419In today's era, where short videos and social media are prevalent, the market demand for photography equipment and its auxiliary products has surged. Especially in the fill light market, according to Statista data, global lighting market revenue is expected to reach $83.94 billion in 2024 and will continue to grow steadily in the coming years.
Within this global lighting market, there is a niche lighting brand that started from crowdfunding. With decisive business strategies and outstanding marketing capabilities, it has overcome countless difficulties and stood out in a fiercely competitive market.
This is the DTC brand focusing on the fill light track「Lume Cube」.
Early Entrepreneurship and Crowdfunding Success
In the era of internet information, the founder of Lume Cube keenly identified a market opportunity: the huge demand for photography accessories for smartphones, cameras, and other devices.
In 2014, they launched a lighting lamp designed for iPhone and GoPro users and chose to crowdfund on the Kickstarter platform.
In just one month, they successfully raised $229,000, far exceeding their initial goal and received thousands of pre-orders. This not only provided the necessary funding for their startup but also quickly established their foothold in the market.
However, the success of crowdfunding was only the beginning of Lume Cube's entrepreneurial journey. Like many startups, Lume Cube faced enormous challenges in its early years.
To deliver orders as quickly as possible, the team worked 90 hours a week, and this lasted for more than a year. The bigger problem was that, due to the company's traditional multi-channel distribution model, the payment cycle often took one or two months, or even a quarter, which put tremendous pressure on Lume Cube's cash flow.
At the most difficult times, in order to pay employees, the company even had to sell trade show booths at a loss and was once on the verge of bankruptcy.
Transformation to DTC Model and Counterattack During the Pandemic
Facing a cash flow crisis, Lume Cube decisively decided to transform into a DTC (Direct-to-Consumer) model, investing heavily in advertising on Facebook and Instagram to drive traffic to its independent website.
However, the initial stage of transformation was still full of difficulties: the market response to the new "video conference light" was poor, with only 7% of inventory sold in a year. Meanwhile, the pandemic led to a shrinking outdoor lighting market, and Lume Cube once again faced a crisis.
Nevertheless, the pandemic also brought new opportunities. The global surge in demand for remote work, online teaching, and live streaming prompted Lume Cube to quickly adjust its strategy, relaunching the unsold video conference light to the market. Unexpectedly, this move led to a dramatic increase in sales.
According to statistics, in 2020 Lume Cube's sales grew by more than 400%, and in 2021 the brand's annual revenue reached $16 million, with 90% of orders coming from its independent website.
Lume Cube not only successfully seized the market opportunity brought by the pandemic but also further consolidated its market position through continuous product innovation and market expansion.
For example, Lume Cube launched the wireless ring light PRO suitable for various shooting scenarios, which is fully functional, highly compatible, and has long battery life, making it very popular among users. In addition, Lume Cube also introduced various accessory products, such as live streaming stands, protective cases, storage bags, etc., and increased the average order value through bundling sales strategies.
Brand Marketing and User Engagement
In terms of brand marketing, Lume Cube focuses on building its brand image through its independent website and educates users and subtly promotes products through blog articles.
For example, the blog details how to use various lighting accessory tools and inserts links to related products to attract targeted users. In addition, Lume Cube actively builds an online community, encourages users to share their experiences, and achieves a win-win with users through affiliate marketing.
Besides operating its independent website, Lume Cube also has a presence on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and other social media platforms, conducting differentiated marketing based on the characteristics of each platform.
Take TikTok as an example: TikTok has a large young user base, and interesting videos are more likely to attract attention, so Lume Cube publishes brand product reviews, usage tutorials, and other videos on the platform.
It also participates in popular TikTok challenges related to photography and shooting techniques, collaborating with KOLs in vertical fields such as photography enthusiasts and travel bloggers to precisely attract users interested in photography and video, increasing brand exposure and awareness.
Image source: TikTok
On Instagram, Lume Cube mainly uses images and text, attracting users' attention by posting beautiful photography photos, videos, and pictures of Lume Cube fill light usage scenarios.
In these posts, it also adds popular hashtags related to shooting and fill light to increase content exposure and drive traffic to the brand.
From starting with crowdfunding to transforming into a DTC model, and then seizing the market demand brought by the pandemic, Lume Cube has achieved a dramatic turnaround from the brink of bankruptcy to annual revenue of tens of millions of dollars through keen market insight, continuous product innovation, and flexible market adaptability.
Lume Cube's path to success also reveals an important business truth: no matter how the market changes, companies must always maintain keen market awareness, quickly adjust strategies, and actively innovate to remain invincible in fierce competition.
It is believed that in the future, with the continued development of short videos and social media, brands like Lume Cube will continue to embrace more development opportunities and create more business miracles.
