Harman Dua — Creative Director & Marketing Strategist, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Marko Bardelli — Men's Leather Accessories

Brand-to-DTC Funnel Migration · 2024 (2024) · Luxury & Fashion

The problem was not the product. It was the funnel. Amazon's marketplace positions everything as a commodity, collapsing price perception and stripping away the story that makes a premium product worth its price. I led the full migration to a brand-owned funnel where perceived value, not algorithmic ranking, drives purchase decisions.

Repositioning: From Commodity to Craft

The first job was strategic, not technical. Marko Bardelli's belts and wallets are made from the highest grade leather with refined metal hardware. That story was invisible on Amazon. I redefined the brand's positioning entirely around quality and craftsmanship, building a luxury narrative that gave the product the context it deserved. Every touchpoint was aligned to a single idea: this is not a belt you buy because it is cheap. This is a belt you buy because it will outlast everything else in your wardrobe.

Website Development: The Flagship Store

Designed and developed a brand-owned website built to function as a luxury retail experience, not a catalogue. The site architecture moved visitors through a deliberate journey: brand story and heritage first, product craftsmanship second, purchase decision third. Copy, layout, and visual hierarchy were all engineered to communicate exclusivity and quality before a single price was visible. The website became the brand's primary conversion asset and the foundation everything else was built on.

3D Visualization and Virtual Production

Collaborated with a virtual production team to deploy 3D product modeling and rotatable product viewers, giving customers the ability to examine each piece from every angle before purchasing. Products were placed in surreal, artistic settings that communicated luxury through visual context rather than discount signals. This consideration-stage experience replaced the flat, commoditised Amazon product image with something closer to a gallery presentation, making the craftsmanship of each piece tangible before it arrived at the customer's door.

The Conversion Shift

The funnel moved from cheap Amazon listing to luxury DTC brand not by changing the product, but by changing everything around the conversion moment. A brand-owned website, a repositioned identity rooted in craft and quality, and an immersive product experience rebuilt the buyer's perception from the ground up. The result was a brand that could command its price, own its customer relationship, and grow beyond the ceiling that marketplace dependency had imposed.

Website: https://www.markobardelli.com/

Playbook: Purple Cow by Seth Godin (2003) — Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable.

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