One new sleep brand. Four 9-figure executives. Five packaging concepts on the table.
How should you decide? Which did we choose?
If you’ve even wondered about design + branding … here’s our entire process.
1️⃣ Audit the category + find the gap
2️⃣ Design with high conviction
3️⃣ Sell to the untapped market
4️⃣ Avoid competitor’s colors
5️⃣ Get real-time market feedback
>50% of shopify brands do NOT peak during BFCM
If you try to compete in the Meta auction, strong gifting brands like mine will demolish you.
Swimwear
Patio furniture
Gardening
Medical supplies
Pet things
Do not listen to any BFCM advice. It is not for you.
Shoplift, a CRO platform for Shopify brands - WE ARE USING IT FOR Winks - benchmarked their entire catalog across 28 verticals.
Look at outdoor.
AOV is at its lowest in December and at its peak in Feb.
The pet category has its highest conversion rate in June. Beverage has its best revenue per visitor in August.
What should you do?
The pros at Northbeam x Shoplift are running a 60-min masterclass for the "other half" of brands who need a different holiday playbook.
October 8th at 11am et
100% free
You will leave with:
- Spend forecast for BFCM
- Short list of CRO tactics
- Plan for early Dec, when CPMs fall
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Mike Beckham
CEO, Simple Modern
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How We Created Winks’ Brand Identity
One year ago we hired designer Chris Ganz (ex-PepsiCo + Frito-Lay) to create Winks’ branding.
The name came from the old saying “40 winks.” We shortened it to one syllable. Easy to say, easy to remember, and already connected to sleep.
Chris started by auditing the sleep category.
- Olly made vitamins playful
- Beam sells a lifestyle
- Som leads with clinical proof
Where does Winks fit in?
The original plan was to go after families with young kids, 12 or under. It’s an untapped market. There isn’t a product all that kid friendly for sleep besides ZzzQuil.
A lot of supplement brands feel like they’re built for the biohacker who tracks and optimizes everything. We kept coming back to the parent who just wants everyone in the house to get some sleep.
Now we’ve narrowed our focus to specifically targeting moms.
Mom may be struggling with her own sleep, dealing with a kid who won’t sleep, or both. She’s also likely to be the person who introduces the product to the rest of the house.
Family was our north star when we started looking at designs.
Chris presented us with five concepts. Below are our thoughts on each along with how and why we picked the winner.
Concept 1 ❌
Uses a semicolon as the winking “i” in Winks.
We all liked this a lot. If it weren’t for the final design Chris showed us, we probably would have chosen this one. It’s easy to text, it’s memorable, and the light blue is a great color for sleep.
Matt especially liked the idea of owning the semicolon. The same mark could work on a bag, in an email, or in a text.
Concept 2 ❌
Soft serif with a crescent-moon dot.
We had two immediate problems with this design.
- The color didn’t code to sleep
- It’s too similar to AG1 green
Sure enough, AG1 launched their sleep supplement in August last year. So we dodged a bullet.
However, we did like how visible the ingredients were. That felt important for building trust with parents.
But overall, this was an easy pass.
Concept 3 ❌
Retro-modern type anchored by a large circular icon.
Chris liked that the large circle would be recognizable from a distance or when the packaging was small on a phone screen. Strong dual purpose for DTC or (someday) retail.
Matt wanted more emphasis on the name. He thought the Winks name from concept one + semicolon were more memorable.
Concept 4 ❌
A winking face front and center.
This was a crowd favorite. The color is good for sleep and, from a kid’s perspective, they would understand the smile and wink right away.
Chris also showed three versions of the face: awake, winking, and asleep.
We liked that there was a simple sequence built into the design. It gave us something to work with around a nighttime routine.
Concept 5 ✅
This was the winner. Full-tilt playful with a cozy monster mascot.
Chris worked with Charlie Warren, my graphic designer, on this concept. Charlie helped with the logo and drew the monster.
After seeing the character, Chris started thinking about the story behind it. As a kid, you might be afraid of a monster keeping you awake. He thought this could be a friendly monster that wants you to come back to sleep.
Curtis’ 11-year-old daughter actually giggled when she saw the design.
She also loved stuffed animals. So Curtis immediately started talking about making the monster into a plush toy. What if it came as a subscription gift? What if the character on the package was also sitting on your kid’s bed?
