. Those who celebrate. Your efficiencies are probably down if you're listening to this.

SPEAKER_00 4:07

They're just down in the cussers.

Trevor 4:10

That's normal. Check your just this. I know we've repeated this several times, but check your cohort data if you're in Shopify and go back last year and go back 2024 and see if people who purchased in October purchase during November, December, your Q4 Black Friday gifting seasons.

SPEAKER_00 4:31

Etc.

Trevor 4:32

Uh if they don't, then peel back spend a little bit. Go for some more efficiency. If they do, then ride the storm. Yes. Ride Ride the Storm.

SPEAKER_00 4:46

Ride that wave.

Trevor 4:47

Dial in your details. We're not gonna talk Black Friday.

SPEAKER_00 4:50

Riders of the Storm. Great song. That's uh the theme of Black Friday.

Trevor 4:54

Go back what it's probably two episodes? Maybe three episodes. I have something. Go back three episodes. Black Friday. Um go listen to that. Um, what do we want to talk about today?

SPEAKER_00 5:06

I

Platform Updates Shaking Performance

SPEAKER_00 5:07

think a lot of brands are trying to find unlocks. We've already talked about you know, there's issues out there between retention and there's platform updates. And those who haven't check your Google campaigns. They did an update in late August around Target ROAS. So that could be impacting your performance there.

Trevor 5:29

Um meta updated uh added what incrementality testing stuff as well.

SPEAKER_00 5:33

Yeah, and that is and they're they're rolling out like audience by ad.

unknown 5:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:40

Of course. They're like, you know, like let's just update crap that no one's asking for right before quarter four.

Trevor 5:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

But it'll be great, guys. Quarter four is great. But what have we seen from brands that are performing above average this year?

Product Releases As The Main Unlock

Trevor 5:57

That's a great question.

SPEAKER_00 5:58

And there is a very common theme for the ones that we see that are outperforming and the ones that are underperforming. Yeah.

Trevor 6:07

Yeah. I mean, obviously there's several there's several things, but one thing that has been a very consistent miss for the people who aren't winning and win for the people who are winning are product releases. And not just necessarily releasing a brand new product, but it could be releasing variations of the same product, aka same silhouette if it's a bag, different color, different patterns, a collaboration with somebody. But it is that is probably right now, if we were to line up all of the data that we have across all of our brands and all of ad spend, that is probably one of the biggest correlating factors.

SPEAKER_00 6:45

And guess when they have the best organic engagement. When they release stuff. When they release stuff. So it helps organic, it helps paid. And by the way, guys, this isn't one vertical, this is across our entire portfolio.

Trevor 6:57

From CPG to fashion to um sporting to travel, like there's nothing that is exempt from that.

SPEAKER_00 7:14

So Which I'm sure everyone listening is like, oh great, one more thing. But I think it it should just be part of what you're always doing. Um I think a lot of D2C companies got complacent and had, you know, one thing that became their best thing, and then they sit on it. But again, there's something called a product life cycle. Every product goes through it. And every variant of a product also has life cycles, or you know, it's more common to call it seasonality. You have seasonalities of colors and different kinds of features. But if you're not, if you're not on top of your product development, that is an unlock that everyone should be able to do. Like you're already talking with manufacturers, you're already getting stuff done. You just have to sit down and plan and make sure you have X amount of releases in the year. It gives and it always gives you something to talk about at the at a minimum.

Trevor 8:09

Totally.

unknown 8:09

Yeah.

Trevor 8:10

Help me.

SPEAKER_00 8:11

And don't know, we're not saying go over order, but if you always have a seasonal release, if you always have these things happening, and you're coming out also with new products yearly.

SPEAKER_01 8:22

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

But the variations are happening possibly monthly or at least quarterly.

Trevor 8:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:30

If you're on top of it, those are the brands that are winning.

