Intro
Leading a digitally native DTC brand through multichannel retail expansion
Mack Weldon is a private equity backed DTC brand that grew rapidly until the company reached a revenue plateau. The brand started off in men’s underwear then expanded into a full sportswear lifestyle brand. I am a fractional executive at the company to lead the brand strategy and sales execution through department stores, specialty stores and corporate gifting channels with very limited resources or budget; this was a heavy lift. While the product price-to-quality ratio is excellent, the brand recognition was relatively unknown compared to other globally dominant players. With limited resources I had to quickly identify the white space in the market where Mack Weldon had a right-to-win to accelerate revenue and brand reach.
SUCCESSFULLY LEADING A GTM STRATEGY
Analyzing The Total Addressable Market To Guide Strategy
Challenge
Mack Weldon had a small footprint in the department store channel and virtually no presence in the specialty store channel of business. When I arrived at the company the sportswear business was trending down -30% and the overall underwear business was strong online but flat in stores. While we stabilized the sportswear business, the brand was at a disadvantage with the competition who had a first-mover-advantage in the category. The underwear category, however, had clear white space opportunity but not without its challenges. The packaging of the singles underwear was not consumer-facing and if Mack Weldon wanted to be a leading brand in the wholesale channel we must develop a 3-pack business. After quantifying what this means leveraging NPD data I proved that the addressable market in premium men’s underwear was 80% driven by multipacks, therefore, going to market with a singles strategy was set up for failure. This was a complete shift in strategy that pushed the company out of their comfort zone.
Solution
Focusing on The 3 P’s (product, pricing, packaging)
On week two of my arrival, we started development with the multipack strategy. First, I analyzed how Mack Weldon should be priced based on competitive positioning and where the white space is. Since Mack Weldon singles are priced between $30-$34, which is nearly 15% higher than the competition, we priced our 3-packs at $59 MSRP compared to other premium brands in the $50 MSRP category range. Secondly, we had to develop a new fabric that was premium yet entry price point to achieve an acceptable internal margin. We developed an innovative pique cotton-modal fabric blend that is unlike anything else on the market. Lastly, the packaging is equally as important as the product itself. The Mack Weldon customer values authenticity so we avoided an underwear box with a photoshopped dude with six-pack-abs. We didn’t use a model at all; instead, we focused on the product attributes and the packaging appears in a fixture similar to how a customer would view it online, thus, remaining true to Mack Weldon’s digital heritage. As a result, I led the launch of Mack Weldon’s CLOUDfx into Bloomingdale’s, Saks 5th Avenue, and Dillard’s.
Bookings Increase
147%
AUR
+45%
SKU EXPANSION
+25%
MULTIPACK PENETRATION
0 to 46%