Great Product Marketing: 20 Startup Website Examples
- Apr 22
- 12 min read
Updated: May 8
To click, or not to click, that is the question?
To click through and consume the content which thou art has been written; to suffer through this calamity of long-winded propositions; these throes of product righteousness with its slings and arrows taking up arms against thy prospects; it is but an act of outrageous marketing misfortune.
No more into the brand breach, dear friends, no more.
In this article, you may not find more Shakespeare. But you will find Mister Stupid's Original Principles of Startup COMMS & Marketing.℠
The Little Corporal Principle
The Elephant in The Room Principle
The On-the-Nose When Nobody Knows Principle
The Brand, The Myth, The Legend Principle
The Everything Tastes Better with Butter Principle
The It's the Economy Stupid Principle
The Rebel With a Cause Principle
The Internet Killed the Shopping Mall Principle
Keep reading for 20 great product marketing examples.
20 great product marketing examples from hot startups.
Jump to a product page
1. Telepath
Sometimes the best way to stay top of mind is by telling the customer what they'll leave behind.
"Build machine learning powered applications without a data scientist," they say.
This product marketing example by Telegraph is what I call "The Old World Versus The New World Principle."
If your buyer has a prominent villain or obstacle blocking their path—call it out. This simple yet effective principle will help you resonate in the most relevant way.
2. Olipop
After 140 years of waging war on your Uncle Frank's waistline, soda has found a healthy hero in Olipop.
The high fiber, low sugar soda is positioning against Big Soda in the marketplace. It's an ambition as grand as Napoleon Bonaparte himself. Therefore, I refer to this startup marketing strategy as "The Little Corporal Principle."
It states that "any startup, no matter the size nor niche, should strive for the most ambitious vision as it relates to their category—in a goal to be as broadly relevant as their product permits."
As for the messaging itself, no word in Olipop's slogan, "New Kind of Soda™," exceeds four letters. This is a lesson in category self-awareness. For when it comes to universal offerings like soft drinks, layman's speak is the only way.
3. Created by Humans
This is called "The On the Nose When Nobody Knows Principle."
Created by Humans is a first-mover founded to protect human creative rights against AI technology. "Our mission is to preserve human creativity and make it thrive in the AI era," says their manifesto.
And while something meaningful like this works great for an About page. The messaging preceding the click-through to get there, requires something easier to grasp.
This is where "The On the Nose When Nobody Knows Principle" comes in. It says that "Startup products marketing themselves in a newborn category that lack mainstream awareness, should sacrifice creativity for clarity.
"The AI Rights licensing platform for books," says Created by Humans. *Which also gives it that first-mover authority and market leader appeal.
*There's another principle which speaks to this kind of market leader COMMS. See #18 on this list.
4. Policygenius
Can you really build an entire marketing program around one adjective?
If you're like Policygenius, and you're positioning yourself against one of mankind's most maddening shopping journeys like buying insurance—the answer is "Yes."
"We make the process easy says," Policygenius.
This is an example of "The Old World Versus New World Principle." The goal of Policygenius is to become the progressive alternative in a very traditional product category.
Thus, they must find verbiage that directly contrasts their product against that Old World, that maddening marmalade we know as "buying a policy."
"Easy" is the best way to showcase the New World's wonders.
5. Mercury
I've spent too much time losing my soul in Corporate America to know that "banking" doesn't vibe like this. That's why creatively, we can label this a 'marketing masterpiece' from Mercury.
As a fintech competing against corporate banks, their startup marketers are also applying "The New World Versus Old World Principle."
Except in addition to differentiating with words, "Radically different banking."
The visual design—the picturesque mountains, forests, and greenery is a breath of fresh air for their audience. Specifically, young entrepreneurs who have no interest in dealing with grey suits at some stuffy bank in Midtown Manhattan.
Remember this if your product is entering a traditional industry.
6. OSSO (vr)
From OSSO comes another example of "The On the Nose When Nobody Knows Principle."
Thanks to this VR upstart, we're moving into a wonderful world where nurses don't have to train in the line of fire.
In their product page example, OSSO understands that the marketplace is still catching up with their innovation. Therefore, by applying descriptive copywriting, their customers benefit from clarity rather than abstract creative.
DISCLAIMER: "Clarity over creativity" is a cliché that's been oversold. But if you're still in your early-stage marketing, it remains strategically sound. Just make sure you're working towards more emotional, universal creative concepts. As startup brands in their latter stages grow by reaching bigger, broader audiences through general messaging.
7. who gives a crap
As planet earth's favorite toilet paper startup, Who Gives A Crap is playing the "What's the most memorable thing we can say right now?" game.
I call this example "The Everything Tastes Better With Butter Principle."
Since toilet paper is not a hard concept to understand, Who Gives A Crap doesn't have to explain itself with complex ingredients. Instead, they can skip the product features and layer on that butter baby.
That simple, emotional, universal, most memorable part of any brand, product, or creative ad concept.
"We're here to uncrap the world," says Who Gives A Crap.