Trevor 8:32

Totally. And and I can even go deeper, like brands who are doing it multiple times a month. Now, obviously, that's not like the every some people's products are like, what? This is way too big, right? If you're selling e-bikes, that's harder, you know. But if you're selling selling jewelry, that's very simple. You know.

SPEAKER_00 8:51

Well, here's a new charm, here's a new bracelet model, here's a new chain, you know, like Yeah, yeah.

Trevor 8:57

The I mean the algorithm likes new.

SPEAKER_00 8:59

Um with apparel, it's always been obvious with like seasonality.

Trevor 9:03

Both organic and paid, the algorithms like newness. Um, the other thing that you will find is sometimes what new releases do is sell the existing stuff.

SPEAKER_00 9:15

Oftentimes.

Trevor 9:16

Yeah. And I think one of the biggest problems that I'm recognizing with the brand with brands that we work with or and just brands that I'm watching, is people still view marketing different from product development.

SPEAKER_00 9:32

Yeah, we had this conversation a while ago about product marketing and how that's only a term really used in SaaS.

Trevor 9:38

Yeah. But people still kind of look at it that way. Like, oh, I need to release new. Like, it's it's like product development is should be a mark, a strategic marketing initiative.

SPEAKER_00 9:50

A good a good example of how we do this as an agency is we have a great relationship with um a product designer, product developer, and with with a few clients. And what he does is he will constantly call us.

SPEAKER_01 10:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:07

To say, hey, what do you see from this angle, this little wink on this product? What are what can I do to make sure that this product because they they care, they want to make a product that sells.

SPEAKER_01 10:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:18

They don't want to just make something and then it doesn't perform. And so they, if you have a good relationship, you should always have open communications between, hey, what's working and what what are some new things that that we're seeing, and how do you get that that data into the product designer's hands?

Trevor 10:34

For sure.

SPEAKER_00 10:35

And again, you don't want to just always do exactly what everyone's expecting.

SPEAKER_01 10:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:41

But a healthy dose of healthy expectations and then throw it at the wall, see, see what brand new idea can do is great.

Trevor 10:50

Yeah. I mean, you've got things like you've got seasons that can represent new product development. You know, in the clothing world, I think that's probably the easiest thing to understand. Like if I'm a women's clothing company, I'm selling sweaters in the fall and releasing sweaters in the fall, and I'm releasing tank tops in the spring and swimwear or whatever, right? That that's pretty easy. I think I think clothing companies get this the most, right?

SPEAKER_00 11:14

Well, it's because it's already built into clothes. Yeah, it's like you have seasonal. Yeah, you have wardrobe changes.

Trevor 11:20

I'm not buying shorts in December.

SPEAKER_00 11:21

Yeah.

Trevor 11:21

But for the other brands, you still seasonality offers a lot, right? Like if we're talking bags, let's say travel bags, diaper bags, backpacks, what golf bags, whatever, you have seasonal colors. For example, blacks and maroons and navies are great fall time stuff, right? Whereas lighter browns and pinks and you know, lighter grays or whatever, like those are springtime colors. You can even go crazier and maybe you're doing yellow or you're doing a few.

SPEAKER_00 11:59

And of course, colors can also lean gender.

Trevor 12:02

Yes, exact exactly. Then you have collaborations, right? Like you've got collaborations where you literally could take the same product, you know, like take vans, for example, because I'm wearing these, and and all you're doing, it's the same exact slip-on vans, but it's a different design based off of who you're collaborating with.

SPEAKER_00 12:23

Yep.

Trevor 12:24

Whether it's a brand or an influencer, whatever. Like new releases. Once again, I know you said, hey, everyone's saying, Oh, one more thing we need to do, but you could build like your entire marketing strategy should and can be built upon releasing.

Sponsor Break BFF Creative

Trevor 12:42

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Collabs Trends And Seasonal Colorways

SPEAKER_00 13:32

Yeah, I I think a more public one that some people that listen to this will know about is Lola blankets. Just go look at how many collaboration launches they do of the same it's the same blanket. Same silhouette. Silhouette, but they do a great job of giving everyone something to talk about. They do a constantly let's do a collaboration with Teza. You know, and I know that that one appeared to do great.

