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Béis, the Shay Mitchell-fronted luggage brand, has been growing at a rapid clip. As recently reported in Glossy, the brand reached $200 million in annual revenue in 2023, marking a 180% increase year-over-year. And, it expects 2024 to be even bigger. One key strategy driving its growth is simply listening to its community.
“Having an engaged community [allows you] to have an understanding of the consumer. … If you listen, they’ll tell you,” said Elizabeth Money, Béis’s svp of brand and creative. “What we do is often an answer to what our community is asking for. Our last few [product] drops have been all about answering community wants and needs.” That’s included all-new products and existing products in fresh colors.
Below, a look at three ways Béis has been winning by listening to what its customer wants.
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The Béis Wash
Béis had a problem.
Customers were complaining on TikTok about seeing scuffs, marks and dirt their bags after one use. Béis leaned into the criticism, with an IRL activation dubbed Béis Wash, held in Los Angeles from February 24-25. The brand has over 390,000 followers on TikTok and 1 million on Instagram.
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At the pop-up, customers could bring in a piece of luggage for a free cleaning, as well as sip on Chamberlain coffee, shop exclusive merch and check out Béis’s core products IRL. Plus, of course, there were ample opportunities for content creation, which visitors took advantage of.
Creators were excited to share their approval of the strategy. Robyn DelMonte (@GirlBossTown; 657,000 followers), who brands herself as “The Internet’s Agent,” said in a post about the pop-up, “This Béis activation proves my point that all press is good press. … Instead of ignoring it or being in the comments like, ‘We will email you ” — so corporate — [they did a pop-up]. … So now people want their suitcases to be busted and dirty, so they can go to the carwash and get the merch and get the Chamberlain Coffee. Taking a problem and turning it into a bigger selling point is why I love marketing and business. It would also be really cool if they did a partnership with Delta, and in the Delta lounge they had like little cleaning stations for your suitcases, or like in the Delta baggage claim.” Béis responded to DelMonte’s idea in the comments: “Bringing this to an airport is SO SMART 🤗” Other examples of TikTokers praising the Béis Wash strategy can be seen here and here.
According to the company, the pop-up resulted in 1,200 visitors, 360 bags cleaned, 141 unique posts by Béis’s creator network following an on-site event for influencers, over 1,300 new followers across the brand’s social channels and an overall reach of 24.3 million including UGC content.
“One of the things we love about our community is how vocal they are,” said Money. “And they told us that our light-colored bags get scuffs and marks, and it’s annoying. So we decided, ‘Let’s [clean] it for them, and along the way, let’s show the consumers who can’t be here IRL how to do it, [on social]: You can buy the Branch Basics Travel Kit, you can grab a Scrub Daddy sponge [another co-sponsor of the pop-up], and you can replicate this idea to clean your product at home, just like we did in the experience.'”
Though Béis won’t host another Béis Wash this year, the brand plans to explore other ways to bring cleaning services to customers in more locations and to offer an on-brand cleaning formula that someone could “throw in the bottom of their weekender to give it little scrubs on the go,” Money said.
Pop-ups are valuable for engaging with a local community, Money said. But also connecting with brand fans on a broader scale is crucial.
Taking a warehouse sale virtual
On the heels of the Béis Wash, from March 20-24, Béis hosted its first virtual warehouse sale with discounts of up to 40%.
The strategy was inspired by the brand’s physical warehouse sale, held in L.A. in the summer of 2023. Thanks to customers documenting their experiences on Instagram stories and TikTok, Béis gained over 11,000 new Instagram followers and saw 3.33 million video views on TikTok, with the activation driving over 690,000 total media impressions. Among the engagement, more than 300 comments and DMs expressed the community’s desire for another warehouse sale or an online version.
For the eventual virtual sale, members of Béis’s rewards program were given access a day early. The sale earned the brand another 2,000 followers, and content around it garnered 2.5 million impressions. Sales from the virtual warehouse sale achieved 144% of the brand’s forecasted expectations. Virtual warehouse sale unboxing content continues to roll out on TikTok.
“It’s difficult. The reason you do a warehouse sale is because you’re trying to either save product from getting demolished and trashed or you have slightly used product. But the reason you do it in person is to save cost, because you don’t want to ship a bunch of product around the country,” said Hussain Johnson, Béis president. “But we heard our consumers’ [demand], and we’ve been looking for a way to deliver that. … Yes, we have to build a profitable business, and that’s very critical to our success. But we want to make sure we’re investing in the right places, so that our consumer knows we’re there, we’re listening and we’re responding.”
Béis takes Stagecoach
Next, from April 26-28, Béis will show up at country music festival Stagecoach in Indio, California. Last year, the brand instead hosted an activation at Revolve Fest, the online retailer’s Coachella-adjacent activation. “We’re hearing more and more that Stagecoach is where people are wanting to see their favorite brands,” Hussain Johnson said.
At the event, Béis will set up an air-conditioned “roadside gas station,” of sorts, with makeup touchups, a “saloon” with refreshments and a water bottle refill station, and phone charging stations, Money said. Plus, guests will get a sneak peek of a Béis product launching in May: a stadium-approved bag. The brand will host several influencers at Stagecoach, plus it will be giving away tickets to community members. Influencers will receive customized boots by Tecovas, a Western boot brand that is also activating at the music festival.
Speaking about the success of all of its IRL activations, Hussein Johnson said, “Over the last 18 months, we’ve learned that our customer continues to be engaged when we deliver our brand IRL.”
Spate Trend Watch: Nail growth rerum is growing in popularity
Despite having relatively low consumer awareness, with only 3,000 average monthly searches, nail growth serums are gaining traction with the search rate growing 45% year-over-year. Among the most common queries are “best nail growth serum,” “DIY nail growth serum” and “natural nail growth serum,” showcasing a keen consumer interest in effective solutions for fostering nail growth.
Consumers are especially interested in the efficacy of nail growth serums and reviews of specific products like the Lauren B Beauty Nail Growth Serum. And they seek before-and-after examples, indicating an appetite for tangible results when incorporating these serums into their nail care routines.
Brands including Sally Hansen, Lauren B. Beauty, Avon and Nutra most frequently show up alongside searches for nail growth serums. And Walmart stands out as a retailer that’s often searched with the product.
“In nail growth serums, there’s a growing interest in DIY formulations, particularly those incorporating natural solutions. However, consumers are also emphasizing effectiveness. This presents an opportunity for brands to develop products that leverage natural ingredients, particularly essential oils known for promoting growth and are commonly found in DIY nail serums, to meet the preferences of these discerning consumers,” said Yarden Horwitz, co-founder of Spate.
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