how one branding project drove Prose to $160m a year
a masterclass in branding excellence, Prose went from 0 to $160m annual revenue within just 7 years of launching. here's how & who:
why Prose’s branding matters
the value of your brand is not in the core brand story, values, personality, and understanding of your audience. it isn’t in your logo, color scheme, or design language. it’s how these elements (and many others) combine to communicate a clear set of expectations to consumers.
when done right, consumers know what you’re about with minimal thinking required. they can look at your site, ad, product, blog post, or social feed - and quickly understand what you’re all about. to do this - you need a very clear brand strategy but you also need to deliver it in a way that can be easily understood.
when done right, a brand can lower your cost of acquisition and increase retention, driving tons of financial benefit. while many founders tend to shy away from focusing on branding in the early stages of their business, Prose’s team took the opposite approach. they did it once and did it right.
in a beauty category rife with competition, Prose’s core differentiators are its:
hyper-customization
scientific backing
health and environmental consciousness
and they drive these messages across in everything that they do.
how Prose’s brand stands out
there’s much to learn from Prose, but i’ll point out a few elements as to how they do branding right:
messaging through design
clear differentiation
commitment to the brand
focus
messaging through design. aesthetic design is nice. aesthetic and meaningful design is better. many brands just want “good enough” design. even those that understand the value of branding often settle for just making their category or target audience clear with their style. sometimes, they have to use words
Prose communicates everything you need to know without words. they manage to use design to make these elements clear:
the tiny numbers evoke citations, which is for the academic and scientific world that is more detail oriented
the font is no frills, almost looking like a medicine label
the numbers of the citations aren’t just 1,2,3,4,5 but instead 1, 4, 34, 82: giving you a glimpse at the level of customization possible
often showing multiple types, saying - “we’ve got just the mix for you”
etc.
it’s minimalistic and authentic feel also highlights the customization without saying “custom”
clear differentiation. go look at a shelf for beauty. it’s packed with every design style and approach you can think of. by competing online (and with a minimal packaging that stands out in its simplicity), Prose manages to separate itself from all of the competition. turning the downside of buying online (can’t test it out) to a strength (because we need to make your special product first) - they zig where everyone else zags. they create one product for you where other brands have you figure out which of their thousands of SKUs are right for you. they may not appeal to all, but those who share their values will be eager to try them out.
commitment to the brand. Prose’s customization flow is a case study of its own, showing how more steps doesn’t always lower conversion. i counted over 40 steps in their flow. the accepted norm is that the more steps, the more dropoff you’ll see in a funnel.
but in Prose’s case, even if that were true, that’s just not who they are. they need this 40+ steps to make a product that is personalized to you. and perhaps more importantly, feels it. each extra question makes the ensuing product more & more “your product”.
Prose’s flow may be long, but it clearly differentiates them from everyone else
the lesson here is to commit to who you are. your brand shouldn’t just be communicated in your packaging and verbiage, but in everything you do. use it to make decisions for product, customer support, and everything that eventually impacts a consumer.
focus. Prose knows who they are. they are no more and no less. they don’t chase after celebrity endorsements. they don’t fluff up their design. they don’t brand elite products in gold and silver to make you feel more important.
they use scientific research to concoct the right beauty products for you, making sure to take care of your health and the environment in the process.
who you need to nail your branding
brand marketers and strategists. with an emphasis on storytelling, you need to have a clear understanding of who you are, who your audience is, and how you act. experience in the domain really helps too - be it the audience or product category, many of the Prose team members have dtc beauty experience
creatives. to lead the strategy through execution
brand designers. great brand designers can work with any style, but you may need to tailor some design talent to your specific look & feel
founders who commit to it. brands aren’t valuable if they’re only communicated in a deck that nobody sees or your homepage. you’ve got to be consistent across domains.
an aligned product team. often in tech, brand work stops at the product, which is a failure - learn from CPG (and Prose) and show your brand values through how your product works and looks
external help. you’re going to need help eventually, don’t plan to keep all work in-house. get a roster of external creatives sooner rather than later
retain the core team. brand is tough to communicate - you need to keep the core team responsible intact or at least have a replacement plan
credits
Founders: Arnaud Plas & Paul Michaux & Nicolas Mussat
CMO: Megan Streeter
VP Creative: Rashi Birla
VP Brand Marketing: Michael
Design director: Samantha Stone
Branding agency: Red Antler
Web design agency (content): Studio Simpatico
Influencer & ugc agency: inbeat
Performance agency: Klientboost
Brand agency (for b2b): Block Club
Video agency: Dissembargo
note: unfortunately, i wasn’t able to credit everyone. someone missing? just ping me
