Better Advertising with BTR Media
by Destaney Wishon and Justin Nuckols
Better Advertising with BTR Media is a podcast for Amazon sellers & the ecommerce community to share strategies to optimize & scale online brands with Amazon PPC, Amazon DSP, Walmart Connect, Instacart, Target & more. Your hosts, Justin Nuckols & Destaney Wishon, talk with other advertisers, online sellers, & brands dominating their categories on Amazon.
Episodes
-
Why Amazon Live Sports Is Not Just for Big Brands
Karla O’Grady has been on Amazon’s live sports team since year one when they had one property, Thursday Night Football, and fifteen regular season games to sell. Five years later the portfolio includes the NBA, WNBA, National Women’s Soccer League, and a lot more on the way. In this episode...
-
Premium Beauty Meets Amazon with Unilever Prestige
Alexis Katsafanas started her career as a fashion buyer at Nordstrom, went through Nike, Daily Harvest, and a stint inside Amazon before landing at Unilever Prestige where she oversees D2C and Amazon for some of the most disruptive brands in beauty right now including K18. In this episode she and...
-
How MANN+HUMMEL Builds Trust on TikTok
Jonathan Alsop started in e-commerce selling products out of a boutique home and garden store in Charlotte and ended up managing 15,000 SKUs for Rack Room Shoes before jumping to one of the most technically complex catalog challenges in the industry at MANN+HUMMEL, home to Purolator, Wix Filters,...
-
What Vital Proteins Gets Right About Influence
Mike Sommers has spent his career building brands that show up in culture in ways that actually stick. From spending eight years reaching endurance athletes at the point of sweat for Nuun, to activating at the US Open for Vital Proteins six weeks after signing the contract, he has figured out...
-
How Sourmilk Built a Yogurt Brand Worth Talking About
Elan Halpern did not set out to start a yogurt company. She set out to fix her gut. What started as making small batches at home turned into 50 customer interviews, yogurt drops with personal phone numbers handed out at the door, and eventually a Midwest launch into 70 Fresh Thyme stores less…
more -
You Are Reading the Wrong Scorecard
David Khoshpasand has spent years at Hasbro figuring out why retail media keeps getting blamed for things that are not its fault. The answer almost always comes back to the same problem. Brands are using the wrong scorecard. In this episode he and Destaney get into why total OPS is a terrible way...
-
AI Is the New Word of Mouth
Christian Campisi taught himself Amazon advertising by sitting in on US account calls while doing his accounting job at Pink Stork. Two years later he was launching the brand into 4,600 Walmart stores. He recently joined Wedderspoon, the leading Manuka honey brand, to do it all over again. In…
more -
How Soom Foods Built a Brand Before Anyone Knew What Tahini Was
Amy Zitelman co-founded Soom Foods in 2013 with no branding experience, no marketing budget, and a product most Americans had never heard of. She built the brand by selling to chefs, showing up at farmer's markets, and collecting feedback for eight years before she felt ready to scale to consumer...
-
What AI Gets Wrong About Your Catalog
Nick and Destaney get into how to think about budget allocation across a catalog when every SKU has a different role, why a one dollar ROAS on a specific product might actually be the right call, and why brands that are still optimizing purely for ACOS and ROAS are falling behind without even...
-
Stop Chasing Viral. Start Building Real.
Cullen Gilchrist has spent 15 years watching food and beverage brands succeed and fail. As CEO of First Run, he has seen enough companies light money on fire chasing growth, distribution, and viral moments to know exactly where the pattern breaks down every single time. In this episode Cullen and...
-
The Context Problem: Why Most Brands Are Using AI Wrong
Dustin Wassner is BTR Media's VP of Technology and one of the most genuinely knowledgeable people in the space when it comes to the actual infrastructure behind retail media advertising. He is also the person Destaney calls when something sounds easy and needs someone to figure out if it actually...
-
3 Roles, 100 Brands, Here's What She Learned
Cherene Aubert went from agency operator to VP of Growth at Bobby to head of digital at Ilia Beauty, and then left her dream job to start Growth Capital. In this episode she breaks down the pattern recognition that comes from seeing a hundred plus brands up close, how to think about media budget...
