Wildgrain Collective: DTC Food Subscription

The Challenge: Wildgrain’s core positioning as “handcrafted comfort” resonated deeply during launch, but newer creative leaned heavily into convenience and speed. Customers who joined for tradition and quality felt the story had drifted, and churn quietly rose among long-time subscribers.

How Goshawk String Helped: Goshawk mapped the disconnect: “comfort and craft” language was still what loyalists wanted, while “convenience” messaging appealed to new trial users. By weaving both threads into a unified narrative, Wildgrain stabilized loyalty without losing growth momentum.

Key Insights Delivered:

• Long-term subscribers felt alienated by convenience-first tone

• Trial buyers responded positively to speed and simplicity

• Re-integrating tradition and quality boosted retention

Modules Integrated:

• Merlin Stack: Identified the psychographic split between “comfort & craft” loyalists and “convenience-first” trial buyers, linking each to specific SKUs and messaging.

• Noctua Scale: Ran low-risk A/Bs on dual-track storytelling (ritual vs. speed) across ads, landing pages, and onboarding flows; fine-tuned creative refresh cadence to avoid fatigue.

• Osprey Spike: Aligned messaging pushes with seasonal “comfort” surges (cold weather, holidays) and influencer-driven spikes to convert new trial customers into long-term subscribers.

Results:

• 17% reduction in churn among legacy subscribers

• 21% lift in trial-to-subscription conversion

• Social sentiment shifted back toward “craft” and “authenticity”