Sven Rittau’s Post

🔍 When Olipop first launched their beverage brand, they took the route less traveled by startups: investing heavily in brand development right from the start. 📈 After selling their initial beverage brand for $100K, they founded a new venture, diving deeper into the importance of a strong brand identity. 👀 They allocated 70% of their initial capital—to branding, while 30% was reserved for production. This bold strategy contrasted sharply with the common startup approach of prioritizing inventory and marketing with 90% of the budget, leaving an insignificant slice for branding. 💡 Why does this matter? Olipop's strategy created distinct positioning and showcased differentiation in the fast-growing (but crowded) BFY beverage. market. 👍🏻 Simply put, their upfront effort resulted in consumers saying "yep, I want that" giving them immediate shelf-impact. 📊 Many startups underestimate the power of brand development, focusing heavily on what feels like an urgent need (product and promotion). 🛒 However, as demonstrated by Olipop, significant upfront investment in brand development (branding and strategy) leads to greater market differentiation and longer-term profitability. 🎯 More important than ever before, CPG startups must engage in a data-driven branding strategy, seeing it not as an expense, but as a foundational element for retail success. 🔗 🫵🏻 Working on a brand innovation or renovation? Let's chat: ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eX4NtfJF 📰 Sign up for NICE PACKAGE to receive data-first category insights, thought leadership from our team, and more! Hit the Link ➡️ https://lnkd.in/gqtcNXNj 🔔 Want more tips here on LinkedIn? Hit the bell at the top of our company page 🔔 #PackagingDesign #Olipop #BrandPositioning #CPGAgency #FoodandBeverage

👋 All good things come to an end... 📖 Time to enter a new chapter… After 7 years, it’s time for me to pass the stick to the next CEO of Packaly, and announcing my switch from CEO to board member at Packaly. It all started on a Friday afternoon, just hanging out on the couch at the company I’d started before Packaly. The idea of a sustainable delivery service using bikes and couriers for city deliveries came up, and we decided to turn that rough idea into an actual business. After selling the previous business, it was time to go all-in and pursue a simple mission: make last mile logistics more sustainable. Who would have imagined that 7 years later the idea is such a successful business actually making it’s mission reality. Scaling during the COVID times, helping our customers and partners ship thousands of parcels every day while being in a crazy pandemic was a difficult and intense time to navigate the ship. But, we can be extremely proud of what’s been build in the past years. During my time at Packaly, I have learned an immense amount of new topics, from term sheets with investors to employment rules, launching an app in the App Store, building a fully automated rider onboarding flow with my companions that grew over 15.000 submissions across 50+ cities. It’s too much to mention! We can be extremely proud of the scale in we reached, the brand we build and the incredible customers we serviced. Special shout-out to the partners that trusted us their customers parcels: Inditex, Zalando, Rituals, LUSH, JD.COM, Samsung Electronics, Blokker, Kruidvat, de Bijenkorf, Nestlé Nespresso SA, Decathlon Nederland and many many others.. But we could never have done this without the immense support of our partners, customers, packers, and investors! They stood by us and helped us grow from €0 to millions in revenue. Special thanks to David Evans, Gabriel Louw, Maurits Geuze, Andy Guenthard, Lee Feldman, Sander Geels, Ivo Elshof, Leon Bakker for sticking by us, and all the partners (Netwerk Groene Stadshubs (NGS)) across the countries that helped us reach +99% on-time performance every day. But especially the team at Packaly, and in specific my co-founders Adrik E., Justin Plagis and Niels Nijhof for going the extra mile every single day making this a success, and in the last 15 months working on restructuring and making Packaly twice as strong together with Benjamin Verdoorn. Special thanks to all the team members that joined and helped make Packaly a successful business! This is not a goodbye, as my role as board advisor will keep me updated with the company and advising it in the right direction. Next to helping the search for a new CEO, I will be sharing some updates on my next steps in my entrepreneurial career soon, working on some exciting new ideas, but first time for a short break!

This time we took Disrupt Retail to another level. 🚀 Imagine four market leaders uniting forces to disrupt #retail norms. That's what just happened! Modelo Continente, EDEKA DIGITAL GmbH, Żabka Polska, and Shufersal teamed up and are looking for #technology #startups with cutting-edge solutions to run Proofs-of-concept or Pilots. In a nutshell: 📩 Applications are open until February 4th, 2024. 🎯 Focus Areas: In-Store Operations, #RetailMedia, Data & Customer Insights 🏬 Together, the retailers represent an ecosystem of around 22 000 stores, 500 000 associates, and €80 billion in revenue. ℹ More info and applications here: https://disruptretail.tech This isn't your average call for tech - it's a collective journey where four industry leaders are joining hands to elevate retail to unparalleled heights. Be a part of the revolution! Let’s reshape retail together! PS. Kudos to the team that put this together: Tiago Silva, Hilla Milo, shai vardi, Karol Gajewicz, Magdalena Jagielo, Otis Michelau and Kamila Wabnik

In 2011, Coca-Cola launched the "Share a Coke" campaign in Australia, printing people’s names on bottles and creating a viral marketing sensation! 🥤✨ This personalized touch encouraged customers to buy and share their experiences, leading to a massive spike in sales and engagement. 📈 Discover how Coca-Cola’s simple but brilliant strategy increased their market share in the soft drink industry and made them a marketing icon. 🚀 This video breaks down the genius behind Coca-Cola’s viral success and what other brands can learn from it! 🌍 #coke #business #colddrink #ShareACoke #CocaCola #MarketingStrategy #ViralCampaign #Startup #Business #BusinessGrowth #MarketingGenius #SoftDrinkMarket

