Future of Consumer Marketing

Rita Zahir, VP of Marketing and E-Commerce at Unique Vintage, delivers a data-dense masterclass on the one metric most e-commerce brands are still getting wrong: the difference between revenue and profit. With 20 years across Shoes.com, Famous Footwear, Polaris, and now a female-owned vintage-inspired brand, Rita breaks down why "let the algorithm handle it" is the most dangerous phrase in modern performance marketing — and how a combination of custom behavioral segmentation and contribution-margin-level analytics helped her team beat Meta Advantage+ ROAS by 30% during the most volatile periods of the calendar. This is a rare, practitioner-level conversation about the infrastructure behind profitable e-commerce growth.   Topics Discussed Rita's 20-year e-commerce career: Shoes.com, Famous Footwear, luxury fashion, software, Polaris (Trans American Auto Parts), early-stage startups Current role: VP of Marketing and E-Commerce at Unique Vintage (2 years), plus concurrent consulting for luxury accessory startups Marketing philosophy: structured metrics (LTV:CAC, contribution margin) as the foundation for moving fast with brand equity intact The shift from ROAS and blended MER to profit on ad spend (POAS) and contribution margin as the real performance north star The algorithm's blind spots: contribution margins, inventory turns, return rates, and products that lose money after ad costs Dynamic product ads on Meta, Google Shopping, Pinterest, and Reddit — and why surrendering your data feed to the algorithm is a profitability trap Meta's Andromeda/Advantage+: why "feed it everything and let the algorithm decide" misses your highest-LTV customer segments Partner Genius AI: behavioral modeling and customer segmentation layering third-party data for years Partner Barkai: contribution margin per view/impression — a tool that calculates actual profit generated per ad exposure and flags products where every sale loses money Custom segmentation beating Meta Advantage+ ROAS by 30% during high-volatility periods One of five companies globally selected for Meta's Voice AI Beta "Bestsellers" that are secretly unprofitable when fully loaded with ad costs, conversion rates, and return handling Team building philosophy: "coach of the A team" — hire and develop people you're actively learning from Scaled a brand from under $5M to $16M revenue in under two years Hybrid work as the preferred model; global talent outsourcing for lean e-commerce teams 2026 goal: profitable, repeatable scale — a growth engine that can be systematized and replicated

Cass Zawadowski, Executive Creative Director at Lyft, takes us inside the most significant transformation in Lyft's 14-year history — a year-long rebrand that touched everything from color palette and logo to photography, brand strategy, and brand archetype. She walks through what it actually takes to evolve a beloved brand without losing the soul that made it iconic, how Lyft launched its first major brand campaign post-rebrand targeting young working adults in New York and San Francisco, and how an entire marketing org moved from AI skepticism to daily creative practice through a CMO-led "ground zero" approach. From the three pillars of brand longevity to the tension between cultural creativity and boardroom-measurable impact, this is a rare behind-the-scenes view of creative leadership at one of North America's most recognized consumer platforms. Topics Discussed Lyft as a global mobility platform: rideshare, Citi Bike (NYC), Divvy (Chicago), scooters, and the FreeNow acquisition expanding into Europe Cass's career arc: ad school in Toronto, agency work in Toronto, New York, Germany, and Seoul, then the move to brand-side The year-long Lyft rebrand (2024): "evolution not revolution" — new color palette, logo, photography, and brand strategy Brand purpose: "serve and connect"; value proposition: "expect more from every journey" New brand archetype and the shift from "less mustache to more grown up" Design agency partner: Koto (New York) for visual identity First post-rebrand brand campaign: Q4, young working adults (mid-20s to mid-30s), NYC and SF, "you have options — you're not on autopilot" The three pillars of brand longevity: stable purpose, flexible expression, evolving with culture Levi's as the benchmark example of brand longevity done right Hybrid work structure: Mon/Wed/Thu in office; offices in San Francisco (HQ), New York, Toronto, Montreal, Mexico City, and Europe Toronto as a fast-growing hub — new headquarters opening August 2026 Lyft Urban Solutions (LUST) team in Montreal: bikes and scooters division CMO Brian Irving's org-wide AI adoption: "ground zero, start fresh together" Driver AI tool: input available hours and earning goals → AI generates optimized daily route Creative Studio AI sprint (10-12 weeks, October): brainstorming, rapid prototyping, concept pressure-testing, A/B testing AI tool chaining workflow: Weavy → Figma → Google Docs 2026 goals: brand strength tied to business impact; scaling creative excellence across the entire marketing org

