This presentation gives a brief overview of DC marketing, it's techniques, and how major nutraceutical companies have leveraged on it to build their businesses.

1. D2C Marketing
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2. Contents
Brief Introduction to D2C Business Model
Why prefer D2C Business Model
Bridging the Gap between Manufacturers and Consumers
Common Methods used in D2C Marketing
D2C Marketing in Nutraceutical companies
D2C Marketing in Ayurvedic Companies
D2C Marketing in Pharmaceuticals, OTC and Consumer Healthcare
Conclusion
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3. Brief Introduction to D2C Business Model
Manufacturer
Wholesaler Distributor Retailer
Consumer
Website, Ads, Social Media
Retail Model
Direct-to Consumer Model
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4. Why prefer D2C Business Model?
Builds better
customer relationship
Cost-effective since
the middlemen are eliminated
Prevents
loss of customer data
D2C
Easier to aware consumers
about new products
Can build a personalized experience
for customers, using audience demographics,
market trends and consumer inclinations
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5. Bridging the Gap between
Manufacturers and Consumers
Reaching the consumers is the most difficult task that manufacturers must accomplish and
they do so by advertising extensively.
In the first nine months of 2019, the pharmaceutical industry in the United States spent
4.54 billion U.S. dollars on direct-to-consumer advertising.
Apart from general advertising, companies also use celebrity influencers, engage micro
influencers, ask customers to create content for the brand, and utilise Facebook, Instagram,
and YouTube ads.
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6. Common methods used in
D2C Marketing
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7. Many D2C brands collaborate with celebrities, who promote their products. Such
collaborations are usually costly, but it does help gain profits if the celebrities are active
on their social media.
Marketing Method #1: Collaborating with Celebrities
Jenner’s March 2015 Instagram post,
which garnered more than 870,000
likes, doubled Casper's sales.
“Oh my God, when Kylie Jenner
posted about Casper I think it broke
our website,” said Neil Parikh, one of
Caspers co-founders.
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8. Marketing Method #2: Share Deeper Insights
D2C marketing facilitates brands to have undivided attention of consumers, in contrary
to retail, where competitors are also present.
Hence, companies can have an extra edge, by choosing to have a transparent process
and sharing deeper insights about their products.
Warby Parker, the premium glasses
company which is currently valued at
$3 billion, uses technology for an
ingenious customer experience.
Apart from that, they also believe in
transparency of their products and
has an entire page dedicated to how
they their products are made.
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9. Marketing Method #3: Build a Community
D2C brands aim toward creating something more than the product itself- such that the
consumer has an amazing experience. Certain brands thus reach out to people with
similar interests and foster a community of buyers.
Away, the luggage company, wanted
to do something more than selling
luggage. They evolved to be a travel
company- sharing travel-related
content and media.
Their travel magazine "Here", has
800k monthly views, while their
Instagram page has over 370k
followers.
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10. Marketing Method #4: Create a Viral Video
Marketing always involves innovating new ways to sell one's products- one of them being
creating a viral video, since 54% of people want to see more video content from marketers.
. Companies can create a short video explaining their brand's USP.
Dollar Shave Club had published a video
on March 6, 2012 at 6:30 AM, which now
has over 27 million views. At 9:30 am, their
website had crashed and when the site
came back online, 12,000 orders came in.
Additional measures, like spending 10k
dollars for promoting the video on social
media, providing early access to certain
media outlets and paying for mention on
shows, were taken.
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11. Marketing Method #5: Utilize Micro-influencers
Social media, like Instagram, is very convenient for reaching the consumer demography of ages
16-25. A study showed that Instagram users with less than 1k followers have a better
engagement rate, compared to those with over 10M followers.
E-Commerce company Frank Body, had
sent thousands of samples of their
products to micro-influencers in Autralia,
one of them being @avivadrescher.
They asked the influencers for "real"
feedback and combined this influencer
campaign with a customer-focused user-
generated content campaign, leveraging
the same hashtags and style for the
imagery.
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12. The best campaign done, asking customers
to share content, was by Warby Parker.
They gathered insights from the home try-
on kits that they had been sending.
They found that 50% customers who
shared content, ended up making a
purchase. Hence, they started the "Warby
Parker Try On" campaign, which has
thousands of search results, the top ones
being those created on paid collaboration
with the company.
Marketing Method #6: Ask Customers to Create Content
While there's no guarantee your marketing video goes viral, you can ask customers to create
content for your brand. The more videos that are out there, the more people will feel
empowered to make their own videos, and the more one's company will end up selling.
