After selling his first company, Ryan Babenzien set out to search out his next enterprise and create the best direct-to-consumer company.
And like many good ideas, this one hit him within the shower. “After using loads of lotion one winter here in Latest York, I believed, Perhaps there’s something within the water that’s causing my legs to only be more dry than they was once,” Ryan says.
He did some research, and located that the water within the US is full of chlorine and other substances that aren’t good for hair and skin. That’s how the thought for Jolie, an organization that makes filtered showerheads, was born. In 2023—its second 12 months in business—the corporate made greater than $28 million in revenue. Ahead, Ryan shares his strategies to create and market a viral product.
Making a framework for the best ecommerce company
Ryan used the teachings he learned from his first company, a sneaker brand he eventually sold to Steve Madden, as he began his next project. He says the style industry has loads of challenges with sizing, so he wanted his next brand to involve a one-size-fits-all product.
Ryan also desired to sell something that individuals use habitually (day-after-day, if possible) because he says it’s difficult to vary consumer behavior.
The ultimate element of his framework was finding a product that played into his customers’ vanity. “Vanity drives a lot of our consumption and consideration of buying,” Ryan says.
He found that a filtered showerhead fit the bill for all three requirements—if he marketed it as a beauty product, as a substitute of a plumbing device.
Designing a more recognizable showerhead
Jolie worked on making its showerhead not only functional, but aesthetically pleasing. Ryan and his team aimed to create a visually striking product that might be immediately recognizable. “If you happen to go to your friend’s house and also you go into the restroom, we wanted a design that was striking enough where you’d say, ‘Oh, you might have a Jolie,’” Ryan says. He compared it to how the Nest thermostat revolutionized the design of an otherwise mundane home fixture.
Operating lean with business tech
What sets Jolie apart is its highly efficient operational model. Unlike many startups that amass large teams, Jolie managed to achieve eight-figures in revenue with just three full-time employees.
Ryan attributes this success to the technology available to ecommerce businesses today. “Ten years ago, you needed 20 people to start out something, because all of the stuff didn’t exist,” Ryan says. “After which along got here Shopify they usually just leveled the playing field.”
Capitalizing on user-generated content
As an alternative of relying heavily on paid promoting, Jolie leveraged user-generated content and collaborations with creators. This strategy involved seeding products with creators who could authentically share their experiences. For this reason, the user-generated content generated brand awareness through word-of-mouth marketing.
Ryan says the challenge was constructing out the system to do that at scale. “When most individuals take into consideration user-generated content, they’re probably considering 10 or 20 pieces a month. We’re getting 600 to 700 pieces a month,” Ryan says.
To learn more about Jolie’s smart marketing strategy, hearken to the complete interview on the Shopify Masters podcast.