Later, Chris described it as “your bedtime bestie.”
We could see how the idea might expand into sleep masks, different characters for different flavors, and a whole family of little monsters.
Matt had seen something similar with Lomi. Customers were putting faces on their machines and referring to them as members of the family. That made him interested in giving Winks a character people could connect with.
But there was a tradeoff.
Matt pointed out that this design felt like a real commitment to families. If we chose it, we were probably saying goodbye to some of the hardcore performance and biohacker crowd.
In the end, we were okay with that. Trying to appeal to everybody would make it harder to give Winks a personality.
It Wasn’t Quite That Simple
That’s the highlight reel. It makes this decision look simpler than it was. The truth is there was a lot of back and forth.
After the first presentation, we asked Chris to try combining the things we liked most.
He came back with two directions: a winking cloud character built around the semicolon, and a refined version of the monster.
He tried the semicolon in the monster logo, too. It didn’t fit the lettering and personality as well as we’d hoped.
The decision still wasn’t unanimous. Sean and Matt liked the cloud direction. Curtis said he’d normally go for clean lines, but something about the little furry monster made him laugh.
Matt made a good point: “I like number one, but I don’t know that I’m the customer.” We agreed the next step was to get the designs in front of moms and kids.
Ultimately, we went with the monster.
It felt like a commitment to the family we wanted to reach. It stood out on the package. We could envision it becoming a little part of someone’s bedtime.
Of course, none of that really matters.
The only thing that matters is if it’ll sell.
Over the weekend, Cody texted our group: “Working on a big website change now.”
The result was a wholesale deemphasis on the friendly monster replaced with an more elevated focus on sleep itself driving toward our premium ingredients.
That was true for the homepage as well as our landers.
We didn’t abandon the design system.
In Cody’s words:
“On site rn focus is proving we’re worth the cost.
“Leaning toward longevity/health benefits of sleep.
“Biggest learning is formula is premium but nothing about our branding or marketing is.”
The lessons are clear. Design, branding, and packaging should follow a framework. Do 1–4 as best you can. That’s what we did.
But just know, number five is where the buck stops.
1️⃣ Audit the category + find the gap
2️⃣ Design with high conviction
3️⃣ Sell to the untapped market
4️⃣ Avoid competitor’s colors
5️⃣ Get real-time market feedback
Building a New Sleep Brand’s Product Packaging
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Andrew Youderian
Founder, eComFuel
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From The Trenches: Three Things Operators Are Building + Battling
Last month, hundreds of operators shared what’s working (and what’s not) on the eComFuel forum; across 2,556 comments.
Here are the highlights.
1. Owners Build Their Own SaaS
For a while, owners were only building small internal apps with AI.
But ambitions have grown. Operators are replacing apps like Klaviyo, Zendesk and Shipstation with their own custom + internal solutions.
100+ hour builds are common. That said, nobody is dreaming of launching their own SaaS.
Owners are most excited about software that’s wired directly into their own data, with crazy-deep integration and automation built specifically for their business.
2. De Minimis Reform Collateral Damage
The end of de minimis, the exemption that let sub-$800 shipments enter the U.S. duty-free, was great news for most American sellers.
But it stung deeply for a few Canadian companies shipping individual orders to the U.S., and American companies fulfilling just-in-time from overseas.
Overnight, every package became a full customs rigamarole instead of a straightforward declaration. A year after reform, the rules are still in flux with shipping platforms not always generating compliant paperwork.
Brands have had to hire compliance help, move fulfillment stateside, or both. It’s been expensive.
Reform was needed. But it’s rough to watch great indie brands take a sustained hit from a rule aimed at Temu and Shein.
3. Humanizing Package Inserts
Your package is the one thing you ship that gets a 100% open rate. Is a discount coupon really your best option?
Edward Wimmer IV, founder of RoadID.com, shared publicly on the ECF podcast what they do: every order includes a card featuring the actual person who packed it. Name, photo, fun facts, and a personal note.
Customers write back to their packer constantly, and the warehouse team packs with more pride. It kicked off a killer discussion in the community.
With thanks and anticipation,
Aaron Orendorff
🤓 Chief Executive Officer
P.S. (Disclaimer): Special thanks to Shoplift for sponsoring today’s newsletter.