This is an episode of the Glossy Fashion Podcast, which features candid conversations about how today’s trends are shaping the future of the fashion industry. More from the series →
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts • Spotify
In February, Ariel Stoddard joined 13-year-old MeUndies as its chief revenue officer, transitioning from Fabletics where she spearheaded the launch of its menswear and scrubs categories. Now, she has grand growth plans for MeUndies, which has for years experienced double-digit growth and profitability.
Earlier this month, Stoddard drove the launch of a new brand direction with a campaign dubbed “Welcome to the Underworld.” But, in evolving MeUndies, she and her team are ensuring its valuable existing customers are along for the ride.
“They have extremely high LTVs, and they are very loyal. Many of them have been with the brand for many, many years and counting,” Stoddard said on the latest episode of the Glossy Podcast. “That’s part of our secret sauce: We have always been community-focused on the people who have been with us and given us that loyalty; we always keep them in mind.”
Also on the podcast, Stoddard discussed MeUndies’ latest campaign strategy and its plan to remain “flexible” this holiday shopping season. Highlights from the conversation, below, have been lightly edited for clarity.
The customer opportunity
“When you think about opportunity at MeUndies, I really would take it back to our existing customer base. We are very much known for our fun, quirky prints. A lot of people know us for our ‘match me’ section of the site, where you can very easily buy something for you and something for your partner, or whomever you’d like to match with. And those customers have been incredibly loyal supporters of the brand. You really don’t see a higher LTV from any other group of customers that we have. … But we don’t only have fun, quirky prints; we also have incredible basic styles. If you’re the type of person who wakes up and is like, ‘I just want one of my 100 pairs of black underwear,’ we have that for you, too. But the difference between us and all of those other brands out there… is the quality. … You can’t really fake it if you don’t have the right product that customers want — there’s not much you can do. … And so I want more people like me — who don’t necessarily want to put avocados on their butt but want really high-quality underwear and want to treat themselves and feel good — I want that whole cohort of customers to know MeUndies and to be excited about what we bring to the table.”
The new MeUndies
“It is a big, important moment for us. ‘Welcome to the Underworld’ is what we’re calling our new brand platform, and with it, we’re aiming to, kind of, redefine the role of underwear in people’s lives. Think about it as infusing some intentionality into what is really a daily ritual. When you wake up in the morning and you reach into your underwear drawer and you’re picking out that pair, we want to invite you into the underworld. It’s your own private playground. You can really embrace what’s happening beneath the surface for you in that moment, in that day: How are you feeling? Are you looking for confidence? Are you looking to feel sexy? What do you want, and how can we bring that to you? This campaign will go live across lots of different channels: our website, paid media, out of home — and it’s really gonna open people’s eyes to what MeUndies is all about, cutting through the noise of what has become quite a crowded market. … I love that play and push-and-pull between performance marketing and brand marketing. Companies these days are really trying to figure out what is going to work best in what is a very quickly evolving environment. We’ve always invested in both.”
Holiday plans
“Q4 is obviously so important for so many brands out there, including us. … This year is obviously interesting because we’ve got the election, and so everyone’s talking, everyone’s buzzing about: Are customers going to show up? Are they going to shop? Are CPMs going to skyrocket? Obviously, they are, right? Because of all of the election coverage and advertising. But, at the end of the day, people are just out there living their lives in Q4, and we want to meet them where they are — getting into their minds, giving them great deals that excite them, and giving them amazing products that feel so super giftable and that gets them excited about going to the holiday party or gifting their family and their loved ones. So we’re all about it. We’re excited. We’re gonna be flexible. We’re gonna just see what happens and take it as it comes. And then what’s interesting for us, specifically, is we go straight into our next peak season, which is Valentine’s Day.”