To launch a successful product, marketers need to know just what exactly customers want. Artificial intelligence can help them figure that out.
That's the idea behind 100.co, a Miami-based startup that is reinventing the go-to-market process for consumer brands. The company's artificial intelligence platform analyzes thousands of online data points to predict which markets could be receptive to certain products, reducing the risk of new product launches. 100.co works with founders to create, develop and kick off those brands on social media with advertisements directed at target customers.
"This ensures we [can] amplify the brand with an army of satisfied customers who would in turn become micro-influencers," said 100.co co-founder and CEO Kim Perell.
That starts with Sama Tea. 100.co launched the brand last month in collaboration with Radhi Devlukia-Shetty, a plant-based recipe expert and social media influencer, and her husband, Jay Shetty, a former monk who is a podcaster and New York Times best-selling author. Between them, the couple has more than 10 million followers on Instagram alone. 100.co used artificial intelligence to analyze their social media audience and consumer market trends, where it identified market opportunities for adaptogenic teas.
The company used that information to craft Sama's four adaptogenic hot tea blends, which the brand says can offer physical and mental benefits. The organic blends are inspired by Ayurveda, a holistic medicine system with historical roots in India, and are crafted to resonate with the consumer audience identified by 100.co's research.
"Being able to predict what will succeed for specific audience segments before a product even hits the shelves is very powerful," Perell said. 100.co used artificial intelligence and machine learning data to inform every step of Sama's launch, from pricing, to flavors and ingredients, she added.
Traditional consumer packaged goods brands – an industry term for goods that are frequently replaced by consumers, like beverages, makeup and household products – still use outdated market research and advertising techniques that aren't reaching digital-first consumers, the company claims. In contrast, Perell said 100.co, co-founded with Suja Juice founder James Brennan, is revamping that process in a way that enable companies to bring products to market in months, instead of years. Both Perell and Brennan relocated to South Florida from California last year to base the startup in Miami, where it has 22 employees.
100.co has another product launch on the horizon: The company reports it partnered with supermodel Winnie Harlow to develop an unnamed wellness brand set to be announced in early 2022.
"Backed by data and with Winnie's story and experiences at the core of the brand, we are so excited to share what we have in store with her fans and wellness community," Perell said.
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