DTC marketers make predictions for 2024.
It was a tough year for direct-to-consumer brands. Over the past 12 months, DTCs such as sleepwear company Lunya, baby brand Hello Bello and SmileDirectClub filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Stock prices of established DTCs including Rent the Runway and Allbirds fell dramatically.
In November, the “VCs No Longer Do DTC” Crunchbase report dropped, showing that venture capitalists had invested only $130 million in DTC companies so far in 2023, down 97% from $5 billion at the sector’s peak in 2021.
Historically, tough markets have driven innovation from marketers—even if it’s scrappy innovating without big budgets. What will 2024 hold? Here are predictions from experts in the direct-to-consumer marketing space:
Expect more brand collaborations, such as what Susan Alexandra, Talea and Graza did with other DTC brands in 2023.
Shizu Okusa, CEO and founder of DTC wellness brand Apothékary, thinks we’ll “continue to see amazing collaborations and partnerships that are a win-win for both brands and customers.” Apothékary has done several partnerships with companies including The Qi, Curious Elixirs and Matchaful, Okusa said, adding that Poppi’s recent partnership with InnBeauty was also impressive.
Becca Millstein, founder and CEO of DTC tinned fish brand Fishwife, agreed there will be more brand collabs—but expects that DTCs will increasingly partner with legacy brands. “I think younger brands will seek to partner with legacy brands, rather than their peers,” to avoid repeat collabs with their peers, she said.
Look back: How collabs can help in a down economy
Wieden+Kennedy was apparently onto something with its recent Vacation Sunscreen campaign that harkened back to the airbrushed aesthetic of early 1990s beauty brand marketing.
“Given the massive success of ‘Barbie’ and the film’s many celebrated collaborations, 2024 will be the year of nostalgic brands playing copycat and wooing DTC companies to modernize audiences,” Natalie Sportelli, director at consumer VC firm and marketing agency Bullish, said in an email. “This will be evident in movies, video games and wholesale programs, the latter of which being especially appealing to DTC brands looking to move into retail.”
More news: Little Spoon’s bite of ’90s nostalgia
Nearly four years after COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns began, it’s no surprise that DTC marketers—many of whom work for brands that launched in 2020—are more excited about in-person marketing than ever.
DTC brand marketing strategies also now include more physical channels than in 2021, when Apple’s iOS 14.5 update started to make it more difficult to do targeted advertising on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
Sportelli said she thinks “we’ll see more interesting forms of OOH advertising built into marketing strategies, such as advertising on trucks and IRL community gatherings.”
More: Why DTC brands are increasing out-of-home marketing
“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 of cleaning product company Blueland, said in an email.
Generally speaking, Okusa said, the industry should expect even more direct-mail marketing, as well as more in-person and physical efforts. We’re going “back to the old days of marketing,” she added.
Also read: Why DTC brands are increasing direct mail marketing
Mike Duda, managing partner at Bullish, believes that TV advertising will become widespread among direct-to-consumer brands in 2024.
We’ll see an increase in “DTC companies using television in their creative mix,” Duda said in an email. “With it being harder to break through in DTC, and TV and broadcast inventory likely to open up, DTC brands will buy more airtime, especially during live events.”
More: Some DTCs are reducing influencer marketing budgets
“In a completely not-shocking prediction, AI will have an inevitable impact on the creative we see, as the line between the real and the surreal is more readily blurred,” Maggie Sause, director of go-to-market at branding agency Red Antler, said in an email. She called AI a “space to watch” in terms of how marketers respond to the new tools at hand.
Read more: Top 5 AI activations of 2023
“AI-generated landscapes and environments will have to find a way to connect to the consumer’s realities in a way that communicates authenticity, and whether this will be met with backlash is still yet to be seen,” Sause said.
Backlash could be swift: At least one marketer already isn’t a fan of the potential impact AI could have on DTC brand creative in 2024.
“Somewhat lazy DTC brands will tap into AI to produce creative campaigns, the majority of which will be painfully ‘meh,’” Duda said.