Carmen Fadel, VP of Marketing at WILDE, takes us inside one of the most unusual products in the CPG snack aisle — a 100% all-natural chicken breast chip that is growing 50% year over year and landing on shelves at Whole Foods, Costco, Target, and beyond. She breaks down the brand's "chips and lips" obsession with driving trial, the "shock and disbelief" campaign strategy that turns first reactions into word-of-mouth, and how she used a mixed media modeling platform to turn top-of-funnel brand spend into a board-ready, data-backed argument. From a NASCAR partnership to AI-powered competitive tracking, Carmen offers a candid, practical look at what it takes to build a brand-new snack category from scratch.   Topics Discussed WILDE's origin story: how founder Jason Wright created a 100% chicken breast chip with proprietary manufacturing 50% year-over-year growth and the surging consumer protein trend "Chips and lips" — the single-minded mission to drive product trial above all else "Shock and disbelief" — the campaign philosophy built around the "wait, this is made from chicken breast?" reaction Omnichannel strategy: TikTok Shop, CTV (Hulu), OOH, digital ads, and the Critical Mass approach WILDE vs. Quest and other protein chips — natural protein from chicken vs. added whey or pea protein The NASCAR partnership and what precision motorsport has in common with a chicken chip Life Time Fitness sponsorship and community-building through health and fitness events AI as a new SEO channel — why WILDE needs to show up when someone asks an AI for a high-protein snack Using Claude and AI tools for competitive tracking, ideation, and automation Mixed media modeling via Keen — connecting marketing spend to top-of-funnel sales data Carmen's non-linear career: stay-at-home mom of four, side agency, return to CPG, rise to VP of Marketing // Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. www.GlobalTalent.co // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM

Liz Vanzura has spent her career turning around and launching iconic consumer brands — the New Beetle at Volkswagen, the civilian Hummer, Truly Spiked & Sparkling at Boston Beer, and three-plus years at Fanatics. Now she's CMO of Solo Brands, the platform behind Solo Stove, and she came in as a board member first during a company turnaround. In this episode, Liz shares the national loneliness study that became Solo Stove's core brand insight ('we sell togetherness, not fire pits'), how the Snoop Dogg campaign went viral and what it took to build something that actually sustained, and how 'Squash the Beef' at the Super Bowl Players' Tailgate introduced the new steel fire griddle to a massive audience. She also unpacks Solo Stove's AI roadmap — a media mix model, AI-personalized landing pages, and a digital AI assistant named Ember — and shares the Klarna cautionary tale about what happens when you push AI too far, too fast. Topics Discussed Liz's career arc: CMO at Volkswagen (New Beetle relaunch, 'Drivers Wanted'), Hummer (civilian launch), Cadillac, Boston Beer (Truly Spiked & Sparkling launch), and Fanatics Joining Solo Brands as board member during a turnaround — then staying on as CMO Solo Stove's pivot from 'world's #1 smokeless fire pit' to owning the entire backyard experience: griddle, pizza oven, misting cooler, and more The loneliness epidemic study that became Solo Stove's core brand insight: disconnection, parents texting kids to dinner, and the backyard as the perfect low-cost solution Three standout campaigns: Snoop Dogg 'Going Smokeless,' Grand Central Station National Family Day activation (Good Morning America), and Super Bowl 'Squash the Beef' griddle launch Sister brands in the Solo platform: ORU (inflatable kayaks), Isle (paddleboards), Chubbies (men's apparel), Cheekies (women's swimwear) AI roadmap: media mix model (MMM) with AI, personalized landing pages, and Ember — Solo Stove's AI-powered digital customer assistant The Klarna cautionary tale: what happens when a company replaces customer service with AI agents and has to rehire // Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. www.GlobalTalent.co // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM  

