RedBubble’s Unique Selling Point
By Kassandra Lopez, Global Strategic Communications graduate student at the University of Florida
RedBubble was born in 2006, and seeks to unite independent artist’s with an audience that is interested and excited to purchase their products. RedBubble works on an interesting and very functional model, at first glance it appears a typical online marketplace, similar to Etsy. The main difference between this site and others is that products are printed on-demand, designs are based on user submitted art work and the art chosen can then be applied to dozens of different products. From then on, this artwork is transformed “…through a network of third party fulfillers utilizing leading edge capabilities to produce the products (including 3D printing capabilities). After they have been ordered by the customer in a print‑on‑demand model, the fulfillers arrange for their delivery to the customer.” (Redbubble : Targeting a Worldwide Artist Crowd)
This unique format for creating, purchasing, and distributing items is what empowers artists and customer’s to be a part of the online marketplace. With thousands of ready to make designs that can be applied to an incredible variety of products, RedBubble has a wide target audience. In general, the site caters to independent artists and any person seeking to create and purchase personalized items. This large demographic can be narrowed to focus on creative persons between 15 and 35 years of age, as they are more likely to turn to the internet for these types of niche purchases. While the possible client demographic is open to many people, being able to market to this target segment is crucial.
By keeping in mind the target demographic, RedBubble is better able to market to this subset of customers. This company is currently experiencing several growth opportunities within this segment that include:
“1. More young professionals living away from home and wanting to own personalized items to get the home feeling. Hence their target group is increasing fast.
2.Increasing purchasing power parity leading to improved lifestyles more spending on creative interior decoration objects
3. Expand network, more campaigns and also open flagship stores in line with growth strategies.” (Team, MBA Skool)
To hone in on these opportunities, they have started to more aggressively market online. Through the use of cookies, they have ads that follow you on to other sites. From my brief time on their homepage today, I have had several ads for Art History Meme Themed Masks, while that sounds very niche, it happens to delight me.
I can personally say, their use of these advertisements is effective. Additionally, they market to their main audience by emailing at a consistent pace- giving offers and other incentives to purchase such as discounts and images of related products. Their unique selling point of highly personalized products is a focal point of this company’s offerings and will keep them in business for a long time!
Works Cited
“Redbubble : Targeting a Worldwide Artist Crowd.” Digital Innovation and Transformation, digital.hbs.edu/platform-digit/submission/redbubble-targeting-a-worldwide-artist-crowd/.
Team, MBA Skool. “RedBubble SWOT Analysis: Top RedBubble Competitors, STP & USP: Detailed SWOT Analysis of Brands.” MBA Skool-Study.Learn.Share., MBA Skool, 26 Apr. 2020, www.mbaskool.com/brandguide/lifestyle-and-retail/9359-redbubble.html#:~:text=People%20who%20have%20a%20creative,who%20want%20to%20personalize%20things.&text=Creative%20people%20mostly%20in%20the,t%20shirts%2C%20wall%20art%20etc.
