Justin Maddahi @justinmaddahi - Tumblr Blog

The Whitening Benefits of Lumineux’s Mineral and Botanical Formulation

Lumineux is an oral care company that produces chemical-free alternatives to traditional dental products. It formulates these using scientifically proven natural mineral and botanical ingredients, such as Dead Sea salt, to whiten teeth while gently maintaining oral health...

Read more on Slideshare

#teeth whitening

Lumineux Founder on Transition from Amazon to Major Retail Shelves

As a guest on the Bullseye Sellers “Millionaire Amazon CEO” series podcast in March 2024, Lumineux cofounder and chief marketing officer Justin Maddahi explored his approach to retail brand positioning within the teeth whitening, mouthwash, toothpaste, and whitening strip segments.

As Justin describes it, the past year saw success in the omnichannel sphere, spanning traditional and online retailing venues, including deploying products nationwide at Walmart and Target locations. Synching distribution across various retail distribution channels did pose challenges. “As Amazon matures, it’s getting increasingly hard to stand out and gain a competitive advantage.”

By contrast, physical retail real estate remains limited, but after demonstrating success, it can propel market performance forward. While anyone can create an ecommerce shop on TikTok or traditional sites, in-person retail shopping differs.

Convincing Walmart to place products on its shelves has several challenges beyond calling the retailer and convincing it to do so. It requires persistent effort, with a focus on in-person meetings at events such as the Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim. Nonetheless, retailers want to see robust sales. “What really put our product over the edge was our BSR ranking on Amazon.” Retailers greeted many metrics with a shrug, unconvinced that sales were real. However, BSR (Best Seller Ranking on Amazon) data convinced them it had solid and growing sales and proved a major selling point.

Additionally, Lumineux needed to secure a retail broker, with MPG handling the minutiae of setting up agreements and contracts in the preferred chain retail format - the product must add value to the retailer. “The last thing anyone wants to do is take out an established high-performing SKU (stock keeping unit) such as Crest and replace it with a dud.”

Justin also describes the importance of patience: “Nobody was knocking on our door, given that it’s the oral care category.” This contrasts with the more fluid and dynamic food and beverage category, where retailers will sometimes approach emerging brands and suggest shelf placement. While it’s relatively easy to get on shelves, “it’s hard for brands to stick the landing” in the food and beverage segment, and thus, turnover is very rapid.

With personal care products, the product must add enduring value to the retailer. After retailers agree to place the products on their shelves, the products must establish staying power, especially in the face of competition for limited retail space. Newer, better products can always appear around the corner. In addition, placement matters, such as displays at the eye line and as a brand block.

In the case of Lumineux, it meant displaying the mouthwash, whitening strips, and toothpaste together, creating a unified statement to consumers. As Justin describes it, retail stores become a “sea of confusion,” with 50 SKUs of Crest and 50 SKUs of Colgate supplemented by “four random brands” that do not always have placements where consumers think they will find the products.

“Random brands” have an uphill battle, as consumers can easily overlook products unless they stand out visually with strategic arrangements on the shelf. Justin comments that the payoff, such as Mighty Patch, remains a compelling reason for taking this challenge. It successfully transitioned from Amazon to the physical retail space. Then, consumer goods giant Church and Dwight, which owns brands such as Arm & Hammer, OxiClean, and Trojan, acquired it.

#Justin Maddahi

The Power of Consistent Messaging Across Customer Touchpoints

Brand consistency is the cornerstone of a strong, relatable brand. To achieve that, a brand must harmonize what and how it communicates through the various touchpoints. Consistent messaging benefits not only the brand but also improves customer experience.

A unified message builds brand identity and reinforces it by giving the target audience a consistent, similar feel for the brand at every point of contact, be it on social media, advertisements, or salespersons. It makes it easier for prospective customers to understand what a brand is all about and what solutions it offers.

Brand consistency also boosts engagement. The more unified a brand’s messaging is, the more receptive the target audience. It inspires them to want to interact with the brand. Consequently, lead generation and, ultimately, sales, improve, as prospects are more likely to convert into customers.

Conflicting or inconsistent messaging, on the other hand, leads to confusion. The disparity hurts credibility. Prospects are less likely to recall a brand when there’s inconsistency in the core message—and the way it’s communicated—across various touchpoints. For example, advertisements could appeal to one desire or pain point, but the sales team could appeal to another.

Brand messaging inconsistency results from random marketing acts. It happens when brands create marketing materials without brand guidelines. A brand guideline outlines the theme, tone of voice, target customer, values, mission, etc. It gives brands a sense of direction, ensuring everything they put out is in harmony with the overall objectives.

The key to consistent messaging is defining brand identity. A brand identity sets a business apart from the competition and determines how everything in the company is done. By outlining a brand identity clearly and making it accessible to all players, everyone will know what’s expected of them. They’ll know how to show up in conversations with prospects, what to say, and how to say it.

Documenting brand identity isn’t just about accountability. It also creates a sense of ownership of brand direction. What’s more, it serves as a benchmark against which to measure messaging consistency.

With brand identity clearly defined, the next step is aligning marketing materials with it. For a business that runs ads, posts on social media, and has a sales team, this means coming up with material that’s both relevant to the respective media and in harmony with the overall brand goals. That may mean pushing similar keywords across the various channels.

It’s hard to tell how consistent brand messaging is without monitoring and measuring key metrics. Thankfully, several platforms, be it TV, social media, or paid search, record key metrics that brands can use to gauge the performance of their marketing materials. Data on reach, engagement, and conversions tells brands how effective their messaging is. They also reveal gaps and help identify opportunities.

Tracking key metrics allows brands to adjust accordingly. In an ever-evolving marketing landscape, where consumer preferences, desires, and goals are always shifting, customers outgrow brands that fail to evolve. Consequently, while brand identity helps give direction, rigid messaging frameworks can be limiting. Adjusting messaging in response to shifting market dynamics helps brands stay relevant in the long term.

Everything a brand puts out, every customer touchpoint, communicates a message. The best brands know this, and they become intentional about influencing how prospects perceive them. They put out a well-crafted, consistent messaging across all customer touchpoints.

#brand identity #brand messaging

Influencer Marketing Mistakes to Avoid Justin Maddahi

Influencer marketing is the collaboration between an influential individual and a brand to promote the brand's services or products. It can push a brand to new heights, such as when Calvin Klein partnered with Justin Beiber and Kendall Jenner to promote the #MyCalvins campaign. On the flip side, it can hurt a brand, such as Pepsi and Kendall Jenner's partnership to promote global diversity...

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

Justin Maddahi