Malk Organics started at a farmer's market 11 years ago. When Jason Bronstad joined as CEO in 2020, the brand was in 1,200 stores. Today it's in more than 16,000 — across all 50 US states, in most major chains — with 17 SKUs, a new line of coconut creamers, and shelf-stable Tetra products built entirely on three ingredients: water, organic almonds, and salt. In this episode, Jason walks through the data discipline that turns shelf space into profitability, the counterintuitive decision to cut back to three SKUs before scaling to 17, and why 'liquid to lips' is still the most powerful marketing move in CPG — and why events, not in-store demos, are where that has to happen now. He also shares how AI is being used to measure the gap between the message delivered and the message received, and why dream culture is the key to keeping a remote team of 40 aligned across 14 states. Topics Discussed  Malk Organics' founding story: from farmer's market 11 years ago to 16,000+ US retail doors under Jason's leadership since 2020  The data playbook for retail success: delivering profitability for shelf space and using consumer data to drive SKU decisions  The counterintuitive scale-back: cutting to 3 core SKUs on joining before expanding to 17+ items across bases, seasonal, and shelf-stable formats  New coconut creamer launch: listening to consumers who want to whiten their coffee and discontinuing a brown creamer that wasn't solving that need  Why Malk is staying US-focused: 16,000 of 67,000 available US doors — a massive runway before going international  'Liquid to lips wins consumers' — and how event-based sampling at Expo West and Miami Food and Wine Festival replaced declining in-store demo traffic  AI for leadership communication: using transcripts to audit the gap between message delivered and message received with retail partners and internal teams  Dream culture: a Slack channel called 'dreams wins' where team members celebrate personal milestones, and how it keeps a 40-person remote team connected across 14 states 

Rob Kligman is the Chief Revenue Officer of Anthem Sports & Entertainment Inc. and the founder of Collectible Lane — a low-fee, AI-powered collectibles marketplace built to give collectors back control. In this episode, Rob draws on 30 years of advertising and sponsorship experience to break down how he built an authoritative brand voice before the app ever launched, why storytelling and FOMO are the only marketing engines that work in collectibles, and why his 6-to-9-month goal isn't to beat eBay — it's to earn the loyalty of 1% of the market. Topics Discussed  Rob's 30-year career in advertising and sponsorship at MTV Networks, WWE, and Fortune 500 brand campaigns  The founding insight behind Collectible Lane: inflated prices caused by seller fees pushing buyers to overpay  Passion-point lane structure — dedicated ecosystems for trading cards, video games, comic books, and more  'Behind the Lane' branded entertainment arm: using storytelling to create FOMO around collectible items  Pre-launch content strategy: 6 months of snackable 15–20 second videos on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook  AI-powered listing in under 10 seconds: how the platform pivoted to remove the biggest friction for sellers  PSA and CGC grading partnerships as an anti-fraud and confidence-building mechanism for buyers  Remote-first team of ~5 people across the US and India building toward a US-only Phase 1 launch 

Ollie’s subscription model doesn’t just deliver fresh dog food — it runs machine learning models on photos of your dog’s teeth, tracks body condition and stool health, and feeds all of it into a wellbeing score that adjusts portions over time. Kalina Fridrich, VP of Growth and Retention at Ollie, joins The Future of Consumer Marketing to break down how a direct-to-consumer pet wellness brand is building a full-stack growth engine on top of that data. She covers the launch of “Feed the Obsession,” Ollie’s new brand campaign hitting TV for the first time; why AppLovin has emerged as a breakout performance channel for a health-app-native audience; the AI-generated dog bowl ad that went so viral on Meta they manufactured it and added it to the member experience; and the three-layer measurement stack — media mix modeling, multi-touch attribution, and direct customer surveys — that Ollie uses to make weekly channel decisions across a rapidly evolving media mix.  TOPICS DISCUSSED  Ollie’s product model: algorithm-powered fresh dog food subscription, personalized portions based on app health data collected from vet tech–trained machine learning models  In-app AI: visual models analyze dog teeth photos; a wellbeing score aggregates body condition, stool health, and teeth data into a single interpretable metric for dog parents  The “Feed the Obsession” brand campaign: new brand refresh with TV spots, merging brand awareness investment with a performance marketing engine for the first time  Performance channel breakdown: Meta remains core for the primary demo (women dog owners, higher household income); AppLovin emerging as a breakout channel for app-native, health-data-engaged audiences  AI in performance marketing: AI-generated heart-shaped dog bowl ad on Meta drove social engagement — Ollie then manufactured it as a real product and used it as a member gift  Brand partnerships as acquisition and awareness levers: Van Leeuwen (dog ice cream in retail), Embark (dog DNA kit), Fi (dog GPS wearable)  Media measurement stack: media mix modeling + multi-touch attribution + first-party customer surveys (how did you hear about us?), triangulated weekly for channel optimization  2026 goals: scaling reach and awareness, TV investment, GEO/SEO growth, pairing brand investment with a disciplined performance engine while maintaining PNL health