8. Heura
Unlike Beyond Meat or Impossible Burger, whose food feels like it was genetically engineered in some lab by men in white coats like the dinosaur babies in John Hammond's Jurassic Park. Heura Foods has a human origin story behind their plant-based brand.
This is what I call the "The Elephant in the Room Principle."
It's defined by a startup marketer's ability to answer 'the big question' relevant to their category in a way that demystifies perception around their product.
For plant-based brands, that big question is “Are we sure this is real food?”
To address this elephant in the kitchen, Heura leans into the hallmark of their brand, their Mediterranean heritage. They were co-founded by two social activists, Marc and Bernat, in Barcelona, Spain.
"From the Mediterranean to the whole world," the brand proclaims.
By allowing this differentiator to be a face of the product, Heura can address the big question shaping customer perception, while distinguishing themselves in a faceless category.
9. tomboyx
This example from Tomboyx, a pioneer in gender inclusive underwear, is why I created The Original Principles of Startup COMMS & Marketing.℠
When marketing to a target audience as marginalized as the trans community, marketing is an exercise in individuality.
In the individual case of Tomboyx, earning individual trust comes less from proof of product. And more from understanding the hardships facing their individual consumer.
"How hard can it be to make good underwear?" asked Tomboyx founders. "And by that, we meant underwear that anybody could feel comfortable in, inclusive of all sizes and gender expressions."
In startup COMMS & marketing, no one size fits all. And when it comes to product acceptance, the Who We Are can be just as important as the product itself.
10. shortwave
As you continue to build your startup marketing strategy, audience segmentation will become more important.
"Search all receipts from the London trip and add them to my expense report," says Shortwave's prompt.
This is an example of use-case marketing. By avoiding generic messaging about what problem their product solves, Shortwave becomes more relevant to their target audience by showcasing real-world examples.
A successful use-case marketing strategy doesn't speak to everyone. In this case, Shortwave's email automation is targeting a senior leadership segment who doesn't want to waste time on admin after an exhausting work trip.
11. Notpla
Notpla.
"LET'S F***ING GO," as Tom Brady would say, with his face aging like Benjamin Button because of the fruits, nuts, and most probably one highly sought-after plastic surgeon in California.
And now, that we're talking plastic. Let's talk Notpla.
This sustainable packaging startup has invented a plastic-free alternative made from seaweed. And if one day, you find yourself in the plight of Notpla, where you're Good Will Hunting brilliant, have a billion-dollar breakthrough, and few competitors—you're afforded a luxury.
You can simply sell the category you created.
To do this successfully, Notpla uses "The It's the Economy Stupid Principle." You may have heard this term before. It's the phrase coined by Bill Clinton's Campaign Advisor when the President and his staff were struggling to stay on message during the 1992 Presidential Election.
The idea is that there's one simple message that should be hammered into the minds of an audience. Rather than three or four messages, that while, may communicate a concept more completely, only serves to dilute and distract from the most important message of all.
On this Notpla product page, there's one message communicated four different ways:
The edible bubble made from seaweed
What if packaging was so natural you could eat it?
The breakthrough solution that started it all
It began with a simple question, "how can we package liquid in a way that works in harmony with nature, rather than against it?"
Notpla understands that the most important thing the marketplace needs to know right now is that their startup company is the leader in a plastic-free innovation that'll change the world.
'It's the seaweed stupid.'
12. Givebutter
In any market where the consumer has too many choices, it's best to treat this like an episode of "ABC's The Bachelor."
To start, imagine yourself as a contestant competing for a rose.
After weeks of chasing after a guy who lives on his sister's couch. And witnessing your self-worth vaporize before your eyes like an elementary school bus before a runaway train.
You've finally secured the "One-on-One."
It’s the dating card which grants you an exclusive one-on-one date with The Bachelor to convince him you're not crazy.
But startup marketer beware.
This one-on-one isn't a time to just sell yourself. It’s a time to compare and contrast. A time to expose the women in the other room for what they really are.
I like what Givebutter's doing here.
13. Seapoint
It almost looks like a startup love letter written from founder to follower about the relationship to come.
Different is something that sounds easy until that one day you realize it isn't. Until that one manic moment, when you realize that your idea, which remains trapped inside the confines of your unconscious mind, demands a certain unshakeable something to wrangle it out.
"Unleashing Europe's potential," is Seapoint's unshakeable something.
With an embrace of Napoleonic ambition, Sean Mullaney and his financial pioneers are applying The Little Corporal Principle. In other words, positioning their mission to be as broadly relevant as their category permits.
"Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever," someone once said.
14. DASH Water
Great startup marketers have a disdain for social norms.
As in the case of DASH Water, their use of wonky vegetables destined for the dumpster is a perfect example.
This is what I refer to as "The Island of Misfit Toys Principle."
The principle says that "startups entering traditional categories should lean into marketing concepts that exist outside the social norm; this helps differentiate from the status quo in their quest to reach underserved audiences, while allowing the product to benefit from juxtaposition’s role in creating brand stand out."
The Island of Misfit Toys Principle can be found in two beloved Hollywood stories:
Good Will Hunting: A math genius (aka Matt Damon) who works as an MIT janitor by day and solves impossible math problems by night.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The misfit reindeer who's been ousted from the reindeer games, only to find new life as the guiding light for Santa's sleigh.
