How Canopy turned a BASIC humidifier into a $40M beauty empire
Welcome to Vol 93 of The Good Marketer: Bold, brilliant strategies that are working in marketing right now. Delivered to disruptors every Wednesday.
🪩 Volume 93 | July 16, 2025
HELLO FROM NEW YORK.
Spending the next 4 weeks working from Long Island to escape the Florida heat and TBH, I think I brought the heat with me.
We ROAD TRIPPED up here (3 full days) and my left arm and back are the most agitated from having to turn around / lean over / be all the things to my 3 and 1 year old so yeah that's where I'm at right now.
I friggin' love a change of scenery though: always inspires me.
Like this week, inspired me to want to go drop a bunch of money on a new cool mist humidifier (THAT DOESN'T GET MOLDY UGHHHH).
(ironically, more on this below)
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This week's read time: 5ish mins
For you skimmers: 1-2 mins (hit the bold headers and bullet points)
You know those brands that make you feel slightly ridiculous for ever buying the "cheaper version"?
Meet Canopy: the humidifier company that turned basic air moisture into a skincare essential for adults/health essential for babies and somehow convinced thousands of us to drop $150+ on what's essentially fancy water vapor.
Founded just five years ago in 2020 (!!!), Canopy debuted with their sleek Bedside Humidifier and immediately broke every sales forecast they'd made. They predicted 5,800 units in their first three months.
…they blew past that number so fast they probably needed a bigger warehouse by month two.
This is not just another "we made it prettier" success story. Canopy cracked the code on something that's been frustrating everyone with a humidifier for decades (me included)—the maintenance nightmare.
The pain points they solved:
No distilled water required (finally!). Most cool mist humidifiers turn into science experiments if you dare use tap water. Canopy said "nah, we'll filter that for you."
Dishwasher-safe everything. While the rest of us are scrubbing mold out of impossible-to-reach corners (UGH ME), Canopy owners are literally throwing their humidifier parts in with the dinner dishes.
Mist-free operation that doesn't coat your nightstand in mysterious droplets or make your bedroom feel like a rainforest.
Ok best part here: they didn't position this as "better air care"—they positioned it as skincare.
Dermatologists and pediatricians started recommending it.
Beauty editors started reviewing it.
Suddenly, this wasn't a seasonal winter purchase; it was year-round wellness equipment.
The brand aesthetic: clean, calming, Instagram-ready. The kind of device that makes your nightstand look intentional instead of cluttered with random gadgets.
And then they got strategic: partnered with Sephora (becoming the first home device brand in their stores), brought on Drybar's founder as President, and expanded into filtered showerheads and portable versions.
The result: $40 million in revenue and a customer base that's genuinely obsessed—not just satisfied.
Reframe the entire freaking category, don't just improve the product. Canopy didn't just make a "better humidifier"—they created a beauty device that happens to humidify. They elevated a commodity purchase into a wellness investment.
Your move: What category are you currently competing in, and what higher-value category could you claim instead? If you're a productivity consultant, could you be a "work-life integration strategist"? If you sell notebooks, could they be "creativity catalysts"?
Solve the maintenance problem, not just the INITIAL problem. Most brands focus on the core function and forget about the ongoing experience. Canopy obsessed over making their product as low-maintenance as possible—because nobody wants a beautiful humidifier that becomes a mold factory.
→ Your move: What's the most annoying part of using your product or working with your service? That friction point might be your biggest competitive advantage waiting to happen.
Design for the everyday, not just the special moment. Canopy's success isn't just about winter dry air—it's about creating something people want on their nightstand 365 days a year. They made the mundane feel essential.
→ Your move: How can you make your offering feel necessary rather than nice-to-have? What daily habit or routine could you become part of?
Build your expert ecosystem. Dermatologists recommending a humidifier carries way more weight than the brand saying "great for skin." Canopy understood that third-party credibility trumps self-promotion every time.
→ Your move: Who are the trusted voices in your space, and how can you earn their genuine endorsement? Sometimes the best marketing happens when you're not the one doing the talking.
Create smart extensions, not random additions. When Canopy expanded to filtered showerheads and aroma collaborations, it made perfect sense. Everything fits under their "clean wellness" umbrella and serves the same customer with related needs.