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13. Marketing Method #7: Incentivize customers for
spreading the word
83% of online respondents in 60 countries said that they trusted the recommendations of
friends and family, in a Nielsen survey report. Providing special discounts and offers to existing
customers, hence, can help get new customers.
The shaving company, Harry's, had
introduced a referral system, as a part of its
pre-launch marketing campaign. As people
brought in more friends, they could win
things like a shaving cream or even a
shaving set.
As a result, they were able to get 100,000
email addresses of potential customers in
just one week. Referrals accounted for 77%
of the total sign-ups from the campaign.
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14. Marketing Method #8: Use Infographics and Memes
Infographics are "liked" and shared on social media 3x times more than any other type of
content. Memes, too, are a popular way to attract consumers, especially the youth, since the
content is relatable.
Prior to their launch, clothing brand,
Everlane, posted an infographic on
Tumblr, which revealed the actual
cost of making a t-shirt, along with
the mark-up by wholesaler and
retailers.
Although it received controversial
comments, the post received around
17k notes on Tumblr and around
200,000 organic users.
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15. Marketing Method #9: Using Facebook, Instagram and
YouTube ads
Facebook, Intagram and YouTube have different audience demography. Utilizing
advertisements in all of these platforms would help reach a wider audience.
Has over 2.7 billion monthly
active users.
E-commerce company
Shopify revealed that an
average of 85% of all orders
from social media came
from Facebook.
Has over 2 billion monthly
active users.
Compared to reading text,
60% of people prefer to
spend more time watching
videos
Can create ads for different
duration.
Has over 1 billion monthly
active users.
90% of people on Instagram
follow a business, while 84%
want to discover new
products.
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16. D2C Marketing in
Nutraceutical Companies
Analyzing the methods used by certain top brands
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17. Nutraceutical companies OZiva and AS-IT-IS recently roped in
celebrities Deepika Padukone and Sonu Sood as brand
ambassadors, recently.
#1: Collaborating with Celebrities
Pros
Roping in celebrities with similar
interests, helps enhance brand
identity
High ROI
Pre-existing fanbase across
borders
Boosts pulic awareness of a brand
Cons
High costs involved
Brands may get overshadowed by
the celebrities
Celebrity scandals can affect
brand image
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18. #2: Share Deeper Insights
Pros
Increased transparency, helps
build customer trust
Helps convince consumers why
your product is the best
Not many companies choose to
make their supply chain
transparent, giving an immediate
edge over them
Cons
Product insights might backfire,
based on the ingredients used
Nutraceutical company Ritual makes the entire supply chain
transparent, with information about who the scientists are, what
ingredients do they use and even their clinical study.
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19. Pros
A community of people would
ensure more discussions about the
product, and more content on
web
Helps reach new customers who
would know about their products,
only after they come across their
other videos or content (like fitness
routines or recipes)
Cons
The other services provided might
overshadow the product/(s) to be
sold
#3: Building a Community
Nutraceutical companies Ritual and OZiva have a wide community
to share their products with on both Instagram and YouTube. Apart
from products, they share fitness routines, general wellness and
even healthy recipe videos.
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20. Pros
High ROI
Genuine content and honest
reviews
These people are creators-
creating high-quality content
Have loyal followers
Has better audience engagement
Comparatively lesser costs
Cons
Lower reach compared to
celebrities or macro-influencers
Cannot create high brand
awareness
#4: Utilizing Micro-Influencers
Health, Nutrition and Wellbeing company, OneLife India,
encourages customers to tag Onelifeindia and their stories are
shared by the company. They also have many campaigns, including
the #onelifeathlete.
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21. Pros
Increases customer satisfaction
Helps collect data to study
consumer behavior
Helps retain customers and
acquire new ones
Customers more likely to make
larger or more frequent purchases
Cons
Might hurt the finances
Referral programs are not always
taken seriously
Too many discounts might
backfire as customers might not
trust the quality of the products
#5: Incentivizing Customers
While OZiva has introduced OZiva cash, using which customers
would get additional discounts, digital clinic for cognitive
healthcare TruBrain has a referral program for its customers.
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22. Pros
Infographics are eye-catching while
memes have an existing huge fanbase
Low cost and memes are easy to make
Infographics are easy to remember
Memes help to connect with audience
better
Cons
Infographics are tough-to-make and
not SEO-friendly
Memes are not taken seriously, not
accepted by the senior demography,
and can damage the brand identity if
interpreted wrongly
American telehealth company, HIms & Hers, often share memes on
their respective separate accounts, which are based on relatable
content.
