Ricardo Beverly Hills operates in a category shaped by heritage, quality, and trust.

As a long-established brand, Ricardo carried strong recognition and credibility — but also the complexity that comes with legacy positioning. Growth expectations were increasing, particularly within direct-to-consumer, while the brand needed to remain consistent with decades of earned equity.

DTC was an opportunity, but it couldn’t behave like a typical performance channel.
Every decision carried brand consequence.

The challenge was not demand.

It was translation.

Specifically:

• How to scale DTC without collapsing a premium brand into performance messaging
• How to balance modern acquisition tactics with long-established brand expectations
• How to introduce growth velocity without relying on discounting or urgency
• How to ensure lifecycle reinforced brand value rather than transactional behavior

Without a governing system, DTC risked drifting away from what made the brand credible.

We approached the work by treating growth as a brand-governed system, not a volume engine.

The focus was on protecting posture while enabling scale.

We worked with the team to:

• Clarify the role DTC played within the broader brand ecosystem
• Define decision boundaries that protected brand equity
• Introduce constraints that limited promotional shortcuts
• Align acquisition, conversion, and lifecycle around premium buying behavior
• Establish a cadence that allowed learning without forcing outcomes

Only once structure was in place did execution move forward.

The result was a DTC growth system aligned with a premium legacy brand.

Specifically:

• An acquisition approach grounded in trust, storytelling, and product credibility
• Conversion behavior designed to support confidence rather than urgency
• Lifecycle systems that reinforced value, longevity, and ownership experience
• Guardrails that prevented performance pressure from distorting brand posture
• A decision framework that allowed growth without eroding identity

The system was built to scale quietly.

As the system matured, growth behavior changed.

• DTC activity aligned more closely with brand expectations
• Messaging became more consistent and defensible
• Lifecycle supported long-term brand relationship rather than short-term conversion
• Decisions felt clearer — and less reactive

Growth became steadier, without sacrificing legacy.