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Advice Line with Kenneth Cole
Brief
The second call was from Emma Fawade (Israela Kobla), a Toronto designer who said the brand does just under $400K annually and relies on wholesale (~70–85% revenue, eight Nordstrom doors) after Hudson's Bay folded. Guy and Kenneth discussed wholesale’s trade-offs: distribution scale vs. limited brand control. Practical advice included inserting storytelling cards or QR codes in retailer packaging to capture emails, register products for repair/care, and offer exclusive drops—using wholesale reach to seed direct relationships while accepting that retailers will resist tactics that primarily benefit the vendor. Cole also recommended being ruthlessly succinct about brand positioning—don’t try to be everything—and noted pop-up or owned retail can serve as marketing investments if used to tell the brand story in your own terms. The final caller, Levi Case (Swing Sculpt), who tracks club-head paths into one-of-a-kind metal sculptures, reported ~$25K sales in year one and asked how to reduce purchase friction for a novel product. Answers focused on emotional marketing (Father’s Day, gifts, memories), richer demos and testimonials, pro/club partnerships to capture swings on-site, and product-line expansion (other sports, figurative options, smaller price tiers) to broaden addressable markets. Across calls Kenneth returned to two consistent themes: listen to customers, build repeated relationships, and combine commerce with authentic social purpose rather than treating CSR as an afterthought.
Why it matters
Kenneth Cole (guest) emphasized building emotional connection and repeat customers over one-time sales, advising founders to “sell them again and again” and to give people “what they want, but not how they expect it.”
Key details
- Matt Jacobs (caller, Pedestrian Project) reported ~3 years in market, ~$500,000 revenue in the prior year, DTC + Amazon origin, and national retail placement at Sprouts; he asked whether to chase share of the existing $4 billion U.S. footcare category or invest in category-education.
- Kenneth and Guy recommended prioritizing early conversion channels (Amazon/search and retail like Sprouts) and then layering in education/brand narrative and partnerships (influencers, experiential events) once acquisition is working.
- Emma Fawade / Amifa (caller, Israela Kobla) said the Toronto-made womenswear label did just under $400K last year, with ~70–85% of revenue from wholesale (Nordstrom: 8 doors) after Hudson’s Bay collapse; she asked how to convert wholesale exposure into repeat D2C customers.
- Kenneth advised using wholesale as distribution while using insert cards/QR-driven registration (repairs, care, exclusive drops) to capture customer data and build direct relationships; he warned that wholesale often functions more as distribution than marketing.
- Levi Case (caller, Swing Sculpt) launched March last year, reported about $25K in sales, and has ~14K Instagram / 1K TikTok followers; callers and Kenneth suggested leaning into emotional use-cases (Father’s Day, retirement), more social proof/demo videos, experiential partnerships (country clubs, tournaments) and expanding into other sports/high-school market to broaden demand.