May 2025 Progress Report
Much of our work at Doo Dah Apparel this year has been behind the scenes. We’ve yet to add new products to the website, and aside from updating our monthly promotions and our weekly Brand Spotlight and bogs, our website hasn’t changed much. But that doesn’t mean we haven’t been busy little beavers gnawing away to build a better company.
From an administrative perspective, we’ve switched to Klaviyo to help us manage our newsletters and relationships with our customers. Our newsletters are now being delivered directly to our customers’ inboxes rather than ending up in spam folders. Klaviyo will help us learn more about our customers, improve our relationships with them, and enhance retention, with the goal of increasing and driving sales. The more we learn about Klaviyo’s marketing features, the more excited we are to use them.
We haven’t begun to market effectively yet. We’ve placed adds on Instagram and Pinterest, but they’ve only scratched the surface in terms of what we need to do to generate interest in our company and products. One of the reasons we haven’t yet focused on advertising is that we’re trying to get the best return possible for our investment dollars. We’re waiting to add more of our own products to the website. Eventually, as an E-commerce brand, it will be essential to communicate our brand identity directly to a niche of customers.
We plan to make Informative and humorous videos to build an authentic advertising campaign. Short 5 to 10 second clips asking viewers to answer a question might be a good way to interact with potential customers. For example, we could offer a 15% promotional discount code on our website to a customer if they know who said “If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together.” Another good quote we could ask our viewers would be “We are what we grow beyond. That is the true version of Jedi masters.” I also like, “We cause as much pain by taking offense as by giving it.” Quoting luminaries is fun, and it would be an unlimited source of content for our videos. We could call the campaign “In one ear and out the other!”
It might be a good idea to produce longer comedic videos. I’ll need help filming them, but they could be fun. Perhaps we could create short Research & Development (R&D) skits that advertise our brand. For example, I could ask a worker in our R&D department to help cut costs by signing us up for Mint Mobile. Our forward-thinking R&D professionals could take “mint” literally by bringing me a cell phone wrapped in mint leaves. Every call will be minty fresh!
We’re excited about making our first zine this summer, which we’ll call The Doo Dah Daily. The zine will include articles about fashion, and we’ll talk about issues that appeal to our targeted customer demographic, young adults 16 to 30. The plan is to make one zine per month for three months, probably from the start of the school year in September through November. We will do our best to solicit as much interest as possible selling monthly subscriptions, and we’ll market advertising space to college journalism departments. We might also be able to market advertising space to sustainable clothing brands, and possibly any other socially responsible company interested in connecting with a younger generation of Americans.
We’ve spent quite a bit of time and effort this year planning, testing, and sourcing environmentally responsible materials to manufacture a TENCEL™️ Lyocell denim jacket at Red & Blue Denim here in Los Angeles, www.rednbluedenim.com. Christian Suh and Logan Taylor at Red & Blue have been remarkably helpful and patient throughout the entire process. I’m amazed at how professional they’ve been addressing and incorporating my feedback. After nearly a year of planning, we’re finally making our first sample jacket. Suzanne Hutchison at www.clotheswright.com is our tech pack specialist. Suzanne is helping us find the right fit, and it’s been an absolute pleasure working with her.
We’d like to give a shout-out to Philip at Unpossible Cuts, one of our hilariously charismatic jewelry vendors. Philip is raising money to purchase a UV Printer to expand production and offer customized jewelry designs to his customers. You can learn more about Unpossible Cuts at www.unpossiblecuts.com, and you can donate to his cause at:
Have a wonderful day!
Brett Bridgman
Doo Dah Apparel
