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- The fall of Tupperware, Meta's holiday ad checklist, and more | D2C Digest
The fall of Tupperware, Meta's holiday ad checklist, and more | D2C Digest
Weekly D2C news
Berkay Erol
October 02, 2024
In partnership with
Hey there, great people of the D2C community who are building fantastic things! This is your host Berkay writing.
Take a 5-minute break and dive into D2C Digest for a quick overview of what’s happening in the D2C market worldwide!
🥲 The Rise and Fall of Tupperware: Lessons in Innovation and Relevance
Last week, the iconic 78-year-old Tupperware brand shocked the world by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Known for revolutionizing food storage, the brand admitted that despite being a household name, it couldn’t keep up with the competition.
So, how did this happen? Let’s take a look.
The Start of an Era
Tupperware burst onto the scene in 1946 with its groundbreaking Wonderlier Bowl featuring an airtight seal, a game-changer in the food storage industry.
The brand’s popularity soared in the 1950s with the introduction of the famous Tupperware Home Party. Using a direct sales strategy, women sold Tupperware products through social gatherings, helping the company experience tremendous growth. 📈
The Tupperware Home Party
Where It Went Wrong
Despite being a well-known name, Tupperware struggled to differentiate itself in an increasingly crowded market. Once an innovative feature, the airtight seal became a standard across all food storage brands.
Here are three key reasons why Tupperware failed to maintain its relevance:
1. Lack of Adaptation to Consumer Preferences: Modern consumers began to favor eco-friendly, sustainable alternatives to plastic containers, making Tupperware’s products seem outdated and disconnected from current trends.
2. Slow to Embrace E-commerce: Tupperware’s direct sales model was once a growth driver, but by the 1990s, online shopping had taken over. The company didn’t launch an e-commerce site until 1999 and continued to rely on its traditional sales model, missing a critical shift in consumer behavior.
3. Post-Pandemic Financial Struggles: Tupperware faced mounting debt and declining sales. The surge in raw material costs during the pandemic, especially for plastic resin, worsened their financial situation, leading to their bankruptcy filing.
The Takeaway?
Tupperware's story is a reminder that even the most beloved brands can't rely on past success forever. In today’s fast-paced world, staying still means falling behind. If you don’t evolve with your customers’ needs and keep pushing the boundaries, it’s easy to become irrelevant—even after decades of being on top. Tupperware’s decline shows just how crucial it is to listen, adapt, and keep innovating to stay in the game.
Competition in ecom is relentless
📝 Meta's Holiday Ad Checklist – Get Ready for Q4!
The holidays are just around the corner, and it’s time to start prepping for your most profitable quarter yet! Meta recently shared a fantastic holiday ad checklist, and we’ve broken it down for you so you can make sure your ad account is optimized for success this season.
Here’s what you need to do:
✅ Connect with customers: Build relationships by engaging with your audience through Messenger, Instagram, or WhatsApp. Festive season shoppers appreciate the personal touch! 🧑🤝🧑
✅ Avoid ad fatigue: Keep things fresh with a variety of creative assets—videos, images, and carousels. A diverse mix will help maintain engagement.
✅ Utilize Meta’s AI tools: Take full advantage of Meta Advantage+ shopping campaigns to streamline your sales funnel and attract new customers.
✅ Create curated gift guides: Help undecided shoppers by offering curated gift suggestions to capture their interest and target specific audience segments. 🎁
✅ A/B test your messaging: Try out different ad copy, visuals, and tones to find what resonates best with your audience and reduce your ad costs.
✅ Identify key moments and holidays: Besides Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, look out for other key moments you can leverage to boost your campaigns.
✅ Launch early-bird campaigns: With over half of shoppers starting their holiday buying in October, it’s prime time to kick off your campaigns. Don’t wait until it’s too late!
✅ Set up Advantage+ catalog ads: Re-engage website or app visitors by promoting relevant products from your catalog.
✅ Implement the Conversions API: Ensure accurate campaign measurement and enhance your targeting by integrating the Conversions API.
✅ Try lead ads: Collect customer data ahead of the busy season to set yourself up for better retargeting opportunities later.
With these steps, your ad strategy will be optimized to capture the holiday rush. Let’s make this Q4 your best one yet!
Let’s cook!
🤔 Consumers Are Slowing Down – What Does It Mean for the Holidays?
In August, consumer spending grew at its slowest pace this year, rising just 0.2%, down from 0.5% in July.
With job growth under pressure and early summer spending on travel and back-to-school, households seem to be taking a breather as we approach the holiday season.
For DTCs, this slowdown could be concerning, especially with key shopping events like Prime Day and Black Friday around the corner.
However, a higher personal savings rate of 5% suggests consumers may be holding back for holiday splurges.
DTC inventories grew by 0.5% in August, meaning retailers are well-stocked for the season, but it’s still unclear if holiday discounts will drive enough demand to clear those shelves.
Mixed signals from consumer confidence data show both optimism about the economy and concerns over inflation. DTCs will need to be strategic as we head into the holiday shopping rush—balancing caution with opportunity.
The smarter way for DTC brands to drive repeat revenue
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