Trevor 13:59

Yeah, they did Rachel Parzel. They did it with Rachel Parcel. Uh I think there's a brand called uh Aviate or something. I can't remember. I don't know. It supers. But they've done brand collabs and creator collabs. Yeah, they're c and they're and then on top of that, they're also releasing new colorways constantly. Constantly. Right? They have no collaboration tools.

SPEAKER_00 14:20

And and new silhouettes.

Trevor 14:21

Yeah, that's how they build their they build their entire marketing strategy around it. I mean, so so you have colorways and you have seasonal things. I think you have other things that are trending right now. Like I've seen some clients of ours jump into the mahjong world.

SPEAKER_00 14:37

Oh, and sports collaborations.

Trevor 14:39

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But you have like then you have trend stuff, which is mahjong. Like tr mahjong is super trendy. Therefore, people are creating new products that have mahjong ties to it. Um it it yeah, I don't know. I like so from seasonality to trends to to collaborations, um, actual total new product designs. Um, obviously the hardest that one's harder, but it has to happen. Totally. Not monthly. I think new product designs don't happen monthly.

SPEAKER_00 15:12

Well, they don't need to happen monthly, but they should be happening. They should be happening annually.

Trevor 15:15

A few times a year, a couple times a year, maybe. And then the variation stuff can be happening monthly.

SPEAKER_00 15:21

Here's how I look at product development is it's it's easier to think about this in software terms, right? So, like in software, let's just take iOS. Like, is iOS the same operating platform that it was five. No, it's not even the same that it was six months ago. Sure. And so they're constantly giving out these little new versions, tweaking it, making it better.

SPEAKER_01 15:45

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

You can do a similar thing with physical goods. You totally you don't just go all in though. And I know that's hard because like, oh, we have to order a giant PO to prove out a concept. No, you don't. Think of it as a marketing budget, like try try something new, a new product. And like I said, yes, do some things that are iterative. Yeah. And then maybe you have a crazy off-the-cuff idea.

Trevor 16:10

Yeah, that pops off. Why don't you test it? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:13

So many companies put those in the drawer, and then another company comes out and does it and crushes it.

Trevor 16:17

Yeah, this

Testing New Products That Reframe Demand

Trevor 16:18

the uh you know what a good example of this is when we were on the brand side, we were on the we were on the diaper bag brand side of things, and we were testing stuff all the time, like releasing new products from wallets to smaller diaper bags to changing pads to whatever, and none of them were really popping. They would sell, yeah, you know, and it would be something good to talk about. And then we created a a duffel bag, right? We created a duffel bag, and it wasn't anything new, yeah, like a weekender type, yeah, weekender duffel bag, and we called it the weekender, and it was okay. Like it was okay, and then somebody on social media said, Oh, this is the perfect hospital bag. Because we were diaper bag company, it was baby. And the moment they said it was a hospital bag, we changed everything, we rebranded it as the hospital bag, and it became our number one, number two seller next to our diaper bags. Skyrocket our AOVs because that went we went from selling $175 diaper bags to like $250 hospital bags, so all of a sudden our AOV can be able to do that.

SPEAKER_00 17:19

And then people were buying the whole set, yeah, exactly.

Trevor 17:21

Yeah, and then you have a whole, yeah, exactly. The diaper bag set, the everything, you know. So it's just like you just have to test, and all of a sudden it can change the big thing.

SPEAKER_00 17:28

Every new mom needs a a bag that can go with them for a while for traveling, yeah, road trips.

Trevor 17:34

Yeah, and coming home with the baby is such a monumentous thing that like people can justify the spend for that, you know?

SPEAKER_00 17:41

Very key moment.

