What’s interesting is that MERIT’s minimalism is doing real commercial work.
Fewer SKUs. Clear heroes. A five-minute routine.
That restraint makes their paid advertising smarter too. When you have clear heroes, you can truly scale moments like Black Friday, where Flush Balm became one of the top three SKUs on Shopify (which is pretty insane).
In a category addicted to more, MERIT is competing primarily on clarity. And that’s hard to copy.
My favorite part is how consistent the point of view is. Same story in the products, packaging, partnerships and data. That’s the bit most brands skip when they chase “more.” This was such a good feature!👌🏼
Haven't had the pleasure of trying their products just yet, but I'll always respect modern day brands like Merit and Saie for not being afraid to commit to restraint even with culture demanding to jump on everything.
"the value of looking beyond your category to build stronger brand equity" -- one of the most important points in PR + marketing!
I think there's been a lot of great brand partnerships over the last few years that exemplify this strategy/way of thinking, but there's still a long way to go in terms of marketers (on the client/in-house side, imho) stepping outside their bubbles and into a customer's shoes.
It's why PR (me) is often forced to (if smart) stay in-the-know on as much as possible in every category. You never know where your next great idea or inspiration will come from -- and insights often arrive at that unexpected intersection. ~
I’ve always been drawn to try merit but what’s interesting is that while their brand is ‘simple but effective’ I’ve also heard their packaging quality be one of the biggest complaints of users. Interested to see how that goes down the road.
What’s interesting is that MERIT’s minimalism is doing real commercial work.
Fewer SKUs. Clear heroes. A five-minute routine.
That restraint makes their paid advertising smarter too. When you have clear heroes, you can truly scale moments like Black Friday, where Flush Balm became one of the top three SKUs on Shopify (which is pretty insane).
In a category addicted to more, MERIT is competing primarily on clarity. And that’s hard to copy.
Minimalism here isn’t aesthetic - it’s a boundary system. The real competitor isn’t another brand; it’s complexity fatigue
My favorite part is how consistent the point of view is. Same story in the products, packaging, partnerships and data. That’s the bit most brands skip when they chase “more.” This was such a good feature!👌🏼
merit is so inspiring, loved this deep dive
"differentiation does not have to be loud to be effective" 🤎🤎
Haven't had the pleasure of trying their products just yet, but I'll always respect modern day brands like Merit and Saie for not being afraid to commit to restraint even with culture demanding to jump on everything.
🤎
"the value of looking beyond your category to build stronger brand equity" -- one of the most important points in PR + marketing!
I think there's been a lot of great brand partnerships over the last few years that exemplify this strategy/way of thinking, but there's still a long way to go in terms of marketers (on the client/in-house side, imho) stepping outside their bubbles and into a customer's shoes.
It's why PR (me) is often forced to (if smart) stay in-the-know on as much as possible in every category. You never know where your next great idea or inspiration will come from -- and insights often arrive at that unexpected intersection. ~
these visualizations are so fab, love it
Thank you 🤎
I’ve always been drawn to try merit but what’s interesting is that while their brand is ‘simple but effective’ I’ve also heard their packaging quality be one of the biggest complaints of users. Interested to see how that goes down the road.
Tempted for the cute little make up bag
Such a smart idea!