India has seen the most exciting D2C brand growth trajectories in the past decade. Many of these sharp growth curves have happened on the back of Content, Community and Commerce. Yet, there are a few trends emerging within this landscape that are helping some brands stand apart from others. 

The Rise of the Aware Omnibrand

The recent past has witnessed a rise in D2C Omnibrands — brands that have a strong alignment between their business philosophies and product brands, and deliver consistent and deeply-integrated messages across touchpoints. Some of these brands are definitely more aware of their social and environmental influence than others. 

Take for example Mamaearth – a D2C brand built around the purpose of “Goodness Inside”. The brand offers sustainable and toxin-free personal care products for babies, children, and adults. While Mamaearth has carved a niche for itself by offering modern consumers natural and organic products containing ethically sourced ingredients, packaged in eco-friendly material; another brand - Wellbeing Nutrition - is well on its way to doing so with its emphasis on clean supplements and cleaner footprints.

D2C is now Omnichannel

From Instagram to Amazon or Big Basket, offline to own-brand e-commerce websites – brands like Wakefit and The Whole Truth have driven discovery, engagement and purchase across channels. As more and more D2C brands enter competitive industries ranging from candies to cosmetics, growth will now be driven by a mix of content, community and omnichannel commerce.

Subscription, Subscription, Subscription

Several D2C brands have diversified their focus from pay-per-product to subscription models. The Better Home, BB Daily and Country Delight are all brands leveraging subscription models to add more value to their consumers while unlocking loyalty, better consumer insights and predictable revenues. 

High-quality Content and High-quality Traffic 

From Nykaa’s Beauty Book and Nykaa TV to Curefit’s YouTube channel — D2C brands have been investing ever more in high-quality content as a great bet for high-quality traffic and higher conversion. As marketing budgets rationalize and digital marketing performance pressures increase - the only metric that will matter the most is a lower cost of customer acquisition where content has a huge long-term influence. And with Google’s announcements around how its algorithms would start focusing more on “helpful content” as compared to content written to solely improve SEO ranking, and focus on content written or reviewed by experts - high-quality, meaningful content has become a game changer. 

Authentic content that factors personal and expert perspectives, and the overall quality of the content experience now matter more than ever before. Precisely why UGC content is here to stay and brands like The Good Bug are betting their growth on this.

Responsible, yet fun!

By embracing a fun brand identity alongside responsible and sustainable business practices, some D2C brands are not only aligning with the growing demand for eco-conscious products and grabbing the attention of modern consumers but also inspiring a more conscious and responsible consumer culture. Curioscub: The new-age toy maker uses only wood, fabric, and water-based paints to make playtime products. Chumbak: A lifestyle and home decor brand known for its vibrant and quirky products, has a strong focus on local sourcing. 

So, what next in D2C brand marketing? The excitement continues. With content remaining the king – the growing adoption of advanced analytics, AI, personalisation, and shoppable content will only drive more content experiments and content innovation.