DTC marketing news and trends—tracking the industry ups and downs

Each week, we publish all the major news in the direct-to-consumer industry, focusing on the shift to retail shelves, tracking financials of major players in the space, as well as highlighting executive appointments and exits. Have DTC tips or news to share? Email Phoebe Bain at phoebe.bain@adage.com. Now in stores Blueland: The DTC sustainable home cleaning brand will enter Whole Foods stores nationwide on Jan. 9, according to a Blueland spokesperson. “We’ve already started to see this with major pushes from DTC brands going into retail, but I think in 2024 there will be an even greater shift toward offline marketing with brands experimenting more with pop-ups, OOH and partnerships to diversify away from such a strong reliance on DTC tactics,” Sarah Paiji Yoo, co-founder and CEO Blueland, told Ad Age in December. AF94: Pop star Halsey’s beauty brand has partnered with Ulta as its latest retailer, it announced. AF94 is far from the first celebrity-led beauty brand Ulta has shelved—it started selling Ariana Grande’s R.E.M. beauty brand in 2022, for instance. AF94 products rolled out on Ulta’s website on Dec. 24 ahead of their retail entry in mid-January. Fly By Jing: The Asian food brand announced on Dec. 28 that Northeastern Costco stores are now selling its signature Sichuan Chili Crisp jars (in extra large sizes, of course). The news comes just a few months after Fly By Jing’s Target debut. View this post on Instagram A post shared by FLY BY JING (@flybyjing) Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs DTC dollars Graza: The DTC olive oil upstart recently revealed that it closed its Series A funding round in September. While Graza did not disclose the amount it raised in its Series A, it did note that Brand Foundry—which led the olive oil brand’s previous $2 million seed round—led this one, too. Graza’s revenue is not public. Read more: Behind Graza founder’s unorthodox approach Iris&Romeo: On Dec. 19, the clean beauty brand announced that it raised a Series A round backed by True Beauty Ventures. Iris&Romeo plans to use the capital to “improve retail readiness,” according to a press release in which the brand also announced a retail partnership with Sephora. Stripes: Following in both Ariana Grande and Kim Kardashian’s footsteps, Naomi Watts is the latest celebrity to buy back her DTC brand from the firm that previously owned it. After the biotech company Amyris filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August, it sold DTC menopause care brand Stripes at auction for $500,000 to Sakana LLC, where Watts is listed as a managing member. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Stripes (@iam_stripes) People on the move BarkBox parent company Bark’s Chief Technology Officer Nari Sitaraman is leaving the company on Jan. 19, Bark announced. Bark VP of Product Management Eric Picard will assume Sitaraman’s responsibilities upon his departure. Social post of the week What's up with all of these DTC events, dinners, retreats and such? When do people actually work on their brands?— RC Williams (@thercwilliams) January 3, 2024 Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs

DTC marketing news and trends—tracking the industry ups and downs

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