Supplement brand Obvi has systematically transformed 2,000 creators and a 100,000-member Facebook community into a defensive business strategy that is difficult to replicate. 

“Our moat should be social proof of how we legitimize the brand at every stage of the customer’s journey,” explains Ashvin Melwani, co-founder and CMO of Obvi, which crossed $100 million in lifetime sales since its 2019 launch. “With any supplement brand, there are so many of them out there, and it all comes down to the social proof that you have and the results that you have as one of the leading factors somebody purchases from you.”

Obvi entered the market by solving a basic consumer pain point: taste. “A lot of the collagens out there were unflavored, and if you know anything about taking supplements, if something doesn’t taste good, you’re not going to take it,” Ashvin explains. Their nostalgic flavors, like fruity and cocoa cereal, sold out in just two weeks, but what truly transformed their business was an unexpected viral moment in early 2020.

“One day, we see this influx of traffic and sales. Our traffic and sales quadrupled for the day,” Ashvin recalls. They discovered an influencer had gone live on Facebook to her million-plus followers, discussing Obvi’s product for 30 minutes without any prior arrangement. “She had seen an ad, she bought, and she was doing a taste test live,” Ashvin explains. This creator, who had undergone weight loss surgery, was genuinely impressed with the product’s taste compared to competitors.

This serendipitous event sparked a strategic shift in their approach to influencer marketing. “I think a lot of people see influencer marketing as a channel where they need to see an ROI immediately. Gone are those days,” Ashvin notes. Instead of focusing on immediate conversion, he recognized that creator relationships could build a foundation of social proof that enhances every aspect of their business. The goal shifted from transaction to transformation—creating an ecosystem of genuine advocates who collectively legitimize the brand at every customer touchpoint.

Obvi’s Three-Dimensional Community Strategy

Obvi’s community moat operates across three interconnected dimensions:

The first dimension is their creator network. Last year alone, approximately 2,000 creators posted content featuring Obvi products. Rather than pursuing mega-influencers, Obvi focuses on micro and mid-tier creators. “We want to go after the moms, we want to go after the people that are just getting into fitness, the more relatable creators as possible,” Ashvin shares.

The second dimension is their consumer community. “We have over a hundred thousand women in a Facebook group called the Obvi community where people come in, they chat tips, tricks, accountability, motivation, and things like that,” Ashvin explains. “If you see a brand with a hundred thousand-member community, there’s no way that this can be a scam or anything like that.”

The third dimension is their retail presence, with products available in nearly 20,000 retail locations nationwide. This physical presence complements their digital strategy, enabling customers to discover Obvi products in familiar retail settings.

These three dimensions work together to create complete legitimization: “We’re doing these things to say, ‘Hey, listen, we’re not just an ad you’re seeing on Facebook. There’s a story behind it. Thousands of creators are talking about the product, and they wouldn’t talk about it if they didn’t like it.'”

From Product Seeding to Lasting Partnerships

Obvi’s approach to building their creator ecosystem follows a carefully designed progression. Each month, they send 300-500 product packages to selected creators who match specific parameters. “We have set parameters—X amount of followers, certain demographic, certain engagement levels, different verticals,” Ashvin explains.

Instead of simply hoping for the best after sending products, Obvi establishes clear expectations. “The expectation when you’re sending these packages is, ‘Hey, we’re going to send you something, no strings attached, but we do want something in return if you like the product,'” Ashvin states.

All creators receive a discount code and commission structure, but the crucial next step involves testing their content through paid advertising channels. “What we’ll do is we’ll actually test this in our paid ad account, Facebook ads, etc. And whatever does well, we’ll go back to that influencer and say, ‘Hey, we want to work with you long term,'” Ashvin explains.

Top-performing creators are offered more substantial partnerships. “We’re offering a $500 monthly retainer. We need a video every single week, each video with three hooks. And on top of that, we want whitelisting access. We would like you to post on your account twice a week. And on top of that, we’ll give you commission on any sales you bring in,” Ashvin details.

The Personal Touch That Scales

What distinguishes Obvi’s community strategy is its emphasis on building relationships beyond automated systems. Ashvin emphasizes that “the real work happens after they’ve posted for the brand.”

Obvi’s influencer manager maintains detailed information about each creator, including birthdays, personal interests, and family details. “If it’s somebody’s birthday, ‘Happy birthday.’ Send them flowers,” Ashvin explains.

The team also prioritizes face-to-face connections. “Our influencer manager will hop on a 10-minute Google Meet call just to talk to the person face to face,” Ashvin shares.

Discord, Incentives, and Platform Strategy

As Obvi continues to strengthen its community moat, it is building a Discord community where creators can share strategies and learn from one another. “What I’m trying to do is I want to create a program for Obvi that is a win for everybody,” Ashvin explains.

This includes generous commission structures (25-30%) and running creators’ content as ads to generate additional revenue for them. “We’re also running everybody’s content as an ad so that they can make 10% commission on those without even doing anything,” he adds.

Obvi is implementing substantial rewards for top performers, including “weekly contests, GMV milestones, prizes, gifts, and sending some people on vacation if they can generate enough GMV,” Ashvin shares.

Platform strategy is also crucial, with distinct tactics for each channel. Ashvin sees particular power in TikTok: “If you get a million views on Instagram versus a million views on TikTok, the effect that you feel from TikTok is way better than Instagram.”

TikTok has become a strategic focus, particularly through its TikTok Shop platform. “What I want to do is I really want to blow up our TikTok Shop. I do want it to become meaningful revenue for us,” Ashvin explains.

Measuring Community Impact Beyond Direct Attribution

A key aspect of Obvi’s community strategy is its redefinition of success metrics. “I don’t care about direct sales because I know that if I can get more people to see my brand, at some point, if they’re thinking about a collagen protein, they’re going to remember Obvi,” Ashvin explains.

This approach recognizes that most consumers aren’t immediately in-market for supplements. “Instead of just focusing on the 5% of people that are in market, you should be thinking about the 95% of the people that could be in market later down the road,” he notes.

The success of this strategy became evident when a creator’s genuine TikTok video about her PCOS journey and experience with Obvi went viral. Within 48 hours, the video reached 3 million views, and Obvi’s Amazon ranking jumped from “top 10 collagen product to the number one selling collagen product that day.”

This visibility also improved performance across other marketing channels. “My ads started performing way better because we’re actually getting quality traffic from an outside or external source,” Ashvin explains.

For Obvi, success is measured in building brand awareness that drives business across all channels. “Every single month, I want to see 5 million, 10 million, 20 million, 50 million, 100 million views over time and just see the impact of that on our website performance, our Amazon performance, our retail performance,” Ashvin shares.

For brands, the most important takeaway is prioritizing long-term community building over short-term conversion metrics. “People think organic content is supposed to drive immediate revenue. It is not. It’s awareness for the brand,” Ashvin emphasizes.

For creators, Obvi’s approach demonstrates the value of sincerity and genuine product connection. Creators who can genuinely integrate products into their existing content style will find more sustainable brand partnerships.

Ultimately, Obvi demonstrates that in a competitive market where product differences are becoming challenging to maintain, community becomes the most defensible competitive advantage.

“I want to create a community where people want to talk about Obvi all day long,” Ashvin concludes.

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