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, host Andres Figueira sits down with Renee Halvorsen, CMO of Marine Layer — the San Francisco-based casual apparel brand built on California cool, signature softness, and a marketing philosophy of radical authenticity. Renee pulls back the curtain on how a brand founded on a founder’s obsession with his favorite worn-out T-shirt has grown to 54 stores while leaning hard into analog marketing at a moment when everyone else went digital. She digs into the physical catalog as Marine Layer’s not-so-secret weapon (eight per year, mailed to homes), the anatomy of the “Pants Science” campaign that turned Flex Terry pants into a multi-channel hit, and why their Holiday 2024 personalization pop-up in San Francisco became the #1 traffic location in their entire retail fleet — complete with a line around the corner and an impromptu visit from the city’s mayor. She also outlines Marine Layer’s measured AI strategy: protect human authenticity on the front end (real models, real copy, no faking it) while embracing speed and efficiency on the back end through CRM analytics, SQL acceleration, and Vizcom for internal product visualization. And she makes the case that 2026 is a new frontier — one where in-store traffic is outpacing online, email is losing its grip, and digital saturation is breeding consumer distrust. Her prescription: rethink every channel touchpoint from scratch. Topics Discussed Physical catalog as Marine Layer’s primary growth channel — 8 per year, mailed to homes, enabling longer-form brand storytelling that digital can’t replicate Brand voice engineering: what it takes to make marketing sound like a trusted friend instead of a pitch, across catalog copy, in-store, and digital The “Pants Science” campaign: comedy creators, a branded scientist character, TV, and email used to drive sell-through on Flex Terry pants Creator partnership strategy: lifestyle alignment as the selection filter, then full editorial freedom as the execution model AI in two lanes: protecting front-end human authenticity (real models, real copy) vs. accelerating back-end CRM analytics, SQL analysis, and product visualization via Vizcom The Holiday 2024 SF personalization pop-up: patches and embroidery on Cloud Nine fleece, #1 fleet traffic, organic creator amplification without formal partnerships, unannounced visit from the San Francisco mayor 2026 channel rethink: in-store traffic growing faster than online, email engagement declining, digital saturation creating consumer distrust, and what Marine Layer is doing about it

Kate Gagnon is the VP of Marketing at Neat Method, the largest home organizing brand in the United States. With 15 years of experience as a hybrid marketing leader and startup advisor, Kate leads marketing across two distinct businesses: an in-home organizing service delivered through 100+ franchise owners nationwide, and a direct-to-consumer product line launched six years ago. In this episode, Kate unpacks the brand’s core philosophy — organization as an operating system for your life, not an aesthetic endpoint — and walks through what it means to market the same brand to two fundamentally different audiences. She breaks down the “New Year, Meet Me” January campaign, Neat Method’s counterintuitive channel stack (Pinterest as a silent DTC conversion engine, email as the strongest repeater), and the AI measurement problem that’s still standing between home organizing and a fully AI-assisted customer experience. Topics Discussed Kate’s background: 15 years as a hybrid marketing leader and startup advisor; joined Neat Method just over a year ago; attracted by a company culture that was enthusiastically embracing AI from day one Neat Method at 15 years: the largest home organizing brand in the US, serving clients across the US and Canada; product line launched six years ago after organizers spent time in tens of thousands of homes and identified unmet product needs Two business lines, two very different audiences: (1) in-home organizing service via 100+ franchise owners (2–10 organizers each); (2) D2C e-commerce for DIY customers; corporate team of approximately 18 people The service experience: organizer comes in, scopes the project, delivers a proposal covering organizer time and product, then executes — highly personalized to how the client actually lives (family with kids, single professional, active athlete, etc.) Repeat and concierge model: many clients return for refreshes; Home Concierge option for weekly or monthly maintenance visits (grocery put-away, mail sort, system reset) Marketing philosophy: organization as an ongoing operating system, not a one-time Instagram moment; personalized to each client’s goals and life; framed around systems, routines, and rituals rather than aspirational aesthetics Product design principles: timeless, neutral colorways (metal, natural fibers, interesting textures); multipurpose across rooms and life stages; designed so products purchased for a pantry can migrate to a closet, office, or living room shelf without looking wrong Book launch: Neat Method published a book last year targeted at DIY customers who want to do their own organizing projects The category creation challenge: most people don’t know you can hire a home organizer — service-side marketing must simultaneously build the category and build the brand The “New Year, Meet Me” January campaign: rather than making organization the resolution itself, the 2026 iteration connected organization to other resolution goals — family dinners, morning workouts, marathon training — positioning organization as the enabling system, not the endpoint Problem-aware vs. solution-aware framing: many service prospects know their home is disorganized but don’t know a professional organizer exists; D2C prospects know they want a product but need guidance on what and how; content strategy differs accordingly Channel breakdown: Instagram (largest and most established audience; doubles as franchise recruitment channel); TikTok (fastest growing, most scaling potential); Pinterest (sneakiest best performer — organizing education content is evergreen and compounds over years); Email (strongest channel for D2C repeat purchases) Service-side acquisition is word-of-mouth first: referrals drive most inbound; social and paid support awareness for those who haven’t been referred yet AI use today: marketing research, competitive data synthesis, meeting notes and action items; exploring AI home design tools but the measurement precision required for organizing is not yet replicable — cabinet hinge clearances, exact product dimensions — though Kate believes it’s coming Geographic and growth focus: primarily US and Canada; international demand exists but not currently being pursued; tariff environment creating headwinds for the consumer products business in 2026