Want to get into national distribution? Check out this informative interview with KeHE Distributors at #ExpoWest. #cpg #cpgstartups #cpgdistribution #kehe #natprodexpo

It's great to see companies partnering with Costco and utilizing roadshows as an effective way to introduce their products to members. They understand the marketing value of showcasing their product to over 10,000 + members during a four-day roadshow, which is a tremendous opportunity. As one of our clients recently wrote,” These roadshows are major productions! You bring in the product, set up, sell your heart out for four days open to close, pack everything up and move on to the next club. It takes support from all sides, including from the Costco team. Over-communication and planning is critical. Bringing the full energy of the team to every event is everything. Thankful to have so much excitement around the product and these shows from all sides. There aren't many places a brand can sample 10,000+ customers in a weekend. " As written in the attached Food Navigator article, "Participating in Costco’s RoadShow and interacting directly with consumers to sample its gut-friendly, cashew dessert spreads gave WOC-founded startup ELAVI insights that would have “cost thousands of dollars” to acquire elsewhere, allowing it to make its brand more accessible, according to founders Michelle Razavi and Nikki Elliott.” #costco #Costcoroadshow #Costcoconsultant #Costcosampling #Costcolaunch #Costcobusiness

Fundraises in the retail sector in the April 2024 to June 2024 quarter dropped by almost 49% to Rs 740 crore from 1,105 crore as compared to the previous quarter (January 2024 to March 2024) according to the analysis by IndiaRetailing Insights, a retail intelligence unit. Datachamps | Nitro Commerce | Asaya | Go Zero | Wahter | Palette Brands (formerly White.Inc) | Sid's Farm | ZYOD | Zepto | Skye Air Mobility | Testsigma | Lenskart.com | TechnoSport | WHP Jewellers | Libas | Freshleaf Teas | The Betel Leaf Co | Fresh From Farm (F3) | Skippi | Wow! Momo | ClickPost | INCLUD | Windrose Capital | DSG Consumer Partners | V3 Ventures | DHOLAKIA VENTURES | Inflection Point Ventures | Mannu Mathew | Lightspeed | Z3Partners | Inflexor Ventures | Blue Ashva Capital #retailnews #retailtrends #retailsector #retailindustry #retailing #retailresults #retailupdates #businessnews #retailgrowth #retailsectornews #retailindia #retailtrends #retailbusiness #ir #IndiaRetailing #retailfundraise

Exciting news in the grocery industry! Five leading grocery retailers have launched W23 Global, a $125 million collaborative VC fund to invest in innovative startups enhancing customer experiences, increasing productivity, and addressing sustainability challenges in the sector. 🌍🛒 Tesco, Ahold Delhaize, Woolworths Group, Empire Company Limited/ Sobeys Inc, and ShopRite are equal partners in W23 Global, driving innovation and sustainability in grocery retail. 💡 At HKC Construction, we're committed to innovation and sustainability, ranking as one of Canada's top-growing companies. We are proud to offer a revolutionary way to renovate - a sustainable approach that benefits both your projects and the world. 🚀🔨 💲 What if we could also help you save 25% off a portion of your next Renovation, and make it sustainable, based on materials being repurposed to help people who truly need it most, all around the world? Increasing your ROI! Sounds too good to be true? Curious about how our Evolution in Construction solution is reinventing renovation projects and making a difference? Connect with us to learn more and join us in shaping a greener, more sustainable future together. 💚🏗️ #innovation #Sustainable #reinvent #retailinnovation #groceryinnovation #sustainability #grocery #retail Link to learn more: https://bit.ly/3KATfRS

➡️ WE ASKED A FOUNDER: How did you hit your first $1 million in revenue? 2020 Tory Burch Fellow and Partake Foods founder Denise Woodard: "I self-funded and self-distributed Partake for the first several years, which is just a concise way of saying 'I sold cookies out of the back of my car to natural food stores in and around New York City.' In that time, I learned and listened to my retail customers and consumers, taking every bit of feedback back to the very small team of consultants who were helping me develop, manufacture and market the business. In 2018, I was seeing amazing traction, restricted mostly by my access to capital. So, I attempted to raise venture capital, realizing quickly that the lack of accredited investors in my network was a roadblock. At the same time I was raising capital, I was taking the successes I was seeing in the few hundred doors we had and having conversations with regional and national retail chains. While I was getting 'nos' time and again from potential investors, I was continuing to see positive results at retail. So, as the only employee at Partake, I just kept going. By 2019, we had shown strong numbers for the size of our distribution, but the $1M mark still felt so far away. However, I got two very important calls. After 86 'nos', I got a 'yes' from Marcy Venture Partners who led our seed round. In that same year, Target confirmed we'd be rolling out nationally with 3 SKUs. The combination of venture capital and national distribution supported 10x growth in 2020 versus the prior year, and got us well over the $1M mark. The important takeaways, I feel, are that I spent the time it took to ensure I really understood my consumers and built a product my retail customers would be happy to stock on their shelves. That meant a lot of sacrifice in those first few years (and still does!), but I kept building—brick by brick—because my numbers, and my gut, told me to keep going." Thank you Denise Woodard for sharing your story. We're grateful to be part of your entrepreneurial journey. #ToryBurchFellows Image description: Headshot of Partake Foods founder Denise Woodard.