Trevor 17:43

Yeah, I think you have to put you need to put your brand out there more. Um, you need to give yourself more at bats. I think like I think like Mark said, is like understand what your MLQs are. You don't need to triple what those are. If your MLQs are a hundred units, just order a hundred units of it.

SPEAKER_00 17:59

Yeah, selling out isn't a bad thing.

Gatekeeping Ideas Kills Momentum

SPEAKER_00 18:01

Yeah.

Trevor 18:01

And then put it on pre-sale.

SPEAKER_00 18:02

Especially, especially if it's new. And so many people I think what needs to die, if we're gonna go with like things that need to die, what needs to die is the idea that someone's gonna steal your idea.

SPEAKER_01 18:13

Yeah, I mean, everyone's already doing that.

SPEAKER_00 18:14

Yeah, your idea is already Yeah. Your your idea that you have right now that you think is special is probably already in production from somebody else.

Trevor 18:22

Yeah, and chances are you stole it from somebody too.

SPEAKER_00 18:24

So just act on it. Don't don't gatekeep ideas with product as a company. Yeah. Don't be worried that if you show people that all of a sudden your competitor will steal it, they're gonna steal it anyways. Yeah. But the more active you are, but the more active you are, the more people talk about you.

Trevor 18:42

I I mean listen, let's go back to Lola Blankets. I think this is a really good one. Lola Blankets is dominating the blanket market. But you know who's like coming after them like crazy? Is Comfort. They're selling the exact same blankets.

SPEAKER_00 18:57

Is Comfort doing blankets now?

Trevor 18:58

Yeah. And and they're crushing it. Like they're doing well with it.

SPEAKER_00 19:02

But at least it appears.

Trevor 19:04

Yeah, but in no way does it seem like it's impacting Lola's trajectory.

SPEAKER_00 19:09

I didn't know Comfort was doing blankets now.

Trevor 19:12

I think they've double downed on it hardcore. You know? But like I said, I don't I don't I mean, listen, I don't have I'm not looking at their either of their numbers, but neither like it doesn't look like it's slowing Lola down by any means. It doesn't look like it's well everyone loves a good rivalry. So I just think I think the more you release things, it everything just naturally performs better. Organic.

SPEAKER_00 19:38

And people are gonna steal, yeah, people are going to steal your ideas.

Trevor 19:42

It's a little bit more work, but it becomes an organic content strategy. It like your product strategy can become your content strategy.

SPEAKER_00 19:51

Yeah.

Trevor 19:51

And everyone right now is wondering, what do I talk about organically? This. This.

SPEAKER_00 19:58

Yeah, I think I think a lot of times the organic strategy becomes too like ethereal.

SPEAKER_01 20:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:03

Where product releases and launches and variations gives you something just real to talk about. Totally. Like, yeah, you're a company and you see.

Trevor 20:12

And you can create cool stories around it too, right? For sure you can. You can create a cool story. Hey, this is why I'm doing this, this is where my inspiration, whatever, right?

SPEAKER_00 20:19

So not to touch on Lola again, but like obviously they talk about like their core fundamental value a lot. Yeah. Of the story of his mom. And yeah. But at the same time, they're talking about their products all the time. Like that's they're releasing stuff all the time. So you can do both, but you ultimately it grounds you. Like you are a company, you are selling things. Like, you know, that this isn't like yes, ha have some principles that you stand on and like an ethos, but like don't be scared to just talk about the things that you're actually selling.

Iterating Products Without Fear Of Old Stock

Trevor 20:52

Yeah. The other thing, one thing, other thing I want to add is you can also update products too. Like, that's a release. Like, we we've worked with companies that have the same product, and they just like every four months make it better.

SPEAKER_00 21:07

Yeah, like the iteration.

Trevor 21:08

This bag 1.0 re-eleasing bag 2.0 bag three point, like you know, for it and it's like from adding something that's more cleanable to something that's more stable to uh laptop sleeve to it's like they're just making it like better, you know. So like that's another way you can go to the street.

