Flavored nicotine pouches are all the rage nowadays.
Nowhere is this clearer than the explosion of the popularity of ZYN nicotine pouched.
They’re a favorite among the “bro” kind of crowd. They have plenty of flavors and are easy to carry around.
Lots of funny, punny words/phrases that ZYN fits into:
- ZYNfandel
- Forgive me Father, for I have ZYNed
- ZYNbabwe
- ZYNc
- Crime ZYNdicate
- ZYNematic
- ZYNincredible
And so many more.
ZYN has become a cultural icon, capturing hearts and minds everywhere while becoming associated with a particular type of subculture.
(Marketing lesson in there.)
Yet although it hogs the spotlight, it’s not the only flavored nicotine pouch.
There’s another one called ALP (which stands for American Lip Pillow) and it’s fantastic.
Its marketing is awesome, too:
- Excellent emails
- A funny insert with my first order about a marketing/packaging mishap
- A genuine apology for their slow preorder shipping
So on and so forth.
I was an early preorder customer, so I’m a “VIP” (this brand launched a few months before I wrote this article).
And I recently got my first “VIP-only” offer via email — early access to purchase an unreleased flavor.
That’s how you reward VIPs. Not just discounts or freebies. EXCLUSIVE ACCESS.
(Another lesson in there.)
For Email Breakdown 100, I decided to analyze this VIP offer email and show you what makes it work.
Keep reading…
| Table of Contents |
| About ALP The Email: A “VIP” Limited-Time Flash Drop The Subject Line and Preview Text: The Body Copy Takeaways What to Do Next |
About ALP
ALP Pouch, or ALP, is a nicotine pouch company. ALP stands for American Lip Pillow, either officially or unofficially (I’ve actually never had this confirmed.)
It was founded by Tucker Carlson in 2024. He first announced it in September 2024 after giving up his now-competitor, ZYN. It launched a few months later and now is booming.
(I call these CarlZyns. Hey ALP, why don’t you hire me for your marketing team?)
It’s booming so much, in fact, that they had delays upon the product launch. Demand broke the logistics, so things took longer to ship.
Either way, I got on the VIP list. So I got to preorder mine before others and lock things in, at least.
That also means I get the VIP-only emails. Hence, today’s Email Breakdown, which looks at a VIP-only email…
The Email: A “VIP” Limited-Time Flash Drop
Today’s email is one of those “product drop” emails — kinda like you see in apparel — but for nicotine pouches…
And for VIPs only:
Looks nice at first glance. The deep red background (fitting the product color) with white copy works.
The email leans toward a “mostly-plain-text” email where copy plays the most significant role without shying away from visual elements.
Not too “busy” looking. Not overwhelming with all sorts of extra sections.
So let’s get into the copy…
The Subject Line and Preview Text:
The subject line is simple, yet custom-forged to catch the target reader’s attention:
Some VIPs may forget they’re VIPs. So they see this and get curious… maybe even interested.
Others who KNOW they’re VIPS also get interested because they get some payoff for being an early preorderer.
Yet like I said, there’s nothing fancy here. The subject merely announces the flavor and uses the word “flash” to indicate this is an urgent, time-limited offer.
The preview text builds on the VIP aspect:
It’s more explicit about “VIP access only,” adding exclusivity. The reader feels special because only they get this limited-time offer.
At worst, the reader is interested enough to want to try the flavor, even if it doesn’t sound like their thing, since it’s limited-time.
The stage is set for a HIGH open rate from the VIP segment. This is, after all, one of the first VIP-only emails the VIPs have received.
They’re excited and intrigued.
The Body Copy
Like many eCom emails, we open with the logo and Hero section:
Great hero image. I like how the tin is open. Something about that would make me more eager to buy.
But I REALLY like the textbox below the hero image. ALP didn’t just say “limited time”… they specified 8 hours.
Specificity makes the urgency feel more credible, and hey, 8 hours is not a lot of time when you have a busy day and could forget.
That alone could drive sales from the less-skeptical readers (such as those with more money and/or openness to trying new flavors).
Into the body copy we go, starting with a headline and intro (wow, accidental rhyme there):
“YOU’VE BEEN CHOSEN” sounds robotic in isolation, but based on ALP’s other marketing, it fits the brand’s cheekier voice.
Don’t know how to describe it. It just does.
Either way, I love the opening line.
ALP slides in the exclusivity language by saying “earliest VIPs”…
Then acknowledges that they haven’t mailed in a long time — but does so with confidence. It’s not self-deprecating.
The next chunk of copy then introduces the offer:
ALP seeds scarcity with “limited amount” AND ups the exclusivity with words like “unreleased” and phrases like “share it with those who have been with us the longest.”
(The latter phrase also highlights their appreciation for early adopters, which feels good as a customer.)
So readers have a limited time to buy from a limited stock of a flavor not available to the “masses.”
Think about how powerful a set of buying incentives that is! I would’ve bought if I hadn’t missed the email.
But instead of just “we want to share with our VIPs” they add that witty little “we don’t want to hoard it to ourselves.”
Adds a human element. Like the ALP people use and love their own product.
(They probably do.)
The last line rekindles that “early adopter” spirit. VIP readers get to try it before it goes public.
Plus, the reader gets status. They’re cool. They imagine themselves flexing their Sweet Nectar tin while others, with their Wintergreen, look on with jealousy.
At this point, it’s barely about the flavor!
Onto the next chunk to reinforce urgency and scarcity:
I like how ALP underlined and bolded this chunk of copy. Draws eyeballs to catch the “skimmers.”
ALP pulls no punches with driving those urgent orders.
The closing portion of the body copy uses a neat trick:
ALP gave me a special password — labeled an “access code” to get my discount.
Yes, the code was a random letter/number string. But it was still “personalized,” so to speak.
