LTV Lab: We Bought From BLUME
Strong Branding, Retention Gaps, and Lessons for Subscription Brands
Brand Overview
Blume is a Canadian superfood company with two main product lines: Superb Belly (a hydration and gut-health powder) and superfood lattes (flavored latte mixes like lavender, matcha, and golden milk). Their primary customers are health-conscious shoppers engaged by digital marketing and Instagram. Blume claims premium, feel-good hydration and wellness, leveraging bold, colorful branding and influencer-driven reach.
Customer Journey Breakdown
Website Experience:
Blume’s site is easy to shop and visually appealing, with product info, starter kits, and clear subscription incentives. Promotional images sometimes confuse expectations: a free bottle appears in the product image but is only for first-time subscribers, which can disappoint one-time buyers. While the site heavily pushes subscriptions, there is little offer clarity in email and no explanation of subscription benefits post-purchase.
Email & SMS Marketing:
Blume’s emails boast excellent design and strong branding throughout. The welcome offer (10% off) clearly explains exclusions. However, long emails bury key value props, and Gmail clips content. Critical brand values are only surfaced once, and never reinforced later. The post-purchase flow suffers flow filter issues: abandoned cart triggers after a completed order, and educational content is sent before the product even arrives. Segmentation is weak—emails don’t target product type, leading to irrelevant latte content for Superb Belly buyers. Proactive customer service is offered (“not loving it? We’ll make it right”), but there’s no embedded self-service or FAQ. Review requests require too many steps or are duplicated by a secondary tool, creating friction.
Unboxing & Product Experience:
Packaging is bright, branded, and cohesive across the site, email, and product. Premium feel matches expectations but doesn’t exceed them. Referral cards are included even before product trial—better suited once loyalty is established. Environmental messaging is consistent, highlighting plastic-neutral efforts, but sustainability could be reinforced further in deliveries. No overt encouragement for subscription in box or instructional cards.
Strengths (What Worked Well):
Consistent, engaging branding from digital ads to unboxing.
Transparent welcome offer—exclusions are made clear early.
Founder video in post-purchase email personalizes the journey.
Product quality (taste, hydration) exceeds expectations, creating a reason to use daily.
Content, creative, or strategy examples to emulate:
Use of founder video to build trust and showcase brand mission.
Branded packaging and influencer-driven content to spark organic sharing.
Sustainability emails (“your purchase removes ocean plastic”) reinforce emotional buying.
Weaknesses (Opportunities Missed):
Subscription program is unclear and absent in post-purchase messaging despite heavy site pushes.
Email segmentation is weak leading to irrelevant product content.
Campaign and educational emails arrive before product delivery—timing needs improvement.
Referral push comes before loyalty is established and isn’t tailored to social-driven customers.
Review requests are inconsistent—some require manual steps, and branding is not seamless.
No replenishment reminders or retention emails at the expected 30 or 45-day interval; the flow ends abruptly.
A French email was sent suddenly, causing segmentation confusion and ultimately leading to no further emails.
Key Lifecycle Marketing Lessons for Other Brands
Align your subscription messaging: if you push subscriptions on-site, reinforce the benefits in emails and packaging to drive repeat orders.
Time education and engagement emails for greatest impact—don’t send recipes and “how-to” messages before customers receive the product.
Personalized touches—such as founder videos—work best when paired with strong post-purchase education and timely review requests.
Segment email flows by product and location, and use language detection to avoid alienating customers.
Make it easy to reorder: clear links, automated reminders, and taste-based suggestions after sampler packs can maximize conversion and retention.
Blume’s experience shows that great branding and solid product aren’t enough. Subscription brands succeed when their marketing and retention flows work together to educate, remind, and invite customers back at every step in the journey
