HUBBLE

CONTACT
LENSES
IMC CASE ANALYSIS
WHAT AND HOW OF DTC
• Direct-to-consumer (or D2C) companies
manufacture and ship their products directly
to buyers without relying on traditional
stores or other middlemen
• This allows D2C companies to sell their
products at lower costs than traditional
consumer brands, and to maintain end-to-
end control over the making, marketing, and
distribution of products
• Some of the Indian D2C brads are Lenskart,
Bombay Shaving Co., Beardo
SUCCESS MANTRA OF DTC BRANDS

• These brands are not built on their brands, paradoxically. Instead, they are built on a deep
understanding of technology platforms such as Amazon, Facebook, Instagram and cloud-based services
like Amazon Web Services (AWS)
• They also understand that mobile is central to the DTC experience. They know how to be digitally
dominant in Google’s search.
• The second aspect of these brands is the understanding of the ‘long tail’ and the ‘fat tail’
• Classic FMCG brands spend millions on brand and image advertising. DTC brands cannot afford to
brand-build their way to bankruptcy. None of your brand recognition, awareness and familiarity
measures for these folks.
• DTC brands go for a direct-response strategy taken straight from the old direct marketing methods, and
often combined this with a ‘shock-and-awe’ launch that grabs attention, which converts into to Google
searches and website traffic.
• ‘Sales overnight, brand over time’ is their mantra.
SUCCESS MANTRA OF DTC BRANDS

• DTC startups have over their incumbent competitors – a better grasp on the real dynamics of
selling online. They have leveraged the visual aspect of Instagram and used highly targeted
Facebook ads to grow their audiences. They have worked out how to get SEO to compound over
time and to create shareable graphics, visuals and copy. They know how direct response and
calls to action work. They know how to create referrals from third-party sites. They leverage
trends like customer ‘unboxing’ videos and blog reviews. They know that consumers actually
take more time online than when shopping in physical stores
• The final element is logistics and supply chain. Most often they are vertically integrated,
controlling everything from manufacturing to deliver of the products to the end consumer
• This control over the supply chain means that the brand can control the end-to-end experience
of selection, purchase and customer service.
• The ownership of the total customer experience is more important than the product itself

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THE HUBBLE STORY
Background
• Over 30 million people in the U.S. wear contact
lenses, yet less than one-third of them use the
most hygienic and healthy option available –
daily disposable lenses.

Affordable Vision
• Co-founded by Ben Cogan and Jesse Horwitz in
2016 as a low-cost alternative to expensive
contact lenses. The company manufactures and
sells daily-use contact lenses via an online
subscription, allowing Americans to see clearly
on a budget of just $30 a month.
• Hubble aims to make daily lenses affordable for
their tens of thousands of subscribers so they
don't have to choose between their health and 5
BUSINESS MODEL

• Hubble has a simple supply chain that

consists of a manufacturer in Taiwan,
a freight forwarder, a fulfillment
center, and a packaging centre
• The company’s manufacturer,
St. Shine, is one of the largest
producers of contact lenses in the
world.
• In 2016, Hubble signed an exclusive
contract with St. Shine to sell daily
contacts in the United States
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 Click icon to add picture

INDUSTRY DYNAMICS
75% of Americans required some type of Vision
correction
- 64% wore eyeglasses
- 12% (40million people) wore contact lenses
- The $4 billion U.S market was dominated by four
companies that collectively controlled 70% of the
market share
• Johnson & Johnson (Acuvue)
• Valeant (Bausch & Lomb)
• Cooper Vision (multiple brands)
• Novertis (Alcon)
- Categories of contact lenses – Conventional, Daily or
Extended wear
- Customers purchased lenses to correct vision & avoid
wearing glasses
- Some wore them every day, while others only for
sports or special occasions
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CASE SCENARIO
• The case talks about growth of Hubble from
2016 to 2018 and how it grew from relatively
unknown brand to one of the fastest growing
DTC brands
• It details the marketing strategies adopted by
the company and the success achieved so far
• Hubble primarily focussed on digitally led
marketing strategy but with more funds
flowing in, it had to plan their strategies that
will drive their future growth

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TARGET AUDIENCE
• Age Group – 15 -45 years
• Urban millennial women
o Women outnumber men in the usage of contact lenses
• Price sensitive consumers: 60% came from households with annual income of
$50000
• Young consumers
• Consumers who wore lenses everyday
• Occasional users, have medical issues with conventional contacts, find contacts
uncomfortable or would prefer more disposable lenses
• Consumers who exclusively wear glasses
 Click icon to add picture

CHALLENGES
• Lesser known brand, not many
consumers are aware about the
brand as against the competing brand
Acuvue
• Doctors are even lesser aware about
Hubble, generating lesser number of
prescriptions

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IMC STRATEGY
CATEGORY BUILDING
• One of Hubble’s goals is to grow the
market of daily disposable contact
lenses
• Currently in the U.S., daily
disposables are just under 30
percent of the contact lens market.
icon
• Recruited Optometrists who would
fit and prescribe its contacts
• Company spent ninety-five percent
of their ad dollars on Facebook
during the first 6 months
• Leveraged Instagram & Twitter to
reach out to the urban millennial
community
• Advertising on digital & TV
• PR – Informative articles & User
Generated Content
• Brand Alliances & Partnerships
DIGITAL LED MARKETING FOLLOWED
BY INTEGRATED MEDIA
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ADVERTISING
• Digital ads on other social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat and
other traditional offline channels such as podcasts, radio and television
• Google Adwords and Google Display Ads and direct mail campaigns
• Hubble used two metrics to track digital advertising ROI: Lifetime Value of the customer (LTV) and
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
• Brand signed up to track 6 nationally aired TV ad campaigns that 1,404 airings and earned an airing
rank of #683