SPEAKER_00 21:25

We have heard some clients say, well, we can't do that because then we'll have other old inventory.

Trevor 21:31

It's like that's fine.

SPEAKER_00 21:32

It's like, guys, just always do what's best. Like if you're doing what's best for the consumer, your your customer, it'll work out in the end.

Trevor 21:42

Yeah, and there's so many ways to get rid of stuff. You put those on sale and say, Hey, like these are never coming back. Yeah. Uh you can do mystery boxes, you can do gift with purchases, you can do it's like there's so even and that goes to something if it like if you order something and it's a release and it doesn't sell. Once again, there's there's uh there's ways to get rid of that excess inventory that aren't going to make you look bad, you know. Um so I don't know that that's like that was my rant for today is that seems like a pretty foolproof way in growing and scaling. Like I'm not seeing and and I've seen that for a long time. It's not like hey, this is a recent phenomenon, but I think a lot of people are still way too in their head about not merging product design into their marketing strategy. It's more like we build a marketing strategy and then we're designing products along the way. Yep. You know, when it's like your marketing strategy should flow into your product development. So that's all I have for today.

Movement Builds Growth And Closing Asks

Trevor 22:55

Anything else you'd like to add?

SPEAKER_00 22:57

If you want to increase your reach, if you want to increase people talking about you, do things worth talking about. And a lot of that's just like your product.

Trevor 23:04

And start now. I have recognized that there nothing moves time faster than developing product. Meaning, like if you don't start developing today, you're gonna feel like you're so much further behind.

SPEAKER_00 23:22

Well, because yeah, it's a four yeah, like so it's not an overnight process.

Trevor 23:26

It takes you gotta just start doing it. Um, and yes, you're not gonna see the benefits of it right now. But eventually you'll kind of have it's like you know, it's like product development in is like cohort success, you know. If you're a subscription-based business, you might not see a big return on the people who come in right now. But two to three months down the road, you start to see those returns, and then it makes it easier to continue to spend and increase spend. Yeah. Right? For the first three to four months, you're not gonna see a return on it. But the more you continue to do it and the more you continue to develop, the better you're going to be off. But that first little few months is is rough, can be rough.

SPEAKER_00 24:05

So an object in motion stays in motion, they say.

Trevor 24:09

It's hard to stop momentum.

SPEAKER_00 24:11

Yeah.

Trevor 24:12

Very hard to stop momentum. Physics, apparently. One of my favorite lines in any movie is on uh um World War Z. How do you say in Spanish movement is life? How do you say that in Spanish? Movement is life in Spanish.

SPEAKER_00 24:34

How do you say it? Movement is life? Yeah.

Trevor 24:39

Yeah. That's my favorite line in that movie. What movie? It World War Z. Someone says that in Spanish? Yeah. Because he's like, it's Brad Pitt, and he's like got this like Spanish, he's like hunkered down with his family who only speaks Spanish and they're running away from zombies. Oh yeah. And they want to stay put. I don't remember this. They want to stay put in their apartment, and he tells them, like, the only way to live, like the only way to like you have to always be moving. That's what I tell my kids in sports. Like, like, if you want to get better at sports, you have to move always. Like, you have to always be moving until the play is over. Like, you just never stop until like somebody's telling you, stop. If you do that, like you'll you'll always be so much better in life. So go watch World War Z. Gotta keep those feet. My personal favorite zombie movie is World War Z. Better than 28 Days Later. Alright. Great podcast, everyone. So see ya. Thank you for listening to the Unstoppable Marketer Podcast. If there's a brand campaign strategy or marketing tactic that you want us to review, please DM me at TrevorCrump on Instagram or TikTok, or at the Unstoppable Marketer Podcast. And of course, if you got value from this episode or if you like it whatsoever, please make sure you're subscribing, you're liking, you're following, and leave us to review it. We will see you guys next time.