Two young guys spotted a huge gap in the car air freshener market. What started as a side hustle in a basement has now grown into Drift, a brand that pulls in millions of dollars a year, purely from subscription sales. Today, we’re diving into the story of how they turned an overlooked need into a profitable business.
Now, let’s explore how they run a cool, subscription-based product people actually love:
No One Was Making It Cooler
The idea first came to me right after college, when I had my first job and bought a used MAZDASPEED3. I thought it was gonna be awesome. I flew out to Idaho to pick it up, cleaned it spotless inside and out. It looked amazing except the smell.
So I went to grab an air freshener. I had a tacky little piece of paper dangling from my rearview mirror — because that was literally the only option. I hated it. There’s got to be something cooler, better-smelling.
Christian and I were out hiking, tossing around random business ideas, like we always did. We probably pitched 45 things on that trail. Stuff like, “Hey, I’ve got a $50,000 idea.” Then I brought up the air freshener thing again. I was like, “Picture this — an Audi R8… with one of those little green trees hanging from the visor. Come on. That can’t be the best we’ve got.”
We both had full-time 9-to-5 jobs, and we knew building a physical product takes a lot. But the more we talked, the more it started to feel real. Eventually, we just decided to build the first version and figure the rest out later.
Creating the First Version in Basement
We looked at every air freshener on the market and made a list of everything we didn’t like — and how we could make it better. That’s when we realized wood could be the perfect material: it absorbs fragrance oil well, releases it slowly and evenly, and looks more like a high-end accessory. Plus, it’s sustainable and doesn’t need any toxic chemicals.
Christian literally went to a woodworking shop the next day and started cutting planks, trying to figure out how to bring this thing to life. We had zero background in fragrance. So we hit up Whole Foods, grabbed a bunch of essential oils, and just went by instinct — if it smelled good, we soaked some wood in it.
That’s when we ran into our first real problem: how do we make the scent last? We started testing different types of wood and found that each absorbed and released oil differently. This led us to switch from cedar to alder wood.
Once we had a product, the next step was figuring out how to get customers. At that point, we hadn’t even thought about things like packaging, ads, or storytelling. We just put it on Kickstarter and hoped for the best.
Christian and I always say it was more of a “pricing test” than a real launch. A few hundred people ended up buying, mostly friends and family. It didn’t really fail, but it didn’t really win either. But we got our first real orders and a reason to start producing.
That first batch was totally handmade in our basement after work. We bought a bunch of fish tanks from Walmart to soak the oils. Since we has day jobs, so Christian would be cutting blocks around 8 or 9pm, then we’d package and ship together. I’d stay up until 0 to 1am running some Facebook ads.
How Subscriptions Brings Real Profit?
Our product is basically a block of wood and a metal clip. The wood is made in the U.S., and we source most of the other parts from China, which keeps the costs super low.
We started out pricing it at $8. One of the best things about this air fresher is that it’s consumable which made subscriptions feel like a natural fit. That’s how we’ve been able to keep an amazing repeat rate.
We also took some inspiration from Scentbird — the monthly fragrance subscription brand. It’s amazing that they send a new scent every month. It works perfectly for us too.
Subscriptions freed us from having to stock tons of inventory. Our customers are super consistent, and with churn holding steady around 3% to 5%, we’ve been able to run things almost just-in-time.
Our First Shipping Almost Killed Business
You probably don’t know this, but shipping was eating all our profit early on. Our product is this sleek little block of wood. So we thought, why not just mail it like a letter? That would only cost 45 cents. We dropped off about 150 at the post office… and they all got kicked back.
It felt like the end of everything.
The product cost about $1, but regular USPS shipping was $3. And we couldn’t just raise the price because similar products were going for a couple bucks. We were already charging 8x more. Any higher and no one would buy it.
We still had to fulfill all our Kickstarter orders, so we didn’t really have a choice. That’s when we started digging into how other DTC subscription brands, like Dollar Shave Club. Eventually, we tracked down one of their behind-the-scenes packaging guys. He showed us a few key tricks and honestly, saved the business.
What Really Worked in Our Marketing?
Trying to sell a scent online might be the worst pitches ever. I mean, how do you convince someone to buy something they can’t smell? So instead of describing the fragrance directly, we focused on helping people feel it by watching it. I invited a few friends to help us shoot scenes that captured the mood of each scent — like “fresh laundry in the sun” or “a just-peeled orange.”
Facebook and Instagram worked best. With an $8 product, people either buy it instantly or scroll past. So the key was making the ad grab attention quickly. One of our best-performing product images looked like crap but people clicked and bought. Gifting ads around the holidays also converted surprisingly well.
Like we said before, competition in this space isn’t crazy. Looking back, our customer acquisition cost about $10 per customer. It was quite affordable. But we were cautious as we were just reinvesting profits into ads. That’s what kept our growth healthy and sustainable.
How We Launched New Products?
Our bestseller was the wood air freshener. That’s where it all started. After that, we expanded into other materials like stone and metal. For the stone version, we picked a type that absorbs scent well. It’s like another take on wood. The metal one uses a scented insert and clips onto car vent.
Once we had a loyal customer base, it made sense to bring our scents into the home and personal care too. If people love the way it smells in their car, why not let them enjoy it in other places? Plus, the subscription model works great for anything that needs regular replacement — like air filters, room sprays, or scent refills.
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