Bryce Winkelman joined Typeform as CRO 14 months ago — a profitable, 150,000-customer form and survey platform with a footprint in 98% of Fortune 500 companies. Before Typeform, he was the 10th employee at Qualtrics, which he helped grow through $700M+ in revenue, an SAP acquisition, and an IPO. In this episode, Bryce unpacks how Typeform is repositioning from world-class form builder into a full flow activation platform, why they’re pivoting marketing investment from paid toward AI-visible organic, and the specific frameworks they use to test and scale new channels — including a LTV-first take on marketing efficiency that flips the conventional CAC optimization model. Topics Discussed Career arc: 10th employee at Qualtrics through $700M+ revenue, SAP acquisition, and IPO — then Quantum Metrics and SeekOut before Typeform Typeform’s two growth engines: PLG self-serve (1-50 employee organizations and solopreneurs) and sales-led enterprise (98% Fortune 500 footprint) Product repositioning: from form builder to “flow activation” — lead routing, nurturing, payment processing, and AI-moderated research via Insight Flow Marketing channel strategy: paid as the primary and most predictable engine, now shifting investment toward SEO, AIO/AEO, UGC, influencer content, and owned community Reddit and third-party communities as non-negotiable infrastructure for AI search visibility The Get Real campaign: surveying 2,000 marketers on AI usage using Typeform itself, publishing a report that generated millions of impressions while demonstrating the product’s video/audio response capabilities AI inside Typeform: Glean deployed across all systems and every employee, full AI chat experience in the product, AI-first brand messaging on the website New channel testing: Uber ads (validated), TikTok (doubling year-over-year), sports sponsorships, ABM, Typeform-hosted events Channel testing framework: define success criteria and hypothesis upfront with FP&A, ring-fence incremental budget, deploy, measure, then scale or shut down The LTV-over-CAC reframe: willing to increase CAC significantly as long as LTV is rising — optimize for revenue and ICP quality, not cost efficiency

Three roommates in Chicago started using baby wipes as toilet paper in 2011, decided to sell their own, and ended up building one of the fastest-growing CPG brands in America. Joey Thomas joined as VP in late 2021 when Dude Wipes revenue was sub-$60 million — by 2025 the company had hit $308 million, almost entirely bootstrapped. In this episode, Joey breaks down the specific moves behind that trajectory: why TikTok Shop is the biggest channel unlock of the last 18 months, how the stocking stuffer strategy turns November and December into the brand’s highest-volume months, the Bic razor principle behind their male-voiced but whole-household strategy, and why the brands that figure out Reddit seeding for AI-driven shopping now will own the next decade. Topics Discussed The founding story: three Chicago roommates, a bad diet, baby wipes, and the insight that launched a $300M brand How Dude Wipes grew from sub-$60M to $308M in four years, bootstrapped without VC funding Why November and December are the biggest sales months — the stocking stuffer strategy and 60%+ trial-to-repurchase rate Demographics: 60% male buyers, 40% female — and the Bic razor principle behind male-voiced marketing that reaches the whole household TikTok Shop: the mechanics of a creator army (5K+ followers, commission-based), why average TikTok user is 37, and why this is Amazon 2012 Don’t restrict creators: why big CPG’s obsession with message control is the thing holding them back AI at Dude Wipes: data analysis, DM bot outreach for creator recruitment, and Reddit seeding for AI shopping recommendations Brand personality: why being the loudest flushable wipes brand on the internet is a structural advantage that Kimberly-Clark can’t copy Upcoming: Costco rollout, bringing creative fully in-house, building a live TikTok Shop team Sports partnerships: Cleveland Browns, UEFA soccer teams — and why most teams aren’t excited about a butt wipe on their shirt

