Exclusive: The Daily Wire made $22 million from commerce in 2023
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The Daily Wire, a conservative media and entertainment company, made more than $22 million from commerce in 2023, representing roughly 10% of its revenue for the year, executives told Axios.
Why it matters: The company, which finished 2023 with a profit and more than $200 million in top line revenue, sees an opportunity in commerce to serve the same interests as its media brand.
- "We launched Jeremy's Razors for the same reason we launched a general and kids entertainment business and a news, commentary and podcasting business: because in order to win we have to rip the economy in two," Daily Wire co-CEO Jeremy Boreing told Axios.
- "We have to build market alternatives that, in success, will force the left to take real losses if they don't compete directly for our business," he added.
Between the lines: The Daily Wire launched its Jeremy's Razors brand in March 2022 after direct-to-consumer razor company Harry's Razors pulled its ads from the Daily Wire's "The Michael Knowles Show," citing "misaligned values."
- The Jeremy's Razors products are branded with the tagline, "shave woke-free." In its newest ad campaign, the company says its razors have been "radically redesigned so you can shave like a man, not a manifesto."
- While razors are by far its best-selling product, the Daily Wire has since expanded its commerce business under the Jeremy's Razors umbrella to feature more than 40 men's and women's shaving and bath products, such as hair, body, and beard soaps and lotions, razor cleaners, and other razor accessories.
- To supercharge its commerce push, the company opened up its own fulfillment center outside of its corporate headquarters in Nashville in 2023.
By the numbers: In total, Jeremy's Razors products brought in more than $19 million in revenue for the Daily Wire in 2023, up from $10 million in 2022, executives told Axios.
- The remaining $3 million+ in total commerce revenue for the company came from the Daily Wire's merchandise store, which features an array of cheeky conservative goods, such as a "Leftist Tears" tumbler mug and a "Definition of a Woman" T-shirt.
- The company also has a separate cigar brand, called Mayflower Cigars, which is built around the brand of Michael Knowles, a host with the company's media division. That brand has surpassed $2 million in revenue since its November 2023 launch, a spokesperson said.
- While the Daily Wire spent a sizable amount of money on direct-to-consumer digital marketing of its products, the spokesperson said that its commerce business had a 39% gross margin in 2023.
Driving the news: The Daily Wire relaunched its new line of razors with a $3 million marketing campaign across digital and social channels, a spokesperson said.
- As of Tuesday, the second-generation razor product for men was the No. 1 new release item in Amazon's beauty tools and accessories category.
- The Daily Wire is spending marketing dollars to boost its products on both Amazon and Walmart. It doesn't yet have a retail presence for its goods, but that's something it's considering.
- "The biggest driver of our conversions is actually our own platform," said Tara Murphy, the company's president of consumer products.
- Today, the Daily Wire has over 15 million followers across its main social handles, not including the accounts for its talent. Its two biggest podcasts, "The Ben Shapiro Show" and "The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast," consistently rank in the top 100 podcasts in the U.S. on Apple podcasts.
Catch up quick: The Daily Wire launched in 2015 as a free news and commentary website that it boosted with social media ads.
- In 2021, after building a sizable podcast and social video audience, the company debuted a subscription streaming service, called Daily Wire+, that surpassed 1 million subscribers in 2022.
- It's poured $100 million into the creation of a kids-specific entertainment app, called Bentkey, that's meant to rival Disney.
The big picture: The Daily Wire's consumer product success comes as more traditionally conservative-leaning brands continue to see sizable gains in corporate reputation rankings, in part due to backlash around corporate initiatives related to diversity, equity and inclusion.
What to watch: The Daily Wire's success stems from being able to leverage the star power of its biggest commentators to sell streaming subscriptions, commerce products and more.
- The Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro continues to be its most visible personality, alongside hosts such as Michael Knowles, Matt Walsh, Dr. Jordan B. Peterson. Candace Owens, one of the company's most popular podcasters, parted ways with the Daily Wire in March.
