“I want to make a traveling brand that’s still loved a hundred years from now.”
Tags: Business, Marketing, Startup, Strategy, Marketing Strategies

The original article “AWAY” is a part of the WORK MILL with Forbes JAPAN Issue 4 -loved company©WORK MILL, published on April 11, 2019

There’s a startup brand that in only three years has sold a million suitcases throughout forty countries, opened over ten retail stores, become profitable by 2017 according to Forbes magazine, and whose sales soared up to 150 million dollars in 2018. It’s Away, a suitcase brand founded by two women. Away offers suitcases and other traveling equipment both online and in-store, hosts events, and even publishes a travel magazine. Their concept is to design traveling as a whole to introduce the wonders of travel to consumers. It was almost destined that co-founders Stephanie Korey and Jennifer Rubio should meet. Steph worked as a buyer for a major US department store and then a marketer for Kate Spade in New York. Afterward, Steph joined the then newly founded eyewear brand, Warby Parker. And as fate would have it, who else should join the company on the very same day but Jen, who is now Away’s Chief Brand Officer. The two hit it off immediately, but Steph decided to leave the company two and a half years later to enroll in Columbia Business School. After graduating, she worked on product strategies for Casper, a D2C mattress company. During that time, Steph and Jen walked completely different paths of life. But as Steph put it, “Just as I had learned everything I needed to know about retailing,” she got a phone call from Jen. Jen was on vacation in Swiss when her suitcase broke mid-travels. She had called Steph to vent about how cheap suitcases break easily, while quality ones were so expensive. And what was the deal with that?

“Jen was telling me about how there should be other options. I felt so too, and realized that there must be a market for it.”

As they researched the market, they noticed how the middle margin was raising the prices. So they focused on implementing a D2C business model in order to provide quality products with reasonable price tags. What they were most careful about was not let it become a one-way interaction. By communicating closely with their customers and receiving detailed feedback, they are able to quickly grasp what their users love and where improvement is desired. They’re also cultivating a travelers’ community, to become a travel brand that will still be loved 100 years down the road.

AWAY’S WORLDVIEW

Delivering a “world view” through Instagram

Away’s Instagram account is almost like a fancy travel guide. What Away presents are the trip itself, accompanied by their suitcases. “I want to design the entire experience of traveling,” explains Steph. And true to her word, the pictures that look like a scene from a dreamy vacation have drawn in many fans.

Opposites make the best decisions

Steph describes how she and Jen are absolute opposites. “I can never get away from business-like logical thinking and productivity, while Jen places more importance on brand value and customer experiences. Her actions are based more on instincts, which is the exact opposite of me.” Their opinions collide quite often, but they talk it over each time, taking the chance to get to know each other better. Because they’re so ready to try to understand one other, they’re able to make solid decisions. There are two major instances where such attitude has brought them success. One was making a travel magazine.

Why an in-home media was necessary

One day, Jen came up with the idea to start a magazine about traveling using beautiful paper. “When she first told me about it, I opposed to it immediately. It just wouldn’t be profitable. But as I listened to Jen’s enthusiasm, I began to like the idea of spreading our worldview and offering new travel experiences through a magazine.” And so, HERE magazine was born. The result was something far greater than Steph had ever imagined. It wasn’t some ordinary travel guide; the pages were refined and beautiful, the content was rich, and it was monetized with advertorials. “Without me, it would’ve been an uneconomical magazine, and without Jen, there wouldn’t have been a magazine at all,” reflects Steph. Away has published seven issues of HERE in eighteen months. The magazine stirs imagination through travel destinations, people, and cultures. Ally Betker, who joined Away two years ago, is responsible for creating HERE. Ally built the magazine from scratch all on her own, but now she has an editorial team that is eight strong. Their online edition has just come out in January, and HERE is on its way to getting everywhere. Ally gained editorial experience working for VOGUE and WWD. “I love traveling. I’m proud to be able to create this amazing magazine,” says Ally. HERE isn’t some magazine or guidebook that just offers superficial travel reports. Ally and her team actually visit the locations and speak with the locals to focus their attention on indigenous perspectives. They feature articles that delve into the culture and community. Each issue is based on destinations and not themes. No phones or laptops are allowed in the editorial meetings where they select locations that arouse their wanderlust. Each issue presents a mixture of popular tourist destinations and lesser-known places picked solely by the team’s intuition. The April issue introduces Dublin, Guadalajara, and New Orleans.