Reese Pozgay spent 10 years at Marc Jacobs building ecommerce from zero to over $100 million and inventing campaigns that used social media as literal entry currency — before Instagram existed. After launching his own 360 marketing agency (with Google as his first client, secured before he even had an LLC) and serving as Head of Digital Transformation at Revlon where he led the first beauty TikTok campaign to hit 2 billion views, he joined Moose Knuckles Canada as VP of Brand and Creative Marketing. In this episode, Reese traces the full arc of his career through one recurring conviction: respect the platform, push the idea until it makes someone uncomfortable, and never mistake audience size for actual community. Topics Discussed Career trajectory: From answering phones at Marc Jacobs under Robert Duffy to VP of Brand and Creative Marketing at Moose Knuckles Canada The Daisy Tweet Shop: the first pop-up ever to use social media as literal entry currency, pre-Instagram, repeated across New York, London, and Asia Street Mark: guerrilla wild postings across 5 US cities that invited the public to remix and deface the brand’s own ads Why every social platform demands its own content strategy — and why the waterfall model destroys brand relevance At Revlon: building the first beauty brand TikTok campaign to hit 2 billion views in two days Building influencer from scratch at Marc Jacobs — and why micro-influencers with real engagement beat macro celebrities every time Moose Knuckles’ brand position: not Montclair, not Canada Goose — “cultural nomads” and metropolitan city explorers The internal creative standard: “If the first idea doesn’t offend me a little bit, we haven’t pushed hard enough” Why your social strategy needs to change every 6 months or you’re dead Where social media is heading next: off-feed, private networks, DMs, and Snapchat broadcast channels

Max Kislevitz co-founded Bala after quitting a 12-year advertising career to travel with his then-girlfriend Natalie — and conceived the idea for redesigned wrist and ankle weights on that trip. What started as a $40,000 Kickstarter campaign shipped out of a Brooklyn apartment has grown into a 30+ product design-led fitness brand that has sold over 4 million pairs of Bala Bangles and nearly doubled revenue in 2025. Max unpacks how Bala built a brand without any meaningful paid marketing in its early years, how the Shark Tank deal with Mark Cuban and Maria Sharapova came together, and what it actually looks like to run a 10-person company doing serious volume with a lean-and-mean operating model. Topics Discussed Conceiving Bala on vacation and launching on Kickstarter with $40,000 and no money of their own The design philosophy behind Bala: bringing color and aesthetic to fitness equipment that had never received design attention Why Bala is a female-first brand and what that means for product and marketing Organic celebrity endorsements (Kim Kardashian, Adam Levine) that drove early growth without any paid spend The Shark Tank appearance in 2020 and the deal struck with Mark Cuban and Maria Sharapova The ecosystem approach to marketing — paid social, email, search, retail, and studios working in concert Brand partnerships with Ralph Lauren, Pucci, Spanx, and Dunkin Donuts and the asymmetric value exchange Offline-to-online events: how a 20-person lunch generates outsized brand reach AI at Bala: cautious exploration limited to chatbot, deliberately avoided for customer-facing content 2026 priorities: heavier products (dumbbells, weighted vest), international expansion, continued growth

In this episode of The Future of Marketing, host Andres Figueira sits down with Phil Pirkovic, former Director of Brand and Partnerships at Shinola. Phil built the brand's storytelling infrastructure from scratch — shifting Shinola from a product-and-factory narrative into a full lifestyle brand rooted in emotional memory. He shares how he engineered experiential touchpoints across 21 stores, a Detroit hotel, and a small but disciplined marketing team to compete in a $6 billion watch industry without a massive budget. Topics Discussed: Why "experience by few, witnessed by many" is the north star for physical brand activation Turning a hotel into a 127-room-per-night sales and brand discovery channel Shifting Shinola's narrative from "made in America" to emotional memory and milestone moments Managing brand consistency across retail, e-commerce, a factory, and a hotel with a team of 15 The difference between marketing a utility brand (Google) vs. a premium product brand (Shinola) Why analog craft brands should be skeptical of AI adoption — and when it might eventually make sense