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FACEBOOK
• Initially 95% of Hubble contact lenses ad dollars were
spent on Facebook
• This lead generation campaign was to assess market
interest in affordable disposable contact lenses
• This data was key to raising a USD 3.7 million seed fund
before launch, which gave the brand the capital to lean
heavily into marketing from day one
• Brand spends 3 million impressions a day on Facebook
ads
• A month long campaign got the brand: 3,000 leads
(approximate) at USD 2.30 average cost per lead
• 21.5% increase in new subscriptions per week
• Further they focussed on increasing the number of video
creatives, resulting in better overall ad performance
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TWITTER, INSTAGRAM & SNAPCHAT
• Hubble is the first Instagram-friendly contact lens
brand
• Leveraged real-time users to Tweet and Instagram
their boxes
• The company’s Instagram handle, appeared at the
top, used colourful boxes in peach, blue, yellow and
green
• On Snapchat- the brand used short video ad’s to three
to five seconds or less, it featured one strong call-to-
action and key message
• Hubble used this strategy to get new subscribers for
its free two-week trial and saw 2.5 times subscriber
growth

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PINTEREST

• On Pinterest, we found our audience with a mix of

targeting tactics: actalikes, engagement, keyword
search, retargeting and interests
• main KPI (key performance indicator) is cost per
acquisition
• We reduced our cost for new prospects to a 10%
lower rate than our average cost per acquisition
• Pinterest CPA was 5% lower than the CPA for our
total blended channels

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BRAND PARTNERSHIPS
• Tie-up with Optometrists who encouraged patients to
purchase Hubble contact lenses on the spot – this helped
to drive new business through ophthalmologists
• Hubble also targeted online platform Zocdoc where listed
doctors received patient referrals

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BRANDING & PACKAGING

• Engaged with Athletics to build the brand identity, packaging system, and digital experience that
would streamline the process of ordering contact lenses
o Colourful website – to make the brand more fun
o Recyclable colourful boxes – to bring in lifestyle aspect
• Created a custom Shopify e-commerce platform where Hubble’s proprietary optometrist API were
integrated into this core infrastructure, meaning subscribers could search a national database of
participating optometrists
o Used crispy, friendly characters and icons guide customers through experience
o A hyper streamlined questionnaire makes the process more conversational and effortless
o Mobile friendly website that provides native touch controls and supports best user experience

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PR
• Positioned as a successful startup with innovative way to
reach consumer, became the media favourite at a time, when
startups were darling of media
• Earned media coverage in leading publications such as New
York Times, GQ, Forbes, TechCrunch and Vogue
• Experimented with paid content with listicles in publications
like GQ on ‘6 Reasons to Buy Hubble’
• User Generated Content – Excited consumers uploaded
photographs on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and others
blogged about the company
• Quizzes were more effective for driving engagement, even
though it did not drive sales
• Hubble contact lenses was not too keen on investing in PR as
it did not generate immediate sales ROI

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RESULTS (WHAT WORKED FOR HUBBLE)
•Consumer Behaviour Understanding: Most consumers search for contact lenses online, hence having a focused
digital strategy worked well for customer acquisition
•Facebook Advertising
•21.5% increase in new subscriptions per week
•Sustained low CPA from Facebook ad campaigns
•Over 150 ad creatives submitted within first month
•Increased number of video creatives, resulting in better overall ad performance
•Pinterest
•Online contact lens provider caught the eye of a new audience with a Promoted Pin campaign, attracting
customers with a 15% higher lifetime value for a 10% lower cost per acquisition
•TV Advertising
•When they launched their first TV ad campaign, website traffic jumped between 11% and 1100%
•Programmatic Advertising
•Hubble grew sales in these markets by 6% at an acquisition cost that beat its target by 10%
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THE CURRENT DILEMMA
• Identifying right marketing channels for customer acquisition
and retention – Digital vs Television
• Should Hubble contact lenses focus on long-term brand
building vs short-term digital marketing activities
• Customer Acquisition/Sales vs Brand Building

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RECOMMENDATIONS

• Building the Brand through Earned PR – To create a long-term halo effect and trust on the brand
• Partnerships with Brands that are aligned with your community
• Leveraging Events - Product ad placements that target significant events from a person’s life like his
first date, last day of school, the first day of college, new job, and marriage. These are the events
when a person really wants to feel confident and at their best
• Build Trust by Influencer Engagement: Tie-up with Health, Lifestyle & Fashion bloggers who have
high engagement on social media to provide a testimony for Hubble contact lenses through blog
posts that have a call to action
• Content Marketing – Draft relevant content that can be propagated on websites that enhance SEO
• YouTube Marketing – Identify and partner with YouTubers from different genres of health, fashion,
accessories etc. who have humongous influence on their target audience
• Sponsoring Podcasts - Find out where the users are listening to podcast and partner up with them
to really provide value and insight around your products and brand

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TEAM

VIKRAM KHARVI RICHA SETH ASMITA MURKAR SHAMAL POTE

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THANK YOU