FAIRFORD & STOW
MULTICHANNEL BRAND LAUNCH
A large UK-based outdoor furniture importer recruited Vanquish to execute a GTM strategy and build and establish its B2C offering in the US market. The company recognised the difficulties involved in expanding into a new market, and so Vanquish were tasked with creating a fresh D2C brand and implementing a MultiChannel strategy to facilitate US expansion.
Niche Outdoor Furniture, Furniture, Home Accessories
Channels Amazon, Wayfair, Bed Bath & Beyond
Social Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest
Services GTM GamePlan, LibertyGTM, VanquishAlliance
BACKGROUND
Out & Out Original is a UK-based online retailer specialising in contemporary furniture and home accessories. The company had previously embarked on an expansion endeavour into Holland and Germany, only to encounter setbacks resulting in a withdrawal after a year. The failed attempt was attributed to various factors including a lack of strategic partnerships, inadequate planning and preparation, and a misaligned channel strategy.
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Recognising past setbacks and understanding the complexities and also potential of international expansion, particularly in the US, the company turned to Vanquish to develop a GTM GamePlan. This comprehensive strategy aimed to thoroughly evaluate the opportunity and devise a strategic plan of action for the expansion. Following this analysis, Vanquish was tasked with creating a new brand tailored for the US market that could be introduced leveraging a MultiChannel approach to maximise reach and impact.
CHALLENGES
One of the big challenges for the client was fulfilment and logistics. ​Their line of large, bulky outdoor furniture sets, shipped in multiple boxes, necessitated finding a warehouse capable of handling such dimensions and distributing nationwide at a viable cost.​
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Another challenge for the client was sales distribution. A previous expansion into Europe failed, partly due to a misaligned sales channel strategy. Understanding the available channel options in the US was crucial for ensuring a successful launch this time around.
STRATEGY
The partnership began with the completion and delivery of our renowned 'GTM GamePlan.' The GamePlan covered many areas such as assessment of the opportunity, identifying gaps in the market, highlighting potential brand positioning, proposing potential sales and marketing distribution, highlighting entry costs/investment, 3PL matching and an action plan.
Following the report, our first task was to build a fresh brand that could be used to market the products in the US market. This included creating a brand story, slogans/tag lines, logos, brand colours and a brand board.
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Concurrently, we finalised the product lineup and assisted the client with completing their legal set up, which included EIN and tax filing. The client had already begun this process prior to the relationship with Vanquish. Along with this, we advised on and assisted with implementation regarding banking, commercial insurance and trademarking.
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We built and optimised key US social channels that included Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook using the new branding. We created and scheduled credibility posts prior to the launch to build brand presence and foster trust and credibility with potential buyers and consumers.
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Once the socials and the GEO-localised website (built by the companies internal team) and the product line up were in place, we proceeded with channel applications for the prominent retailers Amazon, Wayfair and Bed, Bath & Beyond. Once the applications were complete, the team worked on develop dedicated US sales collateral and Amazon content that could then be used for channel listings. Upon application approval, we onboarded using the launch products.
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BRANDING
When creating the new brand for the US market, we aimed to highlight the quintessential British essence, capitalising on the allure of "Designed in Britain". US consumers greatly appreciate the deep-rooted heritage and sustainability commitment present in such brands. As the launch range was outdoor garden furniture, we wanted to place significant emphasis on evoking the charm of the British countryside, its idyllic landscapes, and quaint villages. To bring this vision to life, we opted for a palette featuring various muted, neutral tones and a primary muted sage green. Muted sage green channels the beauty of nature and the outdoors, instilling a sense of calmness and relaxation. All the colours chosen for both the primary and secondary collections possess a timeless quality, eschewing fleeting trends in favour of enduring appeal.
PRIMARY COLOURS
#9BA89C
#E3DED4
#FFFFFF
SECONDARY COLOURS
#565857
#AE9E8D
#C1BAAB
TYPOGRAPHY
HEADINGS
Roxborough
Body
DM Sans
LOGO & SUBMARK
BRAND BOARD
SOCIAL MEDIA
Establishing a strong social media presence is a crucial factor in establishing a brand and gaining credibility with selective retail partners. Today's US consumers extensively research brands across various channels before making purchasing decisions, underscoring the importance of a robust social media presence. Understanding the significance of this for our client in the home and garden industry, we identified Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest as key platforms due to their visually-driven nature. With our client beginning in the market with no prior online presence, we devised a meticulously crafted strategy aimed at initiating industry engagement and fostering community growth. Central to our initial approach was the creation of credibility posts, with a purpose of building traction prior to launch and brand presence
MULTICHANNEL
After conducting thorough market research and formulating a strategic framework, we pinpointed the following channels as optimal for the initial phase of implementation: Wayfair, Amazon and Bed, Bath & Beyond. Once consensus was reached on these channels, we adeptly navigated the application process and executed the onboarding journey from inception to completion, ensuring smooth integration at every step. For this client, the drop ship marketplace model was important as their products fit into the 'oversized' shipping category. Extra attention needed to be directed towards Amazon considering the size and quantity of shipping packages involved. Without careful planning, the venture could easily become unprofitable due to excessive shipping costs.
On Wayfair, the majority of the client's products added were featured in Wayfair's Exclusive Brands Program.
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Wayfair started this program in furniture and decor to minimise cross-shopping and found that customers appreciated having products of similar price points and styles curated together for them, providing them a more streamlined shopping experience.
Participation in this program leads to increased visibility with better webpage placement and cross-category exposure. Products also get prioritisation for events and promotions, receive rich lifestyle imagery as well as the potential to be in Wayfair’s print catalog.
FULFILMENT AND LOGISTICS
When matching the client to a 3PL, the ultimate objective was to reach 80% of contiguous US consumers within a two-business-day timeframe. This level of coverage would enable us to meet total retail compliance, particularly for platforms like Amazon. However, pursuing this goal immediately would entail substantial risk and exposure, as it would typically require establishing locations on the East Coast, West Coast, and in the Midwest.
Our recommendation was to leverage a facility on the West Coast, which would minimise sea freight and trucking costs. This approach would also allow the drop ship partners to handle nationwide delivery at their expense as part of our initial strategy.
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Amazon FBA was not a solution for the client, given the 'big and bulky' nature of the product.
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We matched the client to a 3PL that met all the necessary criteria such as allowing 'multi-pick and pack' ideal for multiple box scenarios, preferential fixed rates with UPS and FedEx, offering fully tracked LTL & FTL deliveries which may be required for larger packages, retail compliance with all marketplaces and retails we intended to work with, third-party billing (3PB) enabled and direct, fully integrated software for real-time inventory and order control.
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Daniel Fairburn
CEO
"I was incredibly impressed with the level of due diligence, the level of care and attention to understanding and learning about our business was second to none. They built an incredible presentation that I still show my staff today on the blueprint of how you should approach market expansion. Determining the target audiences, determining the channels, the entire marketing strategy, the segmentation of the markets even down to budgeting, competitor analysis, it covered everything and it really made the whole team feel that these are not only the right guys to partner with but this could really happen and it could be successful."