Tricia McKinnon
The Growth Strategy Behind Goop, a Brand Owned by Gwyneth Paltrow
Goop, the lifestyle brand owned by Gwyneth Paltrow, has grown from a weekly newsletter into a $250 million empire by following a successful growth strategy. Paltrow focused on building a loyal following before monetizing, waiting several years before venturing into eCommerce. Goop also found success by identifying white space in the market and setting trends instead of following them. The brand entered the clean beauty space early and analyzed website traffic to generate novel ideas. Additionally, goop has diversified its revenue streams by offering books, offline experiences, and partnerships. Finally, goop created a strong community of fans through live events and physical stores, recognizing the value of face-to-face communication in the digital era.
It all began in 2008 when Paltrow sent her first weekly newsletter which focused on lifestyle advice to family and friends. A year later the newsletter had nearly 150,000 (View Highlight)
Paltrow has even said that she aspires for goop to be like Disney where Goop generates revenues through: “online retail, offline experiences, ad partnerships and more.” (View Highlight)
At the time Kreuzberger revealed that on average one of goop’s pop ups will have 10 sponsors, each contributing an average of $100,000 with some paying in the seven figures. (View Highlight)
Create a strong community of fans. The New York Times says there are three Cs which are central to the digital era: “community, conversation and content”. (View Highlight)
As much as eCommerce has grown it doesn’t beat face to face communication. As former Burberry CEO and former head of retail for Apple, Angela Ahrendts has said: “I think as humans we still need gathering places.” “And when you are serving digital natives, the thing they long for more than anything is human connection. Eye contact.” (View Highlight)