This issue, in our ongoing ‘deep dive’ into the challenges of marketing a small business, we find out how to overcome the dilemma of selling a product that addresses a problem with a degree of stigma attached to it.
Angelique Woodburn founded The Midnight Gang in 2016 from her home in Melbourne, when her children were experiencing bed-wetting accidents in their sleep. Angelique designed a range of waterproof bed linen called Bed Mates that keeps the bedding underneath them dry and can simply be thrown into the washing machine after an accident, saving parents the stress from having to wash all their kids’ bedding each time.
Beyond the practical aspect of the solution, Bed Mates are designed to look and feel like regular bed linen with on-trend prints and colours, avoiding the stigma that is often associated with bed wetting. Acting on feedback from her customers, Angelique went on to expand her product range to include waterproof pillowcases and doona covers.
“We get the best engagement from our Instagram stories.”
On the sensitive issue she was solving, Angelique felt the key was being honest and open about her products, how they work and what they’re used for. “It’s a very real problem many children and adults face and I felt my goal was to remove the stigma,” Angelique says. “I was considered to be quite ‘old’ when I stopped wetting the bed and I didn’t want children (or teens or adults for that matter) to have the same experience as I did. I wanted to remove the shame and stigma associated with incontinence.”
Aware that to this day the issue is not something people talk about much – something she avers needs to change because of how common it is – Angelique was very clear in her messaging from the outset, and her products became popular in the disability space as the parents of the children/teens/adults with disabilities were so thrilled to have something on their beds that did not look like a sterile medical product.
Snail mail gives way to Instagram
Initially, Angelique took a more old-school approach to marketing. “The online space is so incredibly crowded and noisy, and it is really hard to break through that noise,” she explains. “They say you have to capture someone’s attention within three seconds or you lose them. As consumers ourselves, we noticed our own behaviour – we don’t open emails, we unsubscribe instantly if we ever get a marketing text and we don’t click on ads, for example. So, if these tools aren’t working on us, then they possibly aren’t working for a lot of people.”
Considering what would actually capture someone’s attention, Angelique settled on “good old-fashioned mail”, leveraging the fact most mail comes digitally these days so there is some excitement around receiving mail in the letterbox. Angelique put together sample packs with a flyer, some fabric samples and a handwritten letter to people and businesses she wanted to target. “Once you have something in your hands, especially when it is personalised, you don’t forget it,” she enthuses. “You are automatically engaged with the contents and you are having a tangible experience, which stays with you much longer than a digital ad or email.
“We found the same worked with personal connections and face-to-face experiences. So, we started attending conferences and events where we could speak to people directly and physically show our products to people so they could see and touch them. When you combine a variety of the senses, you leave a much more lasting impact.”
Despite the success of her old-school approach, Angelique understood it would be crazy to ignore the digital space. “We know that the majority of our customers hang out on Instagram, so that’s where we spend most of our time now,” she says. “We regularly post and always have active ‘stories’. We get the best engagement from our Instagram stories, as that’s where people can see some real-life and behind-the-scenes footage. Customers these days are much more invested in the brands they shop with and they want to see who is behind the brand.”
Through Instagram, Angelique also works with social media influencers who are happy to exchange their reviews on their Instagram stories or feed for her products. “This works really well for us, as it allows us to target brand new audiences who already trust the influencer they are following,” she says. “It’s a more organic way of marketing, as opposed to paying for ads, and also allows us to find specific influencers in the space we are looking to market in.”
Aesthetic is Angelique’s key USP in her market, and she promotes the high-end design aspect of her products with the help of a sought-after stylist and photographer. “Our stylist works for some of the major interior magazines in Australia and she shoots for some of the biggest interior brands, and when I saw her work I knew she was the one I wanted to work with; however, I didn’t think she would want to work with a small business that makes bed-wetting products,” Angelique laughs. “Thankfully, she loved the look of our products and they worked in with her style. This instantly elevated our brand and gave it a fashion/trend element that bed-wetting sheets had never had previously.
With customers being so visually focused these days, our product ticked all their boxes – it was both practical and solved a problem they had, but it looked really nice in their rooms, too.”
Another standout aspect of Bed Mates is that the side wings that are used to tuck under the mattress are made from waterproof fabric. “No other brand did that, instead they just used regular fabric,” Angelique avers. “This meant that our product gave the beds even more protection. The other difference is that the top layer of our Bed Mates, which is the layer the children sleep on, is made from a cotton/bamboo fabric that is safe, natural and breathable and our products contain no PVC or nasties. Some other brands use polyester and contain PVC.”
Embracing video and interviews
In more recent times, Angelique has added video into her marketing mix. “The main way people consume their social media these days is video,” she explains. “With that in mind, I had to think about how I could use video effectively to engage more people. I started a series I called ‘Ask the Expert’, where I would interview people live on my Instagram. That would then be saved as a video and would remain on my Instagram feed.”
Angelique sought out experts in every area that related to ‘mum life’ – marriage counsellors, paediatric nurses, doctors and so on. She asked her audience to submit questions before the interview and asked those questions during the sessions. “They went for about 30 minutes each and it was a great way to give back to my audience,” Angelique says. “I was able to offer free info and education that was of interest to them. I was then able to repost the videos to other platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and my blogs. Even though the sessions didn’t necessarily speak about my product, they raised my profile and gave people a reason to keep coming back to my page, which essentially is the goal.”
This article first appeared in issue 44 of the Inside Small Business quarterly magazine