-
Nécessaire's Full Funnel Playbook
Kris Torres manages Amazon advertising in-house for Nécessaire, one of the most talked-about premium body care brands in the space. In this episode, he breaks down exactly how he thinks about full funnel strategy, when high ROAS is actually a warning sign, and why winning on Amazon starts with...
-
Back to School Is Bigger Than You Think
62% of back to school shoppers have already started their journey before most brands have even adjusted their strategy. If that stat surprises you, this episode is worth your time. Destaney sits down with Gibby and Laura to break down everything brands need to know about back to school and back…
more -
How to Filter the Noise in Retail Media
Destaney sits down with Ashlee Earl, BTR Media's customer success lead, who has sat in almost every seat the industry has to offer. They talk about how to filter through the noise when every product is suddenly claiming AI and every platform is launching something new, why the 80/20 rule is still...
-
AI Is Your Advisor, Not Your Decision Maker
Destaney sits down with BTR Media's newest product manager, Lucas Seeley, who started his career bartending at a Penn State hotel and ended up as an intern at Flywheel Digital before he turned 20. They talk about how he taught himself to build AI-powered tools before most people knew what an…
more -
How Amazon Live Is Connecting Creators, Content, and Commerce
In this episode, Destaney sits down with Julie Haleluk from Amazon Live to talk about the rise of shoppable video, creator-led commerce, and how brands can use Amazon Live to build trust, create demand, and connect the dots across the customer journey. They discuss why video should be viewed as a...
-
AI Won’t Replace Strategy
AI is changing retail media fast, but that does not mean strategy is going away. In this episode, Destaney is joined by Adam Mellott, Head of Service Delivery, Training, and Education at Better Media, to talk through how AI is reshaping internal training, Amazon Ads, and the way teams learn. They...
-
Future Beauty Brands Went From Declining to Double Digits
In this episode of Better Advertising with BTR Media, Destaney sits down with Ana Sviatschi, Director of Digital Commerce at Future Beauty Brands, to talk about what it really takes to grow in today’s beauty and ecommerce landscape. Ana shares her journey from Unilever to Bayer to Future Beauty...
-
Stop Comparing RMNs Like They’re the Same
Every retail media network gives brands another way to reach the consumer. But more opportunity also means more complexity. In this episode, Laura Pattison joins Destaney to talk about what brands need to understand before adding new RMNs into their media mix. They cover targeting differences,...
-
Inside a $3M Amazon Launch
Launching a brand on Amazon in 2025 isn’t easy—but it’s far from impossible. In this episode, Destaney and Zach Bican break down how his team scaled a brand from $0 to $3M in ordered revenue in just 12 months—earning a nomination for Most Effective Commerce Media Campaign at The Drum Awards this...
-
CTV, Fire TV, and the Funnel You’re Missing
Streaming TV isn’t just a brand play anymore. In this episode, Gibby breaks down how brands should be thinking about CTV, Fire TV, and upper funnel strategy in 2026, from when to invest (earlier than you think) to why a high-intent-only approach is limiting growth. He covers how to use existing...
-
Duke Cannon Keeps It Simple
There’s never been more to do on Amazon. New ad formats, tools, and ways to reach customers. And somehow, that’s the problem. In this episode, Destaney and Josh Webb discuss what it really takes to grow on Amazon right now as a challenger brand. Not in theory, but in practice. If your Amazon...
-
Brand Building Beyond ROAS Jail
In this episode, Isa joins the podcast to talk about what brands miss when they focus too narrowly on ROAS. From her experience on the brand side and now at BTR Media, she breaks down why awareness still matters, why the path to purchase is anything but linear, and how strong brands connect…
more -
Why Duke Cannon Rebuilt Its Amazon Strategy
Duke Cannon built its brand through retail shelves and loyal fans, but turning Amazon into a true growth channel required a very different strategy. In this episode, Destaney sits down with Josh Webb, Director of E-commerce at Duke Cannon, to unpack what it really takes to scale Amazon inside a...
