#adam karp

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Title for 7.15 Sisterhood by Christopher Hollier and Adam Karp (x)

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Title for 7.09 One Little Tear by Christopher Hollier and Adam Karp (x)

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Title for 7.05 Greenbacks by Christopher Hollier and Adam Karp

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@horgandee New offices, old friends. @InkTankGirl #EvilQueen #CaptainHook #OnceUponATime #OUATs7 (x)

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New staff writer.  Apparently very junior.

In case you are wondering this is not the same man who wrote the teleplay last year for 6.16.  That was Paul Karp.

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How users became comfortable dropping thousands of dollars on 1stdibs

Adam Karp is the CMO of 1stdibs, a business that focuses on bringing together beautiful things: from antiques and fine art to jewelry and mid century furniture. They help consumers and dealers find each other. 1stdibs has been around since 2001, so the branding question for 1stdibs wasn’t how to create a spanking-new brand, but how to refresh one that was beloved within the design community but yet hadn’t reached a broader consumer audience.

Before 1stdibs, Karp worked at Barnes & Noble, a store that had a pretty clear brand within their retail locations: it was clear from the location of certain bookshelves, the cozy chairs, and down to the color of their carpeting that the stores are a place for book lovers. They know what to expect the moment they walk in the doors. But translating that brand online proved to be difficult in the world of Amazon.

But Amazon is the everything store, they don’t focus on books lovers like Barnes & Noble. This observation came from Adam Hanft (noted branding expert) who worked with Barnes & Noble to define their online brand by asking things like “what’s different about this [shipping confirmation] email than any other e-commerce player out there?” Questions such as this turned into actionable items: adding a quote from a great writer into several types of email. All these seemingly small actions helped establish Barnes & Noble’s online presence. Says Karp: “It’s that attention to detail that brings the focus that allows you to stay committed to your brand and [also] let it evolve.”

The idea for 1stdibs came about when the founder was visiting the Paris Marché aux Puces and saw these beautiful items being sold but was confused why they had to be stuck in there instead of offered to everyone around the world. The company now has 2,000 of the world’s leading antique dealers signed up. 

Fast forward to today: technology has made it possible for anyone to buy online (and everybody wants to). 1stdibs wanted to offer that possibility to their dealers, to help them connect with consumers, and to be seen as more than just an online listing directory.

Karp and 1stdibs set out to to let people know they could purchase items on 1stdibs directly. They worked with Adam Hanft and ended up touching every piece of the website. Fifty different buyer/dealer facing emails were written centered around language on buying high price items. One of the mottos they went with was “collect with confidence.” They figured out that asking someone three thousand miles away from the seller to spend sixty thousand dollars on one item, sight unseen, requires not just inspiring confidence, but also keeping a playful tone to develop a healthy tension. Their customers didn’t want to feel like they were walking into a museum. Karp realized that every purchase is casual, even luxurious ones, and treating customers this way had to be a conscious decision.

Other things Karp learned during this brand redefinition: there does need to be a “keeper of the brand.” Having five to six people hash out a brand refresh and wordsmith together does not work, you need one person to lead the charge.

While the initial perception of 1stdibs was that it was an exclusive club for the best buyers in the world, sales are more important to dealers. So they repositioned themselves from a B2B service to a consumer partner, a partner that help drive sales. This was done by learning more about their customer’s needs and changing how they talked to them. It let them find key themes that appealed to both consumers and dealers; then the execution became how to weave these themes into their messaging.

You can do this kind of brand repositioning too, but don’t expect it to happen overnight. You need to do your due diligence, and work on finding the themes you can turn into messages that are worth repeating. Here are some questions to get you started:

Do I know all my customer’s needs? What themes are present in those needs?

Is there a delta in between how customers perceive my brand vs how I want it to be perceived? If so, why does this exist?

Is my branding consistent in every kind of communication with customers (from emails to sign up, to receipts)? If not: where does it fall short? What places could use a stronger brand presence (don’t force it!)?

What are the unique ways you can make your brand resonate? What are the things you do (or can do) that no one else does? How do you make these moments even more special and delightful?

  This case study was part of our Spark Sessions related to positioning and branding. Click here to discover more of what was discussed during this event and here's another case study from Upworthy. We’ll be posting more highlights from our Spark Sessions, which are events we host on the topics our entrepreneurs say they want to learn more about. Some topics to come include goal setting, and leadership and management.

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