Strategy Sessions Marketing Podcast with Mike Stevens, The DTC Playbook

Mike Stevens is the author of The Direct To Consumer Playbook, consultant and entrepreneur.

In this episode we discuss:

• Mike’s career that ended up with him writing the book about DTC
• How DTC is evolving
• Products and if DTC has to be better than the alternatives
• Managing the rising customer acquisition costs that are hitting DTC margins
• Picking up the phone and why you never lose money talking to customers
• The over-reliance on data
• The impact of lowering barriers to entry on DTC brands
• When DTC should become retail and multichannel
• What role does community play in DTC brands and if they can exist without it?
• The importance of vertical integration and why some companies stay away from it

Mike Stevens 

Mike Stevens has played key roles in two of the most iconic start-up challenger brands in recent years: innocent smoothies and Peppersmith confectionery.

At innocent, he built and ran their supply chain for six years before becoming a country manager. In 2009 he co-founded Peppersmith. Peppersmith was set up to kick the confectionery industry into the 21st century. Mike was CEO and scaled the business before selling the company in 2018.

In addition to writing The Direct To Consumer Playbook,  Mike advises, mentors and consults for start-up and scale-up businesses. He is based in Poole, Dorset, UK.

Find Mike on LinkedIn 

Other Links

The Direct to Consumer Playbook: The Stories and Strategies of the Brands that Wrote the DTC Rules https://amzn.to/3AcQnWu

Ritson on the Strategy Sessions with strong opinions on DTC https://eximomarketingstrategy.com/strategy-sessions-podcast-with-mark-ritson/

The DO Lectures https://thedolectures.com/

Andi Jarvis

If you have any questions or want to talk about anything that was discussed in the show, the best place to get me is on Twitter or LinkedIn.

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Andi Jarvis, Eximo Marketing.