-
How Brands Are Scaling with Amazon DSP Performance Plus
Amazon’s DSP has a reputation for being powerful but complicated. Justin and Gibby break down Amazon DSP Performance Plus, an AI-driven campaign type designed to simplify programmatic advertising. They discuss how it works, when brands should use it, and how it can drive both new customer...
-
Energy Drinks, Fire TV & the Future of Amazon Ads
Destaney and Sage talk about Sage’s journey from scaling ecommerce at Celsius Energy Drinks to leading strategy at BTR Media and how that brand side experience shapes the way she approaches Amazon today. They discuss what it actually looks like to build demand instead of just harvesting it, and…
more -
Is Retail Media Ready for AI Ads?
Ads inside AI are no longer hypothetical. In this episode, Destaney and Kiri Masters unpack what OpenAI’s ad announcements mean for retail media, discovery, and the future of advertising. From Amazon and Walmart to brands navigating uncertainty, this conversation explores why context may matter...
-
How Rhino USA Scaled from Amazon to Walmart
What does it really take to go from Amazon success to physical retail shelves? In this episode, Destaney is joined by TJ Hyland, VP of Sales at Rhino USA, to break down Rhino’s journey from marketplace growth to nationwide Walmart distribution. They discuss why social media (especially TikTok)...
-
Retail Media is a Moving Target
Destaney sits down with Laura Pattison, BTR Media’s new VP of Retail Media, to break down what’s changing across Amazon, Walmart, TikTok Shop, and beyond and what it takes to build a retail media strategy that actually scales.
-
The Foundation we Built in 2025
A candid 2025 recap with Destaney and Alex on what it actually took to scale BTR, from investing in A-players and internal tech to protecting culture in a fast-moving industry.
-
DSP Strategy in the AI Era
Destaney talks with Gibby, BTR Media’s Head of DSP, to break down how he uses AMC, DSP, and AI tools like ChatGPT to build custom reports and audiences that actually prove incremental value. Gibby shares how he went from zero coding experience to writing SQL for AMC, how to turn black box data…
more -
Inside the Retail Media Super Bowl
Amazon unBoxed 2025 delivered some of the biggest shifts we have seen in retail media. In this episode, Destaney and Gabi break down the announcements that matter most from Creative Studio updates to Rufus search behavior to the rise of natural language tools inside Ad Console. #amazonads...
-
Stop Underspending During BFCM Lead In
Black Friday / Cyber Monday is the busiest and most competitive shopping moment of the year, but most brands still make the same mistakes. In this episode, Justin breaks down what to do (and what not to do) during the T12 period, Amazon’s “Turkey 12” lead up to deal week.
-
How Hyperice Turns Awareness Into Amazon Sales
From LeBron to TikTok, awareness is officially performance. Destaney and Justin share how Hyperice, Natrol, and Lucky Energy use creative campaigns and full-funnel strategy to turn brand buzz into real Amazon growth. Connect with Destaney on Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/destaney-wishon Connect with...
-
Bring Your Brand to Life on Amazon
New interactive modules, quizzes, and video tools are changing how customers shop on Amazon. Destaney and Day Tomko explain what’s live now, what’s coming next, and how to get first mover advantage before everyone else catches on. Connect with Day on Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/day-tomko-26916864...
-
Budgets, Buyers, and the Bigger Ecosystem
What makes a Walmart shopper different from a Target shopper? And why does it matter for your ad dollars? Destaney and Nick unpack how audiences behave differently across retail media networks–and how brands can align their goals with the right channels instead of spreading themselves too thin....
-
Your New Creative Coworker: Amazon’s Agentic Creative Studio
This isn’t just another AI launch. Destaney and David Meers break down Creative Studio’s new agentic experience, a major step toward fully intelligent creative production. From generating entire storyboards from a single ASIN to instantly remixing your content by audience or season, they explore...