In this episode of The Future of Marketing, host Andres Figueira sits down with John St. Juliana, SVP of Marketing at Backcountry — the 25-year-old premium outdoor retailer that has quietly become one of the most resilient e-commerce brands in a category currently littered with Chapter 11 filings and store closures. While competitors chase aspirational "top of mountain" imagery, John is rethinking what it means for an outdoor brand to show up in everyday life — and rebuilding a loyalty program designed not by the finance team, but entirely around the customer. He also shares how a math-degree-turned-marketer thinks about AI not as a buzzword, but as a tool to simultaneously scale output and raise quality without proportionally growing headcount. Topics Discussed: Why the outdoor industry's aspirational marketing model is leaving money on the table How Backcountry is using multi-channel video to maximize a single creative investment The philosophy behind redesigning a loyalty program to lower barriers to participation — not maximize short-term yield Using AI to scale content production and eliminate low-value SaaS dependencies Organic and inorganic growth strategy in a contracting outdoor retail market Building a human-first customer service model ("Gearheads") as a brand differentiator in the AI era

In this episode of The Future of Marketing, host Andres Figueira sits down with Yulia Popyk, Head of Brand at Petcube — a smart pet tech company that has spent 13 years building connected devices for pet parents. What started as a single camera to monitor pets at home has grown into a full ecosystem of hardware and software: GPS trackers, smart fountains, and a new AI-powered app bringing health monitoring, vet access, and device data into one place. Yulia unpacks how Petcube markets emotionally charged technology to deeply invested consumers, where brand and performance marketing collide, and how a ceramics studio in New York became one of their most memorable product launches. Topics Discussed: Navigating the tension between brand integrity and performance marketing at scale Segmenting emotional vs. technical messaging by product type Turning a physical product launch into a community-building moment Using AI-generated imagery to replace traditional pet photo shoots Building a unified pet health ecosystem through software and AI

In this episode of The Future of Marketing, host Andres Figueira sits down with Mads Wedderkopp, Chief Revenue Officer at Flowbox, a UGC platform working with over 1,000 consumer brands across fashion, cosmetics, fitness, and home goods. Mads unpacks how the smartest consumer brands are turning authentic customer content into their most durable competitive advantage — and why the brands that win in the next decade will be the ones that make community their moat, not their product. Topics Discussed: Why blended attribution beats single-touch metrics for measuring UGC impact How social search is replacing Google for Gen Z — and what that means for brand discovery The connection between strong UGC, SEO, and LLM visibility Why your product is a commodity and your community isn't How micro-influencers and friend networks are outperforming mega-creators Scaling from 50 to 1,000 clients — the operational and cultural shift

In this episode of The Future of Marketing, host Andres Figueira speaks with Matthew Cancino, founder of Candid Collective, a video content agency specializing in hyperlocal content strategy for franchise brands and multi-location businesses. Over two years, Candid Collective has grown to serve 20+ monthly retainer clients by solving a distribution problem most national brands quietly struggle with: how do you make a national brand feel local at scale when your entire creative team is in one city? Topics Discussed: Why hyperlocal content strategy is the missing layer in most franchise marketing stacks Building a distributed creative network instead of a traditional agency model Rebranding from Candid Socials to Candid Collective as a talent attraction strategy Using AI for transcript-based content repurposing and data analysis in video production The tradeoffs of building a business while employed before going all-in

In this episode of The Future of Marketing, host Andres Figueira speaks with Katerina Miras, VP of Marketing at Avive Solutions, a public safety technology company reimagining emergency cardiac response. With survivability rates from sudden cardiac arrest unchanged for decades despite hundreds of thousands of AEDs already in the market, Avive diagnosed the real problem as connectivity - not devices. Katerina walks through how a sub-100-person team is executing a sophisticated B2G/B2B marketing playbook: building community ownership programs, deploying champion-led trust architectures, and using storytelling at scale to move institutions that historically resist change. Topics Discussed: Repositioning from medtech to public safety technology and why the category shift changed everything Building institutional trust in a market that defaults to "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" Designing community programs that become the customer's own marketing initiative Using champions and ambassadors to create FOMO-driven adoption across counties and municipalities Why storytelling is strategy - and how to operationalize it Narrowing your ICP to drive faster, deeper adoption

