Dive Brief:
- Joining other brands in launching content arms, DTC swimwear brand Summersalt has created a content platform called The Forecast, the company said in details emailed to Retail Dive.
- Summersalt hired Kristen Maxwell Cooper, formerly editor-in-chief of The Knot, to become the company’s first head of content, social and community. The company said it selected Cooper for the role because of her prior experience in “executing multi-channel content strategies across various platforms.”
- The Forecast, which launched on Tuesday, will showcase travel, fashion and inspirational content from women within its network, per the company announcement.
Dive Insight:
With the launch of The Forecast, Summersalt wants to play a more active role in creating and curating content for its customers.
In early May, Summersalt tapped 27 influential figures, including WNBA All-Star Betnijah Laney and best-selling novelist Candace Bushnell, to star in its annual body positivity campaign, “Every Body is a Summersalt Body.” The campaign also included stories from the featured women, in a series of “Love Letters to Your Body.” In its email to Retail Dive, the company said it seeks to expand beyond its previous influencer, social media and email content and use The Forecast for spreading articles and videos with advice, ideas and inspiration about various subjects.
“Summersalt has built an extremely strong and loyal community, who are the brand’s greatest source of inspiration, and the Forecast’s main goal is to create a space for these women who are looking to add continuous joy and adventure to their world,” the company wrote in its announcement. The retailer added that, “Community is at the heart of everything Summersalt does, and The Forecast is another opportunity for the brand to deepen that connection by providing content that truly speaks to, inspires, and empowers that community.”
Summersalt stands alongside other brands like Glossier and Food52 that have sought to blend content and commerce to foster community in their shoppers. FabFitFun’s subscription offering, for example, grew out of written content, and the brand paired its product offerings with content ranging from workouts to cooking to deepen community with its members.
The desire to offer more than a transaction has spread across much of retail as brands look to secure the loyalty of their shoppers. Last year, Athleta unveiled a content wellness platform, AthletaWell, which is free and exclusive to Athleta loyalty members. DTC activewear brand Alo Yoga offers an online fitness class subscription, recently giving a free month of access to it for customers paying with cryptocurrency.
