Direct-to-Consumer opportunities in MENA

- Build a clear value proposition (not just a ‘me-too’ products with lots of influencers thrown at it)

- Maintain an asset-light model and lean financials

- Start online but quickly move offline (never pure-DTC, more like DTC as part of an omnichannel strategy)

- Optimize the customer-brand experience (and are present at every step of the journey)

As customer acquisition costs rapidly increase, due to higher CPM rates and lower efficiency, the 2014 strategy of cutting costs by stripping out the middle-man no longer works. To be successful (read profitable), DTC needs to get a few critical things right:

- Obsess over ‘data’ in everything they do

- Start with one product/ solution (not two, not ten. One thing!)