#6: Sharing Infographics and Memes
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23. Pros
Improved reach and conversion rates
as most people are on social media
Low costs
Allows to reach targeted audiences
Increased brand awareness
Tools for customer interaction
Cons
Need to stay engaged and active
Difficult to measure the success of
strategies
Time and effort needed for brewing
fresh content
Sharing advertising space with larger
businesses
#7: Using Social Media Ads
Nutraceutical tech company Habbit.health, uses Instagram ads to
reach a wider audience base.
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24. Some Common Features:
Have dedicated campaigns and hashtags- Helps the brand to become more than
their products, giving customers an all-round experience.
Personalized experience for customers, by providing quizzes that help determine
one's needs; personalized packaging with users' names and needs on it- Makes the
brand look more friendly
Eg: Ritual, TruBrain, AsItIs, OZiva
Eg: Care/Of, Rootine
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25. D2C Marketing in
Ayurvedic Companies
Analyzing the methods used by certain top brands
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26. Utilizing celebrity influencers
Sharing deeper insights about products including user
instructions and ingredients on the website itself
Building a community- by creating a variety of posts
and founders' speaker sessions
Utilizing micro-influencers
Testimonials available on website
Certifications achieved are displayed on the website
Both shopping by product and ingredient available
#1: Upakarma Ayurveda
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27. Sharing deeper insights about products including
user instructions and ingredients on the website
itself
Option for posting one's review on the website
itself is available
Additional resources like information about
Ayurvedic doshas available on the website
Free shipping of products
Unimpressive social media reach
#2: Add Veda
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28. Utilizing celebrity influencers
Sharing deeper insights about products including user
instructions and ingredients on the website itself
Building a community- by creating a variety of posts
Utilizing micro-influencers
Multiple offers and discounted combos available on
website
Fast, contactless and, free delivery available
Personalized experience by providing the "Dosha test"
Free ayurvedic consultation available on demand
#3: Dr. Vaidya's
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29. Sharing deeper insights about products including
user instructions and ingredients on the website
itself
Building a community- by creating a variety of posts
Multiple offers and discounted combos available on
website, including rewards if one uses AADAR coins
Free delivery available
Certifications achieved are displayed on the website
Window pop-ups showing the most recent
purchase of Aadar products, with customer name
and location, displayed on the website
#4: AADAR
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30. #5: Cureveda
Utilizing celebrity influencers
Sharing deeper insights about products including user
instructions and ingredients on the website itself
Building a community- by creating a variety of posts,
on social media as well as on website
Discounts available on prepaid orders
Detailed blog with healthy recipe entries, media covers,
and more
Additional service available- locating an ayurvedic
practitioner
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31. Sharing deeper insights about products including
user instructions and ingredients on the website
itself
Building a community- by creating a variety of posts
Utilizing micro-influencers
Multiple offers and discounted combos available on
website
Product reviews available on website
Shopping by product, solution and ingredient
available for ease of use
Free ayurvedic consultation available on demand
#6: Kapiva
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32. D2C Marketing in Pharmaceuticals,
OTC, and Consumer Healthcare
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33. Most OTC and Consumer healthcare companies follow a retail model, however some of
them are considering a shift.
Most of these companies invest in digital marketing, but do not have a D2C model.
Bayer AG, a German multinational pharmaceutical company, has a wide social media
reach and uses that for digital marketing.
GSK, the British multinational pharmaceutical company, has a mixed model- allowing
customers to purchase directly from the website, as well as the traditional retail model.
They too have a wide reach and have a strong digital marketing game.
Indian brands like Cipla and Dr. Reddy's are also considering to up their digital
marketing game.
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34. Conclusion
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For millennials today, having a primary doctor or going for a regular doctor visit, isn't
important. 45% of 18–29 year-olds don’t have a primary care provider. For people ages 30–49
years, that number is 28%.
Direct to Consumer business model, hence, seems to be the best fit- not just considering the
consumers' needs, but also considering the benefits that the company might have, once it
goes D2C.
For marketing the D2C products, utilizing micro-influencers and sharing deeper insights
about the product- if possible from the production level seem to be the less-risky more -
advantageous routes that might help gain more consumers and retain them as well.
Other beneficial methods include builiding a community of users and going for social media
and Google ads.

35. Thank you!
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