project overview:

MINUS-8 is a bootstrapped, direct to consumer fashion startup, originally founded by the award winning design agency Astro Studios and global supply chain leader PCH International. Inspired by life on the West Coast, they build innovative timepieces using modern design and development methods. in 2017, the MINUS-8 team wanted to reset the business and was looking for someone to come in and help put together a strategy to move away from wholesale and into a direct to consumer model. we were more than happy to help craft and execute this transition strategy. We came onboard and have been running the MINUS-8 business for the last 3 years.

optimize for DTC

To create a more nimble, ecommerce-centric environment, our first initiative was to transition the MINUS-8 website from a clunky, legacy website provider over to a streamlined platform, Shopify. We wanted to create a seamless, comfortable shopping experience for all of our watch customers and delivering this with the legacy provider proved to be timely and costly. Transitioning to an ecom-driven platform allowed us to make quick, customer-oriented decisions that did not weigh down the business. Additionally, we integrated email marketing via Mailchimp and customer service via Zendesk into the new website, which allowed us to build an all-in-one customer management tool for MINUS-8 to build from.

stay lean and stay focused

Once the store was up and running smoothly, we began to focus on cleaning up the business and acquiring new customers. we spent quite a bit of time analyzing the operational costs and removing unnecessary overhead. at the same time, we also automated specific areas of the business (email, social posting) to streamline the day-to-say operations. On the customer acquisition front, As a digitally native brand, it was natural to set up MINUS-8 on both Google and Facebook advertising platforms, in preparation for growth. During our ad testing phase, we uncovered some intriguing results. the market showed that MINUS-8 was primed not only to acquire younger customers that were ready to “upgrade” to higher-quality watches, but also acquire slightly older customers that had grown tired of legacy watch brands. the combination of the lower operational costs and digital-first marketing focus enabled us to bring the MINUS-8 business closer to it’s operating margin goals.

OTHER SUPPORT

Product development: Worked with creative and development teams to concept and develop new watch lines

Vendor Management: Owned relationship (pricing, development, negotiations) with watch vendor

Customer Relationships: Managed legacy wholesale partnerships

Go-to-Market: Planned and executed new product launches via email and social channels, as well as executed the Anza indiegogo crowdfunding campaign

MARKET RESEARCH: IDENTIFied MARKET SIZE, COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE AND MORE

INVESTOR DECK: CREATED INVESTOR DECK TEMPLATE AND ASSISTED WITH DECK CREATION

TOOLS AND SYSTEMS

-       Website: Shopify

-       Website design: Gempages

-       finance: quickbooks

-       Email Marketing: Mailchimp

-       Customer Service: Zendesk

-       Social Planning: planoly