-
How Chubbies Broke the ROAS Addiction
What do you do when your ROAS starts looking great, but your growth stalls? Preston Rutherford, co-founder of Chubbies and founder of Marathon, joins Destaney to talk about one of the biggest challenges performance marketers face: knowing when it’s time to shift from pure demand capture to true...
-
What’s Working (and Why) for Lacoste on Amazon
Scaling a big brand on Amazon doesn’t always come down to budget, especially when you're managing 13,000+ ASINs in a category like apparel. In this episode, Destaney and Cal Kildow break down what’s actually working for Lacoste right now, and how they’re making smart, strategic moves without...
-
Inside Amazon’s New Creative Studio
Amazon just announced a major update to Creative Studio at Accelerate, giving advertisers an agentic creative partner that can concept, storyboard, and produce images and video from start to finish. Destaney, Joe, and Jennyfer break down how the new features work, what this means for brands of...
-
Connecting the Funnel with AMC
Amazon has given brands a serious upgrade when it comes to ad tools and data. But turning that access into strategy takes more than dashboards. In this episode, Destaney and Joe Shelerud, CEO and Co-Founder of AdAdvance break down how to use AMC to better understand customer behavior, justify...
-
How to Uncover the Real Gaps in Your Retail Media Strategy
Growth isn’t one-size-fits-all. Destaney and Jess Jackson, BTR’s Head of Growth, unpack what they’re seeing in audits today: over-indexed branded spend, leadership misalignment, and a dangerous focus on ROAS over revenue. They share the exact shifts that turn stagnant brands into category…
more -
How Liquid Death Built Demand Everywhere
What happens when you take one of the most disruptive CPG brands in the world and try to translate that momentum into Amazon? In this episode, Destaney sits down with Natalie Cotter, former Liquid Death marketer and current advisor to early-stage CPG brands, to talk about what it really takes to...
-
Creating Demand with Amazon DSP
Most people still think Amazon DSP is just for retargeting. It’s not. In this episode, Destaney brings on one of our own DSP Specialists, Alyssa Guzman to cover how we are using Amazon DSP to create demand, not just capture it. What does full-funnel DSP actually looks like today, STV, OLV,...
-
How We Scale AMC, SQP, and Strategy
What does it actually take to scale AMC, operationalize SQP, and build a reporting stack that helps you make better decisions, not just gather more data? In this episode, Destaney sits down with Dustin Wassner, Head of Product at BTR, to unpack how he has turned some of the clean room chaos into...
-
What it Takes to Build a Brand on Amazon
Recorded live at Cannes Lions, this episode brings together three people who know what they’re doing in the Amazon space - Destaney Wishon (BTR Media), Jeffrey Cohen (Amazon Ads), and Gabi Viljoen (Nestlé Health Science). What does real brand building on Amazon look like in 2025? They cover: Why...
-
Creative Studio: AI, Video & What’s Ahead
Destaney joins Jay Richman (VP, Product & Technology) from the Amazon team covering how AI is reshaping creative, what’s changed with Creative Studio, and what’s coming next. This isn’t the same tool it was a year ago and the updates keep coming. Covered in this episode: Why video is the next big...
-
How We Structure Campaigns at Scale
In this episode, Destaney sits down with Adam Mellott, a key player at BTR Media who helps some of the most complex brands keep their ad accounts organized and running strong. Adam works closely with brands that have thousands of products, and he’s known for making sense of messy catalogs and...
-
Four Pillars of Amazon: Supply Chain Strategy
Destaney and Gabi welcome Rob Hahn, COO of Pattern, for the final episode of The Four Pillars of Amazon mini-series! They're covering the important yet challenging world of Amazon operations, supply chain difficulties, and the growing changes Amazon has experienced over the years. Rob shares his...
About this show
Better Advertising with BTR Media is a podcast for Amazon sellers & the ecommerce community to share strategies to optimize & scale online brands with Amazon PPC, Amazon DSP, Walmart Connect, Instacart, Target & more. Your hosts, Justin Nuckols & Destaney Wishon, talk with other advertisers, online sellers, & brands dominating their categories on Amazon.
Hosted by
Destaney Wishon and Justin Nuckols