Smart for protecting VIP stuff, too. If you just sent them to a passwordless VIP landing page, others could accidentally find that page. Or share it with friends.
The password cuts down on that. I bet it’s tied to the customer’s account and has limited uses.
(Note how this password didn’t give a discount. It simply gives early access. That’s as exciting to the customer as entering a discount code… without ALP giving up profit as discount!)
Also, notice the copy:
- It gives you step-by-step instructions
- It future-paces by making the last step “be the very first to experience our latest flavor” instead of a boring, flat, “complete your order”
That second bullet is key because it fast-forwards psychologically. You don’t mention having to finish the order, which implies shipping, unwrapping, etc.
The very wording makes the reader think less about all the other stuff between entering their code and popping their first pouch of Sweet Nectar.
It just sounds so easy.
Finally comes the footer:
Not much here.
At the top is what looks like boilerplate “legal” copy. Not sure if there’s a regulatory reason for that.
But below it is one of the company’s slogans and a CTA to follow them on social media.
Good idea to tuck this into a VIP email. VIPs will follow the brand on any and all social media.
So this way, ALP scoops some easy social media follows and likes.
It might even indirectly encourage some user-generated content (UGC).
Takeaways
Here are some big takeaways:
1. The Copy Mechanics
Urgency/Scarcity
ALP hammers the urgency and scarcity hard — limited product and limited time.
There are only a limited number since it’s unreleased, and many VIPs will likely rush to buy it. It is almost like a “test run” of this flavor to see if it works well.
The time-based urgency doesn’t have as strong a justification, admittedly.
But it doesn’t feel forced. It’s a limited drop of an unreleased flavor. Lacking a time limit would make it feel less exclusive.
Exclusivity
Throughout the email, bits of exclusivity copy make the customer excited to be part of a small, elite group.
“YOU’VE BEEN CHOSEN”
“Eventually, Sweet Nectar will release to the world as part of our permanent lineup, but for right now, it’s all you.”
“You’ll need a password to access the product…”
“We want to share it with those who have been with us the longest.”
“Be the very first to experience our latest flavor.”
Even the use of an access code makes you feel like part of a club.
Great job on ALP’s part for cultivating the VIP feel.
Humor and personality
This email infuses ALP brand humor/personality/voice in several places.
For example, “…and instead of hoarding it all to ourselves…” is a funny way to justify the existence of this offer rather than a straightforward “Hey, you’re a VIP, you get access.”
It’s almost like they made the decision “on the fly.” Makes the brand more relatable.
Future-oriented language
Future-pacing means making the customer imagine themselves already enjoying the product/benefits.
Here, ALP does it within the CTA language.
I’m talking about “… punch in this code, and be among the very first to experience our latest flavor,” which is way better than “place your order.”
Natural spacing
ALP doesn’t strive for hyper-direct-response-guru style here.
The paragraphs are, well, paragraphs. And they’re centered.
It fits the type of company and product. ALP isn’t selling you a copywriting course, but a more mass product.
2. The Email Structure
This email’s structure is as follows:
- Hero section
- Includes offer summary + urgency
- Headline
- VIP reminder
- Offer introduction
- Exclusivity copy
- Urgency + scarcity
- Offer claim instructions
- CTA
- Footer
- About section
- Social media icons
Notice how urgency/scarcity is distributed throughout. VIPs are already eager to buy, but hitting the limited-time/stock helps to:
- Make things feel more limited
- Enhance exclusivity even further
3. The Overall Strategy
Four distinct strategy takeaways here:
Rewarding VIPs
It’s simple:
Rewarding customer loyalty encourages more customer loyalty.
That goes for encouraging new customers to become loyal… and for handing out nice things to people who have already proven such loyalty.
So by giving VIPs special offers, you keep your brand top of mind and maintain that good will.
They want to continue buying from you instead of competitors with similar products. They want to tell others about you.
Speaking of that…
Getting MORE VIPs
Your VIPs are your top customers. They buy regularly. They stick with you for a long time. They love your brand and tell others.
It logically follows that you want MORE of the types of people who hit VIP status.
So, every time you interact with your VIPs, you can note what works, what doesn’t, how they respond, etc.
Beyond that, you can find out what kinds of people they are. Problems, pain points, dreams, goals, how they talk, and so on.
All this comes in handy for tailoring your acquisition to find more people like your VIPs… aka people who are more likely to spend lots of money with you.
For ALP, this may work if they let in top customers who weren’t otherwise preorder customers.
(Heck, they could create a super special VIP tier for preorder customers only, and then a regular VIP segment for anyone who reaches an LTV threshold.)
Testing new products
VIPs are the perfect segment to test new, unreleased products with.
You get preliminary market research/product validation from reliable customers. Your customers get exclusive and cool freebies… while feeling like they play a part in shaping the brand.
You can frame it as testing a new product or even a limited unreleased version.
You can explicitly state that you’re testing and want their feedback or just monitor their thoughts and determine whether it’s worth proceeding.
For ALP, it works even better since its VIPs are preorder customers. Makes perfect sense to try a new flavor with them and see how it resonates.
A “sale” without giving up margin
This “flash drop” is basically a “flash sale” without a discount. The “value-add” comes from the exclusivity, which is amplified by scarcity and urgency.
So it feels like a special promotional event to the customer. Yet the brand doesn’t give up profit margins to generate a flood of sales.
This shows that discounts are not the only way to create enough value for a customer to buy.
What to Do Next
- Get on my email list using the signup form below for more Email Breakdowns and other helpful marketing content.
- Share this with someone who might find it helpful (or entertaining).
- Reach out to me if you want help writing emails like this one.
- Check out ALP if you’re interested in some excellent nicotine pouches (only if you’re 21 and are aware of the potential risks of nicotine use, of course)!