Marketing Examined - 🔍 The 9-Figure Chocolate Playbook

Waddup - DTC Fam

Happy Wednesday. Fair warning: this one’s a doozy.

I recently spoke with Nick Saltarelli, Co-Founder of Mid-Day Squares about how they’ve built a better-for-you chocolate empire in only 4 years. He shared enough growth wisdom to last a lifetime. Seriously - my buzzword vocabulary almost 10x’ed after talking to this guy.

I’ll do my best to distill it down and make it actionable.

Without further ado…

Guys, I feel like I just woke up.

Nike made $185M in revenue since Dec 2021 from NFT sales.

Before seeing this article, I was starting to think that NFTs were just overpriced jpegs… but here’s what I didn’t realize.

Brands that leverage blockchain to power customer loyalty are crushing it.

To set the scene, 96% of consumers believe loyalty programs can be improved, with 75% willing to switch brands for a superior loyalty program.

The good news?

Learn how you can unlock the benefits of Web3 and use it to keep customers around for the long haul.

Expect to see a case study on this - because I’m going further down the rabbit hole.

Chocolate is a $142 billion industry globally, completely controlled by just 4 players. Hershey, Ferrero, Nestle, and Mars.

To take them on, you gotta play your own game and that starts with three components:

• Innovate (not for the sake of a buzzword - more info in the next section)
• Disrupt a stale category
• Ride a trend on the upswing

Which is how Mid-Day Squares started to…

It's like walking onto the tennis court and expecting to beat Serena.

Like, why even try?

Nick described his philosophy towards products in a way I’ve never heard before.

Ok…these obviously all need their own sections.

You have to create a unique feel.

Whether that's a slight twist on existing leaders or a complete redesign - you need to create novelty.

Chocolate has a very clear form factor across all of the incumbent players. Reese’s is known for their cup, Hershey’s for its bar.

Which is why they have established mind-share with consumers across the globe.

Mid-Day Squares decided to create the best squares in the chocolate biz.

It was a shape not core to any of their competitors’ product offerings.

And this was key.

Because back to the sports comparisons - but trying to play an NBA player in a game of H.O.R.S.E isn’t a smart idea.

Take him to your domain where you’re an expert, and you stand a much better chance.

The consumer for big chocolate is used to cheap prices. Which is why entrenched companies are scared to change the supply chain to meet the modern consumer.

The healthy chocolate consumer has a different stomach, palate, and set of preferences entirely.

Eventually, Hershey’s or Mars will have to go through turbulence to upgrade their ingredients to meet future consumers where they want to be.

Meanwhile…

And shelf-stable means tons of processed ingredients.

Refrigerated brings a fresher connotation and is where MDS intends to win.

It’s social first, and then everything else.

Take notes here. Because how Nick and the team launched in their native Montreal was brilliant.

Any startup in the 2010s likely led with FB ads. To Nick, this can create a false positive of product market fit. He wanted the real thing.

For a food product, people had to talk about it. So they created content strictly for the Montreal area on Instagram, priced the bar at $0.55 (a loss), and did everything they could to get it in people’s hands.

But, merchandisers only care about how well a product sells.

Consistently winning their category meant more buyers knocking on their door.

Fast forward to the rise of short-form viral videos on TikTok / Reels, and MDS was ready.

I’ll save you the gushing breakdown. Just go peep their TikTok account here. You’ll get the picture.

Nick made it clear. Mid-Day Squares was only possible because of his previous failures.

• The average cost of one UGC video is $212. But Insense can get you hooked up with UGC from top creators for $50. Here’s how.

• How Deion Sanders turned beef into $4.2M in sales for this sunglasses company

• What’s the difference between branding and marketing from the lens of the Mid-Day Squares team? Here’s a great pod episode breaking it down.

• An insanely valuable thread with A/B testing inspiration for your conversion rate optimization efforts

• The most comprehensive 129-page guideline on the Olympic’s branding. Crazy value in here.

• Don’t bet your marketing goals on third-party data. Shine On integrated the Triple Whale pixel and enjoyed a 86% increase in ad spend, 84% increase in revenue, +12% increase in AOV.

That’s it for this week’s issue y’all.

If you enjoyed, please hit reply and let me know which part was cool. I’ll make sure to incorporate more of it next time.

And if you’d like to have your story featured in front of 15,000 DTC founders, operators and marketers… shoot me a note. I’m always looking to talk with interesting folks.

Til next time!

Alex