We've always been told that people love rooting for the underdog. But what's even more irresistible is the outcast who's been denied entry into the ring.
The DASH Water wonky mission, and its growing popularity, is more proof of that.
15. fibr
I try not to talk about AI like some of the sheeple out there.
But you're damned. Because Fibr AI is a good example to talk about. They're an AI-powered marketing platform that "rewrites a website visitors experience in real time."
In other words, we spend time creating different landing page options for different segments of our audience—when Fibr, can create them instantly, in a way that only applies to that given website visitor, at that given time.
Impressive.
But what makes this succeed from a startup marketing perspective, is how Fibr shatters perception. If you doubted AI's potential beyond generic marketing outputs, you leave with the awareness of a product that can change your world.
Consider this another example of "The Elephant in the Room Principle."
16. Athletic Brewing Co.
If you have a blind date, this is one beer you can drink if you're trying to pretend you're not an alcoholic. But she'll find that out when she takes you home to her parents next Christmas.
Athletic Brewing's founding, was in some way, Christmas morning in this category. They were smart to realize nobody wanted to drink non-alcoholic brews because they tasted like rusty cat piss that couldn't even get you drunk.
If you're not gonna give people the 8am regrets, at least give them the flavor.
"Brewed for beers lovers," was Athletic's counter. Non-alcoholic beer that tasted better than some of its alcohol counterparts.
They redefined a whole category by targeting the people who hated their product.
17. mumumelon
***** * ***** ************.
That first line is what I think about the typical lemonhead. I bleeped it out because I started talking to a therapist and were working on some sh*t.
But Mumumelon has taken Lululemon and flipped it on its head, riding the love and hate of a polarizing brand into the promised land of sustainable fast-fashion.
Is this for real? Is this a marketing stunt? Only time will tell.
But it's a great example of comparative advertising and how you should leverage the connotations of competitor brands. Especially, when you have an anti-Lululemon audience waiting on the other side.
18. &Open
"The Brand, The Myth, The Legend Principle" helps create a market leader aura around a brand.
This &Open example is a similar approach used by Created by Humans (#3), who needed complete clarity in a category lacking consumer understanding.
But this positioning strategy can fulfill another purpose. Especially for those startups, like &Open, who have first-mover product status or who want to double down on their product positioning for a specific niche.
"The global gifting platform for companies that care," says &Open
This principle may have been inspired by that college football team in Columbus, Ohio. But can't confirm.
19. flashka
Flashka has three headline versions interchanging on their website.
Generate quality flashcards in seconds
Highlight and understand your notes
Study in the most efficient way
An example of "The It's the Economy Stupid Principle, they're communicating the same message in three different ways: We help improve the way you study.
As far as who Flashka is speaking, they're applying "The Internet Killed the Shopping Mall Principle." This means opting for micro-marketing audiences in early-stage marketing instead of generic messaging for general audiences.
The "UNIVERSITY STUDENT STUDY TOOL," says their Instagram bio.
Forget about getting a foot through the door. Start with a toe. Then expand your marketing to the masses as you grow.
20. Stupid For Startups
Like Owen Wilson's speech at the end of Wedding Crashers after Rachel McAdams discovers he's a degenerate who likes to "crash weddings to sleep with girls."
Sometimes you just need to say, f*ck it... "and maybe take a walk... take a chance."
I'm not sure where this is going. But I do know this: If you just take a look around your industry, you'll find so many marketers doing the exact same thing every same day.
But if you can give yourself permission to embarrass yourself and leave the sheeple behind. You may hear crickets around your content marketing for a bit (guilty)—but you can feel confident knowing that you've built something personally sustainable.
After all, no individual idea is realized overnight. They're half-baked in the morning.
In the meantime, in the high-pitched voice of Mr. Wilson, I tell you, "Maybe take a walk... take a chance."
How to make your startup's product page great?
Let's start by reviewing the principles in this article.
The 7 Original Principles of Startup COMMS & Marketing Stupid featured in article:
The Little Corporal Principle: Embracing a Napoleonic-like ambition, the startup mission is positioned to be as broadly relevant as the product permits.
The Elephant in The Room Principle: The marketing messaging answers the big or taboo question relevant to the category in way that demystifies perception surrounding the product.
The On-the-Nose When Nobody Knows Principle: Startup products coming into a young category lack mainstream awareness, and should therefore prioritize clarity over creativity.
The Brand, The Myth, The Legend Principle: First-movers or category leaders let prospects know they're number one. If not, they stake their claim as a 'fan favorite' or 'beloved brand' in the category.
The Everything Tastes Better with Butter Principle: Startups, especially those with established product awareness, double-down on emotional messaging concepts that appeal to bigger, broader audiences.
The Rebel With a Cause Principle: Category leaders position against the category status quo with anti-traditional branding that speaks to underserved audiences.
The Internet Killed the Shopping Mall Principle: In the early-stages, awareness grows by targeting micro-marketing audiences instead of generic messaging for general audiences.
Dear John, that's all she wrote.
- Charley
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