→ Your move: What complementary problems does your ideal customer face that you could solve next? The goal isn't more products—it's becoming more valuable to the same people.
The bottom line: Canopy turned commodity hardware into a beauty essential by focusing on what happens after the purchase. They made the boring parts beautiful and the frustrating parts effortless.
Sometimes the biggest opportunity isn't creating something completely new—it's reimagining something everyone else treats as "good enough."
If you ever end up in Bristol VA (why would you idk) you gotta check out Pals Sudden Service. Let me tell you how confused I was by the name but also the Simpson Style building? BUT OMG. Nicest waitstaff. They call their french fries “frency fries” and probably one of the best burgers I've ever had. It was literally something we drove by and said “we can't NOT go there???” Pls trust this is not the norm for me lmao all rules are off the table on 3 day road trips.
Downtown Sag Harbor is almost a daily visit when we spend summers here in Long Island and mainly because I love the small town feel (and the bookstores lol). Yesterday, we went into town to go to the library and after, popped into the town grocery store. We happened to park right next to a pink… Bronco! And who proceeded to get into it? The owner of Love Shack Fancy. In front of her store out here. And the car was DECKED OUT in her prints. Sure enough found it on the gram, she said she'll be in the Hamptons all summer so let's see how many other times I run into her + her fabulousness. (This is actually a brand I'm obsessed with, KK?).
Thing(s) I bought this week:
A new HDMI cord because mine stopped working and my portable monitor and I hate each other and TBH work is so hard without one. TGFA (thank God for Amazon)
Our new book club book: Do I Know You?
You're probably sending 20-50 emails a day, and every single one is a missed opportunity to grow your business.
While you're agonizing over your latest Instagram post (that three people will see), your email signature is doing absolutely NOTHING except telling people your phone number.
Here's what I see happening all the time: founders spending hours crafting the perfect LinkedIn post, but their email signature is basically a digital business card doing absolutely nothing.
Meanwhile, I've watched brands get client inquiries, podcast invitations, and speaking opportunities just from people clicking links in their email signatures.
Not from their social media.
Not from their website.
From the thing that shows up in every single email they send.
Your email signature shows up in every single business email you send. That's your website traffic, your lead magnet downloads, your social proof... all just sitting there, invisible.
Most email signatures look like this:
Best regards,
Jennifer Smith Founder, Creative Solutions LLC
jen@creativesolutions.com
(555) 123-4567
Boring. Forgettable.
Doing absolutely zero work for your business.
But what if it looked like this instead:
Jennifer Smith | Creative Solutions LLC
Creating brands that make people stop mid-scroll ✨
🎯 Download: "5 Website Mistakes Costing You Clients"
📅 Book a Brand Strategy Call
jen@creativesolutions.com | (555) 123-4567
See the difference? The second one is WORKING.
Here's a 15 min audit for ya:
Minute 1-3: The Hook - Your first line after your name should make people curious, not sleepy. Lead with what you do or the transformation you create. Try: "Turning tech founders into thought leaders" or "Making marketing feel less like homework"
Minute 4-7: The Value Add - Include ONE link to your best lead magnet or resource. Not five links. One. The thing you want everyone to download.
Minute 8-12: The Social Proof - Add a credential, recent win, or social proof element. "As seen in Forbes" or "Helped 200+ founders scale" or "Host of [Podcast Name]"
Minute 13-15: The Design Check - Use emojis (sparingly), line breaks for readability, and make sure it doesn't look like a hot mess on mobile.
What's actually converting RIGHT NOW:
I asked five of our clients what's working in their signatures, and here's what's driving actual results:
✅ Calendar links ("Grab 15 minutes with me")
✅ Case study downloads ("See how [Client] got X result")
✅ Free tools ("Calculate your marketing ROI")
✅ Newsletter links ("Join 1,000+ founders getting marketing tips")
✅ Recent press mentions ("Featured in Entrepreneur Magazine")
Each one tells you exactly what they do, gives you a reason to click, and makes you feel something.
Remember: Your signature should feel like a natural extension of who you are, not a billboard. You're already sending those emails. You might as well make them work a little harder.
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You came. You read. You *hopefully* got inspired.
Thanks for riding the good vibes alllllll the way to the end.
