MPOWERD

I reunited with my former Art Director from McCann to work for outdoor startup MPOWERD (solar portable lights). The twist? I would handle the marketing responsibilities along with creative. Happy to say YOY sales grew by 13%, with two of the company’s most successful product launches to date. This juggling act comprised of a few key efforts.

If you’re not into marketing jazz skip the next couple of paragraphs and jump into the work. The TL;DR is that I wore a lot of hats while improving the brands bottom line for like, 0 dollars.

We started by really focusing on our ecommerce outside of Amazon. This meant a few things to start. Untangling and simplifying the site architecture, tightening the funnel and improving mobile load time. While this was happening we launched the tagline “Light Up Life” in earnest. We also started SEO in lockstep with an SEM strategy based on our analytics. The deeper dive into our analytics allowed us to identify a previously ignored segment outside of the company’s traditional outdoor community. We targeted this new segment with paid on social (creating content in-house) while collecting free outdoor content from our influencers.

Finally I implemented a content strategy that allowed for a more streamlined approach to community management. It also allowed us to get ahead of the 3 launches for the year. By allowing the teams to be proactive instead of reactive, we were able to create higher quality content with far less stress. We started to build a library of content by visiting our influencers and spending time with them in the field. This all meant we were better prepared for unforeseen events like the flooding in SE Asia, the earthquake in Mexico and Hurricanes Harvey and Maria (the company’s biggest sales month to date).

B.Y.O.L Launch

How do you hype a product with only a prototype to work with? Kids. Super cute kids. This content rolled out in the month leading to launch and was MPOWERD’s first foray into the STEM market. This was all shot, hand to heart, for less than $500 bucks. The name was a little awkward (it’s full name is Build Your Own Light) so we did what any ad person worth his or her salt does. We leaned into it. The product sold out and was on backorder for the first month.

Launch spot.

Teasers.

Hurricane Maria

In the days and weeks after Hurricane Maria, we used social to spearhead a relief effort that saw thousands of free lights brought to the island on the backs of private citizens. This was a big deal because most other humanitarian aid languished in Puerto de San Juan. We were able to leverage these efforts into editorial that drove the biggest sales month in MPOWERD history.

UGC content featuring MPOWERD’s lights.

Content is King

Like many companies, MPOWERD has a hard time keeping up with social media’s insatiable appetite for new content. For us, a road trip was the answer. Three of our influencers were in sunny CA so off we popped to Redwood City where we rented a vintage ‘89 VW Vanagon. Heading South, we visited our brand ambassadors in Yosemite, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura. The videos highlighted how they used Luci Lights and used the van as a prop to tell their stories. We also collected a massive library of content and really got to cement relationships that had only been virtual up to that point. Pro tip, before going on a road trip in an old wobbly van, check to see if anyone else can drive stick ;)

Below is a small smattering of the content we picked up.