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This special conversation, hosted by Sreenath Reddy (CEO, Founder of Intentwise) and featuring Keith Heyman (Sr. Director of Marketplaces at Made In Cookware), explores how the premium D2C brand successfully built momentum, scaled its presence on Amazon, and mastered full-funnel marketing in a competitive landscape.Made In Cookware: Staying True to BrandMade In Cookware is a premium D2C cookware brand founded in 2017. The company leverages over 100 years of fourth-generation kitchen supply knowledge, focusing on product credibility and performance.
Key elements of Made In’s Amazon marketplace approach:
- Initial Launch Strategy: The brand initially used Amazon strictly for demand capture, gauging existing branded demand before investing heavily in new-to-brand advertising. This methodical approach prevented wasted ad spend due to potential inventory or forecasting issues.1
- Standing Out in a Crowded Market: To compete against legacy cookware brands, Made In leaned into credibility and performance. They highlight that top chefs are actual customers who use the products in their professional kitchens, a powerful testament appreciated by home cooks.1
- Retail Readiness & Storytelling: Execution began with ensuring "retail readiness." Because the Amazon Product Detail Page (PDP) compresses storytelling, the brand focused on nailing its premium identity and value proposition using the available tools, such as the Brand Store, A+ content, and video ads.1
Mastering Full-Funnel Advertising
Made In’s advertising strategy evolved from basic search ads to a full-funnel approach aimed at "owning more of the category" rather than focusing solely on new-to-brand customer capture.
- Advertising Evolution: The strategy matured from basic search ads to include sponsored brand ads, sponsored brand video ads, and a shift toward more upper-funnel tactics.1
- Content Focus: Video content is critical due to cookware being an ideal "in-use product" for demonstration.1
- Upper Funnel Investment: Made In has expanded into streaming TV advertising and leverages Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) to measure the path to conversion and incrementality of these top-of-funnel efforts.1
Data-Driven Measurement and Growth
The partnership with Intentwise is focused on leveraging data signals to drive efficient scaling.
- Intentwise Analytics Cloud (IAC): IAC helps brands scale by automating data pipelines and stitching together fragmented signals—from sponsored ads, DSP, Seller/Vendor Central, retail signals, inventory, and pricing—to create an underlying data foundation for reporting and sophisticated ad management.1
- The Power of Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC): Amazon is positioning AMC as the central tool for measurement. It provides deep data access, including five years of lookback data, which allows brands to track every purchase associated with a user ID. This data is crucial for understanding metrics like repeat purchase behavior and lifetime value, which was previously unavailable, particularly for Vendor Central users.1
- Evolving KPIs: While early KPIs were focused on ROAS (Return on Ad Spend), the brand’s measurement has evolved to track the percentage of new-to-brand customers at the campaign and product term level. They use AMC to help understand the full attribution of non-branded searches, recognizing that a long purchase cycle for premium items may involve a generic search followed by a branded search later on.1
Characteristics of High-Growth Brands
Brands that scale efficiently, according to Intentwise, share key characteristics:
- Authenticity: They possess a unique value proposition and story.1
- Data Consumption: They are highly effective at consuming and leveraging rich signals from platforms like AMC.1
- Agility & Experimentation: They aggressively test tactics, content, and campaign formats, knowing there is "often no right answer".1
Key Takeaway for Brands Seeking Growth:
Made In’s primary advice is to remain true to the brand’s identity, emphasizing credibility and performance. Crucially, the brand has remained profitable and scaled by being careful not to become a "promotion-driven brand," which helps maintain its premium position in the market.
