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7 Weird Reasons Willy’s Pies are the NEXT BIG challenger brand (… watch this space)
Dan Pope
August 02, 2024
7 Weird Reasons Willy’s Pies are the NEXT BIG challenger brand (… watch this space)
Look, there’s no RIGHT way to build a brand.
No blueprint.
No rules.
No way.
Willy’s Pies are the next big challenger brand. Here’s 7 Reasons why.
1.Great story + Product Quality
Will, an ex-chef at Michelin star restaurants BRAT and St John started hand making pies and delivering across London on push bike.
= quality + social proof when speaking to buyers.
Product is your greatest marketing weapon and secret salesman.
Willys Pies are 10/10 BANG-ing
2.Unique Category Play > Unique Selling Points
I wrote in a previous newsletter; Unique Selling Points are a waste of time.
Common thinking: pick an on trend category + find unique selling points (think Alt Meat or Gut healthy drinks)
The danger:
Crowded categories + crowded unique selling points + crowded brands. Crowded.
The easier way?
Find a Unique Category Play
Instead, step back.
Scan the categories
Pick a crusty category.
Disrupt and innovate there.
Giles Brook says “there can be a challenger brand in every single category”
Bold Bean Co to beans.
Tyrell’s to crisps.
Oatly to oat milk.
Jimmy’s to Iced Coffee
PerfectTed to matcha.
No one’s disrupted pies in Yonks.
Willy’s is.
Unique Category Play at it’s finest.
3.Secret Weapon of Mass Sampling Opportunism
NEVER been seen before.
Willy’s unlocked listings at Arsenal, Watford and Fulham club to sell pies on match day.
People talk about driving trial + awareness all the time.
It’s usually to 50 people at a Whole Foods Sampling or 2350 people gifting stock outside Waterloo station.
Selling Pies. Weekly. 100,000’s of people = Secret Weapon of Mass Sampling Opportunism
4.Hidden Slip Stream Channel
Every challenger brand must find a slip stream channel (somewhere no one is playing or seeing)
Premium Pies in football stadiums makes SO much sense.
No one saw it.
Till Willy’s did.
It’s a passport to huge growth.
If Willy’s become THE “premium football pie brand” they build a HUGE brand moat, that is nigh impossible to cross.
5.Brand Depth = Unique authentic connection
People ferociously wank over brand awareness.
No one talks about brand depth.
Brand depth = deep connection = true fans = word of mouth spreader.
Football fans relationship with their football club is one of THE deepest brand relationships.
Willys Pies are infiltrating this deeply unique experience.
Arsenal fans will remember the pie they ate when Declan Rice scored a 93rd minute goal.
Fulham fans will remember the pie they ate when they came back from 4 -1 down.
The genius?
Willys is infiltrating this deeply unique experience = building brand depth AND brand awareness.
A delicate, delectable dance.
Kevin Kelly’s 1000 true fans at scale.
6. Ian Wright, HUGE media personality is a key investor
Ian Wright is a media machine.
Garnering over millions of views each month on punditry, podcasts and social.
Ian Wright adds
Authority to the brand
Tonnes of eye balls to brand
Unlocks doors to more football clubs = more trial and awareness
Ian Wright deepens the “brand moat” even more, making it hard for people to cross.
7.Ocado Launch
Willy’s just launched into Ocado. If they build a great ROS there + Ian Wright personality. Other grocery retailers will come knocking in no time.
Willy’s Watch Outs
Keeping up with demand +maintaining quality. Sounds crazy, but, sometimes, too much opportunity all at once is dangerous.
Ideas to mitigate:
grow slowly. One football club at a time.
Frozen is amazing for shelf life and wastage. But in grocery has a cost - f*ck all people go down that aisle = hard driving shoppers there.
Ideas to mitigate:
Use socials to drive shoppers down that aisle. Amelia at Bold Bean is a master at this. No one went down the canned beans aisle. Till they did.
Huge Seasonality and Cash Flow Swings. Harry Clarke talked on the danger of seasonality Cash flow when building POPs.
Ideas to mitigate:
could Willy’s create unique summer pies to stay relevant during summer
export to countries whose winter is during our Summer I.e. New Zealand and Australia are HUGE pie eating nations too
Thanks so much for reading. Hope you have a banging weekend
Popey xx
Pretty-pease may you do me a huge favour, mate. This newsletter took me +18 hours to compile + write. It’ll take you literally 10 seconds to forward it on to a friend. Please may you ping it on to someone? We grow one recco at a time. Hugely grateful for you support xx
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