From Distribution to Attention: D2C founders on what it takes to build an iconic brand

For D2C brands, distribution and performance marketing can drive growth, but building a memorable brand requires a combination of product, content, consumer understanding and consistency.

That was the focus of a fireside chat at the e4m D2C Summit, where Deepak Gupta, Co-Founder & COO, Bombay Shaving Company, and Shaily Mehrotra, Co-Founder & CEO, FixDerma & FCL, joined Tasmayee Laha Roy, Editor, exchange4media, to discuss what it takes to build and scale consumer brands.

For Mehrotra, the journey of building FixDerma began with a decision to work through dermatologists rather than retail. She said the brand started its journey in 2010 and initially had two routes to market: retail or dermatologists. The company chose the latter, a route that involved meeting doctors individually, briefing them on products and ensuring that product claims were backed by doctors and evidence.

“So, I would say the entry barrier to that is pretty high. And if you talk about e-commerce, the entry barrier is pretty low,” Mehrotra said.

She described the dermatologist-led route as a lengthy and demanding one, with the journey beginning in Punjab before moving to Mumbai and later Bangalore. Compared with e-commerce, she said, the route created a higher entry barrier.

Gupta attributed Bombay Shaving Company's differentiation to three factors: staying the course, continued innovation and investment in the product. The company, he said, has spent years learning and improving, while also innovating in content marketing to compete with larger players and reach younger consumers.

He also stressed the importance of not taking shortcuts on the product, particularly where technology creates higher entry barriers.

The conversation then turned to one of the questions facing D2C brands as consumers increasingly move between e-commerce, quick commerce and other digital platforms: what does D2C mean when the final transaction does not necessarily happen on a brand's own website?

Gupta argued that consumers are becoming increasingly channel agnostic. A consumer may discover a brand on Instagram or Facebook, search for it on Google or an AI tool, compare it on Amazon and eventually purchase through another platform.

“So, I think the job for the brand is to make sure your product is available when the consumer has decided to buy. And that's a job more than kind of thinking of a channel or a platform,” Gupta said.

That behaviour is also changing the relationship between digital and physical retail. Mehrotra said FixDerma began as an offline brand and moved online around 2019-20, when shops and clinics were closed and people stayed at home. The brand sells through dermatologists, offline channels and marketplaces and is present in more than 25 countries, she said.

For Bombay Shaving Company, physical retail has also remained relevant alongside digital. Gupta said the company has more than 30 stores across airports and malls, particularly for categories where physical touch is important.

Content has emerged as another important link between brands and consumers. Gupta said consumers often encounter Bombay Shaving Company through social content, podcasts or conversations before deciding to buy. Packaging and merchandising, he added, also play an important role in how products are presented to consumers, particularly as the means of communication shift online.

The discussion also highlighted the growing competition for consumer attention. Gupta said the nature of the challenge facing brands has evolved over time — from distribution, to customer acquisition, and now to attention.

With consumers surrounded by competing content, brands need to find ways to stand out through storytelling and consistency.

“The role of content needs to be solved. But again, great storytelling can only solve it. So, if you can tell great stories, and be consistent, and be honest,” Gupta said.

Bombay Shaving Company's own experience offered an example of how the company used content to generate attention without a conventional advertising outlay. When the company launched its razors, it ran a contest inviting consumers to buy the product at a discount, resell it and create and share content about the experience on social media.

Gupta said the initiative saw close to 100,000 products sold and generated 100 million views in one month, at zero cost. He added that the resulting reach helped the company reach newer consumers and that when it subsequently began spending, its CPMs were lower.

The role of content differs by category. For a skincare brand such as FixDerma, communication has to explain what its products do and how they are intended to work, while also building the brand. Mehrotra stressed the importance of branding and storytelling in communicating what the product stands for.

The founders also pointed to the importance of tailoring marketing to different audiences and markets. Gupta discussed the role of influencers, celebrities and regional creators across metro, Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets, where the nature of content and the creators who can influence consumers can vary.

When it comes to allocating marketing budgets, Gupta said there is no universal formula. The right mix depends on the category, the nature of the consumer and the market. He noted that Bombay Shaving Company remains largely digital in its spending, while acknowledging that other businesses may require a different mix of traditional and digital channels.

For D2C brands navigating an increasingly fragmented consumer journey, the discussion pointed to the importance of staying close to consumers, building through storytelling and understanding where and how different audiences choose to discover and buy products.