How The Undress Raised Over $615,000 On Kickstarter (WOM)

The Undress raised over $615,000 from 7,200+ backers on Kickstarter – a near-perfect example of a product driven by word-of-mouth.

• It's a simple idea that solves a real, concrete problem that real people have: Changing clothes in public.
• The idea is well-executed, beyond ordinary expectations. The dress is actually stylish, and has all sorts of cool features.
• It targets a specific niche of people who would really want to have it (as opposed to "kinda" wanting to have it).

Let's dig into the details of what made this campaign such a word-of-mouth success.

1: Great brand name + slogan that's easy for advocates to remember and talk about with others.

The Undress is a simple, sticky name. It passes the "Noisy Bar test"– nobody's going to mishear it or misspell it.

The value proposition is so succinct and shareable, too. "You know how it sucks to have to change clothes in public all awkwardly? Now it's simple and easy!"

Instantly, everybody can think of a few of their friends who would enjoy having this in their gym bags. It makes for a great gift idea. You'd share on Facebook and tag all your outdoorsy, athletic friends.

Which is exactly what people did.

2: A video demonstrating the product (Over 78,000+ views!) makes it really, really easy for people to understand how the product works.

Beyond understanding how the product works, the video also allows the creators to speak directly to their potential customers.

This is one of the most important things that contributes to the success of Kickstarter projects.

Why do videos matter? Because they're the closest thing to having the creator speak to you personally about the importance of their products, and why they should exist.

This allows potential customers to really "get in tune" with what the product is about, how it can help them, and why they should trust it.

3: Focused on a specific niche (athletes, yoga practitioners) + targeted specific influencers and blogs to reach likeliest customers.

Theoretically, all kinds of people would have a use for The Undress. But if you've made something for everybody, you've made something for nobody.

The Undress founders intuitively understood this, and they focused their marketing on triathletes and yoga practitioners– people who'd benefit the most from the product.

This invokes the Sinatra test from Made To Stick: If it's good enough for professionals who operate in relatively extreme circumstances, it's good enough for the average person.

It's also been featured on multiple runner's blogs, allowing them to reach out perfectly to their target audience.

4: Tasteful overkill on the details communicates that the creators really care about their product.

To make a product really worth talking about, you don't just want to simply solve the problem.

You want to demonstrate that your solution is above-and-beyond the best possible solution, executed to perfection.

That's what earns you word-of-mouth.

Recap on word-of-mouth lessons from The Undress:

1. Great name + slogan that's worth talking about
2. A quality video is worth ten thousand words
3. Focus on a niche + target influencers to get your early leverage
4. Overkill on relevant details to communicate product's effectiveness

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Read next: Check out these 25 proven to work marketing strategies from the fashion industry.