Celebrities don't sell, the product does: Ananth Narayanan on what makes a D2C brand last

A D2C brand sells products directly to consumers rather than depending entirely on distributors, retailers, or other traditional middlemen. Its own website, app, or store can create a direct customer relationship. That matters because the brand can learn more about buyers and encourage repeat purchases. Narayanan recommends keeping 8% to 20% of revenue on the brand’s own channel.

D2C does not mean avoiding marketplaces altogether. BRND.ME uses channels such as Amazon Global Selling to reach overseas shoppers. However, Narayanan warned that quick-commerce platforms and marketplaces provide little customer feedback. A brand selling through its own channel can be more honest and transparent about reviews and ratings while learning what customers want.

The model is becoming less focused on rapid growth alone. Narayanan said brands now need product-market fit, real cash flows, and “product love.” Traditional distribution can provide reach, but a lasting D2C business must earn loyalty, manage margins, and build a relationship that survives beyond a single transaction.

Celebrity attention is mainly an acquisition tool. A familiar face can help a new brand stand out, generate curiosity, and create initial momentum. But repeat purchases depend on what customers experience after buying. If the product disappoints on quality, usefulness, price, or results, celebrity visibility will not create lasting loyalty.

Narayanan distinguishes between hiring a celebrity for a campaign and making that person a brand partner. A campaign is acceptable when the return on spending justifies it. A partnership works only when the celebrity fits the brand and an experienced business person controls product, marketing, and pricing decisions. The product must still do the selling.

This matters because brands need durable cohorts, not only bursts of attention. Narayanan said misleading consumers may work once but not again. His broader message is that honest claims, strong products, and customer satisfaction create repeat consumers, while celebrity association mainly helps people remember the brand initially.

Product-market fit means a product meets a real customer need well enough to earn continued demand. “Product love” goes further: customers genuinely value the product and want to keep buying it. Repeat customers and durable cohorts therefore provide stronger evidence than advertising reach, downloads, or one-time sales. They show that the business is solving a problem rather than merely attracting attention.

Narayanan said many D2C brands once scaled without product-market fit, but that approach is no longer valued as much. He argued that real cash flows and product love are now essential. A brand that misleads consumers may win one purchase, but it is unlikely to earn another. Honest reviews and ratings also help reveal whether the experience matches the promise.

The implication is that growth should follow validation, not replace it. Brands need to test products, watch customer behaviour, and improve what they sell before expanding aggressively. Lasting businesses are built slowly, with loyalty and cohorts that can remain active for five or ten years.

Building a durable consumer brand is a long process. Narayanan said it can take seven to 15 years to earn real loyalty and customer cohorts that last five or ten years. This challenges the idea that a few viral campaigns or rapid sales spikes prove a brand has become established. Loyalty must survive repeated buying decisions over time.

The brand’s own channel is another important asset. Narayanan advised founders to keep 8% to 20% of revenue coming from their own channel. Direct sales can provide customer feedback that marketplaces and quick-commerce platforms often do not. They also give the brand a place to communicate honestly about reviews, ratings, products, and its broader story.

The practical lesson is to balance scale with patience. Marketplaces can help distribution, but a brand should keep developing direct relationships and improving the product. Patient capital, frugal operations, real cash flows, and product love make it easier to continue through the years required to build lasting loyalty.

An Indian company can start with an export strength and build a branded product around it. The opportunity is not simply to sell the same raw material more cheaply. It is to create a finished product with reliable quality, useful positioning, distinctive packaging, and a story that overseas shoppers understand. Those elements can help the product command more than commodity pricing.

Narayanan uses essential oils as the example. India is one of the world’s top producers, while doTERRA and Young Living source more than 30% of their production there. BRND.ME’s Majestic Pure sells comparable aromatherapy products at around $25, against about $65 for those American brands. Narayanan stressed that packaging is not the same and that the story must be learned and told well.

The route to global growth is becoming easier through Amazon Global Selling and AI agents trained on Reddit threads and Amazon reviews. Such tools can represent foreign consumers during product development. Narayanan also points to categories such as pet care and health and wellness.

Marketplaces and quick-commerce platforms can provide reach and convenience, but they also become powerful intermediaries. Their fees and share of the transaction reduce the value left for the brand. Narayanan said shelf space is tight for frequently purchased FMCG products, and platforms will take more of the value in those categories. That puts pressure on margins.

Dependence also limits learning. Narayanan said quick commerce and marketplaces give little feedback about customers. A brand may see transactions without fully understanding why people bought, whether they liked the product, or why they did not return. Its own channel can provide better information and support honest communication about reviews and ratings.

The bargaining position can therefore weaken as platform dependence grows. Narayanan still considers quick commerce here to stay, especially when speed changes the purchase, as with Party Props. His recommendation is balance: use platforms for reach, but keep 8% to 20% of revenue through the brand’s own channel and build product strength that works globally.

Real cash flow matters because a company must eventually support itself through money generated by its operations. Narayanan said valuation games eventually have to become cash-flow games, because he sees an IPO as the only real eventual exit. Cash flow therefore tests whether sales become usable money after costs, rather than remaining only promises of future growth.

Unit economics are narrower. They examine the economics of a product, order, or customer, including what it costs to acquire and serve that customer and what revenue remains. Narayanan warned that founders can become machines that churn out unit economics. Strong unit economics are useful, but they do not alone prove that the whole brand has durable demand, loyalty, or healthy cash generation.

Valuation is a price or estimate assigned to the entire company, often reflecting expectations about future growth. It can move ahead of cash generation. Narayanan’s preferred path is patient, frugal building, with product love, repeat customers, and real cash flows eventually supporting the company’s value.