Selling Premium Products, Acquiring Customers Off Amazon, and Getting Influencers with Athletic Greens

Establishing a premium products brand is no easy task. The higher price point that is characteristic of premium products scares most brand builders away. They'd rather settle for a more affordable product that appeals to a broader audience. They believe that approach will generate more sales. But more sales are not what is most important when it comes to premium products. Product quality and a commitment to excellence are what sets them apart. Ryan's guest on this episode is Chris Ashenden, founder of Athletic Greens. In this conversation, he shares the journey from small startup to becoming a premium products brand that does things outside the realm of what's normal, on a number of levels.

Why your product is the best possible marketing tool you have.

When building a premium products brand, a commitment to producing the best product available is vital when it comes to marketing. It's not only about the number of eyeballs that see your advertisements nor is it only about getting big-name influencers to endorse your product. Your product itself sets a standard that is hard for the competition to reach, much less exceed. That in itself sets you up for higher pricing and a more loyal following in the end. Ryan digs deep into the journey of Athletic Greens with the company's founder, Chris Ashenden, on this episode of Freedom Fast Lane.

Nutritional product sales using a subscription model: Unheard of but incredibly successful.

Recurring monthly income is a gold mine when it comes to e-commerce. But it's not the typical way a product based business is able to operate. But the team at Athletic Greens has learned how to make it happen for their premium product green supplements. If you're at all curious how they were able to set up a subscription-based model that retains customers over the long term then you will want to hear this conversation between Ryan and the company's founder, Chris Ashenden. Chris thinks way outside the box and what he shares will challenge you to rethink what you know or think you know about product-based businesses.

If what you're doing doesn't match your brand mission you need to stop it.

As Chris and his team built the Athletic Greens brand they did all kinds of things to both learn who they were as a company and to figure out the best ways to market and sell their products. That is normal for most businesses but the unique thing about what happened in their journey is that though many of the things they tried were very profitable, they gave them up when they realized those things didn't match their brand mission. Initially they took a hit financially, but in the long run, those decisions served to move their brand forward like nothing else. Find out why Chris believes that brand consistency matters more than sales volume, on this episode of Freedom Fast Lane.

Knowing and targeting your audience gives greater success than broad stroke marketing campaigns.

Every company has to determine how it is going to go about marketing its products. Marketing is the lifeblood of customer acquisition and company profitability. But the common approach to marketing is not always the best. The Athletic Greens team determined that they were better off taking the time to discover the type of person who is most likely to use their products and then target them, and only them. On this episode founder Chris Ashenden describes the benefits they have seen from doing targeted, smaller marketing campaigns.

Outline Of This Great Episode

• [0:22] Ryan's prediction about how much this episode is going to help you.
• [3:53] Why athletic greens has become so much more successful than its competition.
• [6:28] The impact influencers have and the most natural way to get their attention.
• [7:28] How and why Chris' team developed a subscription model for their products.
• [13:26] Carrying the momentum gained by a mention in The Four Hour Body.
• [17:27] How Athletic Greens approaches marketing and promotions.
• [21:15] How company growth did not translate into success.
• [24:00] Sticking to their guns when it comes to premium pricing.
• [28:58] Why the marketing approach Athletic Greens takes is slow but steady.
• [33:47] Advertising priorities: audience targeted, smaller campaigns.
• [38:09] Has being on Amazon changed the overall strategy of the business?
• [41:03] What it takes to follow up the first amazing, successful product.
• [43:50] Finding really great people to build one person's vision.

Action Steps From This Episode

FOR GETTING STARTED: Make sure you focus on two things: First, understand exactly who you are trying to reach. That's what will enable you to target your products to the people who will be willing to pay for it. Second, make your product state-of-the-art for whatever it is. Don't compromise quality for anything.

FOR GREATER SUCCESS: Secondary products need to be a result of discovering what your existing customer base wants and needs. That enables you to build a quick-selling, market-tested sales process.

Connect With Today's guest: Chris Ashenden

• Athletic Greens
• Chris on Twitter
• Chris on Facebook

Resources Mentioned On This Episode

• The Freedom Fast Lane Backroom: www.FreedomFastLane.com/backroom OR www.Capitalism.com/Backroom
• BOOK: The Four Hour Body
• Taboola - advertising platform
• Dropbox
• BOOK: The Little Big Things