After launching on Kickstarter in 2013, the brand’s flagship Ridge Wallet now sits in the front pockets of over 2 million people across the globe.
We sat down with Connor MacDonald, CMO of The Ridge, to dive into how Disco supports the company’s long-standing ethos of diversified marketing channels. We dive deep on:
- The difficulty of optimization post-purchase flows for conversion
- Why teaming up with similar brands drives outsized audience growth
- How The Ridge plans to leverage the Disco network for partner exposure
“All brands are collectively creating immense value, which can then be equitably and cyclically redistributed to one another. Disco has been of such high value for us in this way. Honestly, my only regret is not signing up for Disco earlier.”
The Early Days: Pre-Disco Growth Channels
In their early years, according to Connor, the exceptional product-market fit of the Ridge Wallet brought intense profitability, organic growth, and traction to the brand.
Now, nearly a decade later, most revenue comes from direct sales on the brand’s website and digital channels like Amazon, where “Ridge Wallet” regularly generates high search volume.
However, the Ridge Wallet is also guaranteed for life — meaning low repurchase rates and an emphasis on continually expanding The Ridge’s marketing mix for unique acquisitions.
For instance, The Ridge’s marketing teams boast a sizable budget for frequent experimentation with both traditional and unexplored channels and platforms, including growth avenues like:
- Snapchat — The Ridge was an early direct-response advertiser on the visual platform and was even mentioned in Snap’s 2018 earnings call as a high-success advertiser
- Traditional ad methods — Primarily linear television and direct mail
- Programmatic influencer deals — Across TikTok, YouTube, Instagram
- Less mainstream digital tooling — Including Google Display and LiveIntent
On the other end of the user journey, Connor points to post-purchase flows, primarily for driving LTV, as another significant consideration for the Ridge team.
The Ridge Wallet, with an AOV of around $100, poses a legitimate investment for many customers, especially those who are accustomed to lower-end, generic wallets.
As a result, the Ridge team strives to upgrade post-purchase experiences in two respects:
- Product education — Providing unboxing videos and accessible channels for customer support so users can effectively maximize their investment
- One-of-a-kind branding experiences — Plain-text emails from The Ridge team members welcoming customers/buyers to the community, highlighting the human beginnings of the brand in a father-son founding team, and pulling in reputable creator and brand partners
Pre-Disco: Underwhelming Post-Purchase UX
Beyond these two avenues, Connor recounts early struggles in crafting great post-purchase experiences for buyers. Before Disco, The Ridge mainly presented barebones, “Thank you for your purchase” pages, with a post-purchase survey and options for package tracking.
It was, as Connor describes, likely an overly conservative UX for post-purchase, mainly because the team was determined to avoid seeming overly transactional or spammy. However, the potential to drive immediate conversions through that post-purchase was lost completely.
“The Ridge has really been built on having a diverse marketing mix, expanding and scaling within those channels, and then ensuring buyers actually feel great when using and about the product — after the fact of the purchase.”
The Untapped Potential of Brand Partnerships
Due to The Ridge’s long-time focus on a diverse mix of marketing channels, Connor had been familiar with the acquisition potential that came from leveraging other brands.
This eventually led to his discovering Disco through Twitter, as well as the platform’s communal, partnership-first approach to sustainable acquisitions and growth.
In his words, he was on board with Disco from day one.
After all, being able to access the active shoppers of similar DTC men’s brands was, for the marketing strategists behind The Ridge, the key to unlocking their perfect user.
“Having had such a focus on diversifying our marketing, I was acutely aware of how valuable other brands could be as one of those avenues to acquisition. That’s how I really came to believe in Disco’s vision of partnership-first growth.”