0-$100M P&G Acquisition
How Moiz Ali scaled Native Deodorant to a big acquisition in 2.5 years
Native is a vegan and cruelty free D2C deodorant brand made with aluminum-free and paraben free ingredients. Founded in 2015 by founder Moiz Ali, Native quickly became a favourite among consumers, reaching more than 15K 5 star reviews on their website.
Strategy 1: Organic Marketing
Moiz first launched on Product Hunt, where Native got on the first page - generating 60 sales.
In the beginning they didn’t spend money on advertising. They got customers through press articles while also building a huge email list of leads.
With an email list built up, they sent daily emails to everyone who signed up on their site. They leveraged their growing list to start A/B testing different versions of their product and developed a feedback loop that helped the product become what it is today.
Strategy 2: A/B Testing
He spent the first year iterating the product and deodorant formula to find what consumers liked the best. In the beginning, they sent out multiple different versions to customers, asking which one they liked the most. Was very 1 to 1 at a small scale.
By the time he collected thousands of emails, he split them into Group A and Group B - sending one product to A, one with a different formula to B. He then monitored repeated purchases and reviews over the span of 6-8 weeks.
Native iterated with different formulas until they found the clear winner, making no assumptions and letting the market decide what they liked.
They started with a 20% repeat purchase rate, eventually reaching 50% from constantly iterating the product and getting feedback.
Strategy 3: Feedback Loop
Moiz emailed every customer asking what they thought of the product, and if they loved it, encouraged them to leave a review. If they didn’t, he asked them to reply to the email saying what you don’t like, and they would do their best to address it.
This was how Native effectively learned about what customers liked/didn't, and built a winning product.
Native grew from $7-50K in 5 months, and by April 2017, Native hit $1M in returning customer revenue driven by a fantastic product and an effective feedback loop.
9) This is also how Native went on to earn so many 5 star reviews on their website - by nudging their consumers who loved the product to leave a review .
They also encouraged users to create video reviews that they leveraged to continue to build as much social proof as possible.
Strategy 4: Social Proof
In 2017 Native built a Youtube channel filled with positive customer reviews. The videos were also used for paid ads and website content .
Youtube has an impact on Google SEO, and the large number of positive reviews boosted their search ranking.
Strategy 5: Media Buying
Moiz did all media buying until Feb 2020. He primarily scaled the company using Facebook ads, also using a mix of Pinterest and Snapchat.
Later on they worked with influencers, tv ads, email marketing and worked with a Google ads agency.
They were very cost conscious in the early stages, and after testing channels they only spent money on advertising in the select areas that worked best for them.
They knew customers cared most about free shipping, many good reviews, and the high quality product itself.
Exit:
When Native sold they had 8 full time employees (5 in customer service, 1 in ops, 1 in marketing, 1 working closely with Moiz). The month before he sold, they were doing $1M net profit. Native was growing so fast that they simply couldn't keep up with their small team.
He needed to hire experienced executives, but the hiring process could have taken upwards of 6 months.
He needed to expand the team, but if the focus moved from pure growth, sales and valuation could have dropped quickly.
Native Today:
A P&G brand
Sold in major retail stores nationwide
15K+ 5 star reviews
Keys to Growth Success:
Focus on social proof
Strong customer feedback loop
Constant product iteration
Organic and lean marketing tactics
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Sources:
https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6790114109003223040/
https://www.practicalecommerce.com/native-deodorant-founder-on-scaling-to-100-million-in-2-years
https://blueprint.store/post/the-art-of-the-2-year-exit
https://cheddar.com/media/keys-to-building-a-million-direct-to-consumer-brand
https://www.metrilo.com/blog/moiz-ali-native-acquisition