Growth Masterclass with ex-Who Gives a Crap Head of Growth Jenna Tanenbaum (episode 509)
Jenna Tanenbaum was Head of Growth at DTC toilet paper success story Who Gives a Crap for nearly 4 years. She now runs the performance creative and UGC marketing agency Ostrich.
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Dive in:
[04:24] Career journey from banking to digital marketing.
[08:30] Who Gives a Crap: Sustainable toilet paper, global impact.
[11:44] Profits can be used in various ways.
[14:50] Strong brand, culture, risk, hiring, empowerment, evolving.
[17:56] Digital marketing dynamics have rapidly evolved.
[21:25] Listen to Jenna’s Top Tips!
Jenna’s Origin Story
Jenna’s journey into eCommerce was anything but traditional. After a corporate career in anti-money laundering, she took a bold millennial leap and quit her job to explore new opportunities. This led to a startup in New York City, where she discovered a passion for digital marketing. Jenna’s first marketing role was at ClassPass, where she was the company’s first marketing hire, focusing on organic marketing and customer loyalty. Her entrepreneurial spirit led her to create GreenBlender, a meal kit company. Eventually, Jenna joined Who Gives A Crap (WGAC), where she played a key role in the company’s impressive growth.
Lessons from Leading Growth at Who Gives a Crap
Jenna learned valuable lessons about balancing growth and profitability during her time at WGAC. Contrary to popular belief, she found that donating 50% of profits actually boosted customer loyalty, reduced marketing costs, and increased repeat purchases. Jenna emphasized that a strong product and a resonant brand are essential for success. To achieve sustainable growth, WGAC focused on four key strategies: a clear company culture, risk-taking, hiring innovative talent, and empowering employees. These elements helped WGAC remain agile, relevant, and competitive in the market.
Handling Content Creation Challenges
Jenna believes that content creation for eCommerce marketers is both challenging and rewarding in today’s digital landscape. The rapid pace of change means brands must continuously produce diverse content types. Unlike in the past, when a single photo shoot could last months, brands now need to adapt quickly to industry trends. Jenna notes that creating effective UGC is particularly difficult for brands to handle internally. UGC requires authenticity and consumer-driven narratives, which often clash with the controlled, brand-centric approach companies are accustomed to. This led Jenna to start her own agency, specializing in UGC-style ads that genuinely resonate with audiences.
eCommerce Book Top Tip
- Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving by Celeste Headlee
- Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention–and How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari
eCommerce Traffic Top Tip
- Word-of-mouth marketing
Tool Top Tip
- Foreplay tool for savings ads from FB ad library and TikTok
- Motion app to see what your top performing ads
Carbon Top Tip
- One, empower everyone in the company to think about their role in carbon reduction efforts. This can have a significant cumulative impact.
- Second, leverage influence with vendors to drive sustainability efforts across the supply chain. Jenna shared an example from her time at Who Gives a Crap, where they successfully converted one of their 3PL warehouse partners to solar power.
Interview links
Related Episodes
- 7 Top Tips for eCommerce Growth in 2024 (episode 474)
- Scaling Fashion eCommerce: Insights from THG’s Coggles Strategy with Natalia Chappell (episode 491)
- 2024 Growth Strategies that work from Baaj Capital’s Marianne Morrison (episode 495)
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