#336 - Crowdsource Everything: How GORGIE Built a Brand with Community Power

DTC POD: How The Best Brands Are Built

Michelle Cordeiro Grant is an accomplished entrepreneur with a passion for creating innovative, community-based businesses. In 2016, she founded the intimates brand LIVELY and sold it three years later for $105 million. Following this successful exit, she pivoted to her next venture: GORGIE, a wellness energy drink.

In this episode of DTC Pod, Michelle shares valuable insights on building a successful DTC brand from the ground up. She discusses the importance of building a community around the brand, leveraging social media, and using data and customer feedback to drive product innovation.

Michelle also touches on the strategic decisions behind GORGIE's retail expansion, partnering with influential creators, and creating a magazine to inspire and connect with customers. Throughout the conversation, she emphasizes authenticity, quality, and customer-centricity as crucial elements in establishing a strong brand identity.

Interact with other DTC experts and access our monthly fireside chats with industry leaders on DTC Pod Slack.

On this episode of DTC Pod, we cover:
1. Brand and Community Building
2. Data-Driven Product Development
3. Nurturing Retail Partnerships
4. Strategic Market Positioning
5. Defining and Capturing Your ICP
6. Organic Influencer Partnerships
7. The Intersection of Fashion and CPG

Timestamps
00:00 Michelle Cordeiro Grant’s background; the idea behind GORGIE
03:46 How customer feedback factored in product and brand development for GORGIE
07:40 Community as a buzzword vs as part of brand identity
10:01 Community building as an integral part of brand building
11:28 How to keep an online community engaged; consumer vs community funnel
16:50 GORGIE’s partnerships: Erewhon, Whole Foods, Sprouts, H-E-B, etc.
20:05 Overlaps between two industries: fashion and CPG
22:14 The story and vision behind GORGIE’s magazine
23:57 Defining GORGIE’s ICP and building a brand around them
26:54 GORGIE’s growth channels, how they nurture top-of-funnel and retain customers
29:42 Year two of GORGIE: online and retail initiatives
31:19 Brand-creator partnerships and the importance of organic alignment

Show notes powered by Castmagic

Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more.

Additional episodes you might like:

• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth

• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content

• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views

• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands

• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook

• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands

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Projects the DTC Pod team is working on:
DTCetc - all our favorite brands on the internet
Olivea - the extra virgin olive oil & hydroxytyrosol supplement
Castmagic - AI Workspace for Content

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Michelle Cordeiro Grant - Founder and CEO of GORGIE
Blaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Castmagic
Ramon Berrios - Co-Founder of Castmagic