Five Lessons Haus Taught Me About Building a Better Brand

Building a powerful brand takes time. One of my favorite direct to consumer (DTC) brands to follow is Haus. They are disrupting the alcohol industry with their unique DTC approach. Their CEO, Helena Price, is one of my favorite accounts to follow on social media. She's used her years of consulting experience and applied it to building a world-class alcohol brand. She recently did an Instagram Live with Matthew Kobach from the NYSE to talk about how to build brands. I took copious notes and wanted to share what I learned.

Lead with a problem. Many companies create a product and try to sell a solution. This process sounds great in theory, but in practice, it rarely works. There were two types of customers that were interested in Haus:

• The functional consumer was looking for a better beverage. They wanted to feel good about drinking and less "shitty" in the morning.

• The motivational consumer wanted a brand that represented them. A beverage they would be proud to see in their home.

In the words of Simon Sinek, they solved “The Why”. Haus solved the problem of creating an alcoholic beverage to satisfy the functional and motivational consumers. That’s why the majority of their growth over the years came from organic traffic. 80% of their customer growth still comes from that channel. Don't worry about how big the audience is, only worry if it's the right audience. An amazing product for the right audience will create immense value.

Brand positioning is a powerful differentiator. Haus positions itself as the alcoholic beverage of choice for bringing friends together. They use photography to help connect people and educate them about their brand. Millennials resonated with Haus because it represented their values and their generation. One of their most inspired decisions was using their packaging as a way to stand out. Many alcohol brands have boring packaging. Helena Price felt that if her bottle stood out, it would differentiate them from the competition. Thus, their bottles are designed to look like home decor. Many people, after finishing their drink, will keep the packaging in their house and use it as a vase or other home decoration.

Doing more for less. Haus epitomizes the scrappy startup. Helena shot their first photo shoot herself. She paid all of her friends to attend a dinner party and drink Haus. The photographs were a massive success. The authenticity resonated with consumers, and they imagined themselves at the dinner party. At the moment, they are experimenting with paid acquisition because it's inexpensive due to the coronavirus pandemic. If you can find underutilized acquisition channels, they can help transform growth in your business. Most importantly, you won't know if a channel works until you try it.

Building a product for success in the long run. Don't rest on your laurels. One of the biggest mistakes DTC brands make is they think of themselves as a DTC brand rather than thinking of it as a growth channel. Instead, they need to focus on brand building and being more strategic. Use all of your acquisition channels to leverage each other.

Consumers want brands that represent their values. Many legacy brands are being disrupted because of the internet. For the first time, legacy categories like toothpaste have competition. Anyone can launch a product and build on the internet, but if there is one thing I learned from Helena and Haus, authentic brands prevail in the long run.