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, host Andres Figueira interviews David Lee, Co-founder and CEO of Nex. Nex has built Next Playground, an active play system that's transforming how families engage with screen time by turning living rooms into interactive fitness and gaming experiences. Starting as a basketball training app called Home Court that went viral during the pandemic, the company pivoted to create a motion-tracking camera system that has now sold 350,000 units and secured placement in over 5,000 retail locations. Through strategic retail partnerships, mission-driven product development, and a subscription model that funds continuous innovation, Nex is carving out a new category between traditional gaming consoles and fitness equipment. Topics Discussed: Pivoting from a basketball training app to a family-focused hardware platform based on viral pandemic trends Scaling from 5,000 units to forecasted 500,000 units through retail partnerships Building trust for a $249 considered purchase through omnichannel marketing Implementing in-store demos as a primary conversion driver in 4,000+ retail locations Using subscription models (quarterly/annual only) to fund continuous game development and maintain customer relationships Leveraging major IP partnerships (Barbie, Kung Fu Panda, Bluey) to expand content library Operating a distributed team of 110+ people across product, hardware, and game development

In this episode of The Future of Marketing, host Andres interviews Jazmyn Williams, Vice President of Brand at The Honey Pot Company — the first brand to span both sides of the feminine care aisle, offering plant-derived period care and vaginal wellness products. With just a 20-person marketing team and roughly 70 employees total, Honey Pot has scaled to over 36,000 retail doors across the US while building one of the most culturally resonant brands in a category that has historically lived in the shadows. Jazmyn unpacks how a category defined by stigma, legacy purchasing habits, and low visibility requires a fundamentally different marketing playbook — and how Honey Pot is rewriting it. Topics Discussed: Marketing a product that lives "in the dark" — under bathroom counters and in purse pockets Breaking generational brand loyalty in a category dominated by habit Using experiential sampling to drive mass awareness at scale Building a digital-first brand in a brick-and-mortar dominated category Leveraging Gen Z to reverse-sell into older demographics Using AI for faster consumer insight synthesis without a large research team Crossing the feminine care aisle as a portfolio expansion strategy

In this episode of The Future of Marketing, host Andres Figueira speaks with Ben Hudson, Brand Marketing & Business Development Consultant at Hudson or Hudson, a brand marketing consultancy that has shaped some of the most culturally resonant consumer brands of the past two decades. From building live activations for Panasonic at NASCAR races to architecting Brooklyn Brewery's global expansion, Ben has developed a sharp perspective on what it actually takes to earn consumer trust in an era of AI saturation, screen fatigue, and institutional distrust. The conversation centers on why experiential marketing is becoming the most defensible channel in a brand's arsenal — and how smart brands are doubling down on human connection as their core growth strategy. Topics Discussed: Why experiential marketing is experiencing its most significant renaissance yet The AI trust crisis and its concrete impact on brand perception Building brand worlds versus building brand awareness How to add genuine value in an attention-scarce environment The analog counterculture trend and what it means for consumer behavior Using AI strategically without triggering consumer skepticism

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing: Masterclass Edition, host Andres Figueira speaks with Todd Anthony, founder of Pinwheel Agency, a senior-only creative shop built as a deliberate counterpoint to the bloated big-agency model. After decades inside holding companies and client-side roles at Yahoo and CBS, Todd built Pinwheel around a simple but contrarian thesis: strip out the juniors, kill the bait-and-switch, and let expensive talent run fast without supervision. Eleven years in, clients like Stripe and Experian have stayed for five to ten years — and the agency is deliberately staying small to keep it that way. Topics Discussed: Why the traditional agency staffing model is broken — and how to exploit that gap Building a senior-only creative team and what that actually means operationally How to use custom brand voice GPTs across large organizations Why AI is a pattern-repeating machine, not a pattern-breaking one — and why that matters for marketing Niching down into complexity: marketing SaaS and enterprise products with compliance constraints How to scale a creative agency 20% annually without losing quality control

In this episode of The Future of Marketing, host Andres Figueira interviews Pierre Miazga, Studio Marketing and Communications Director at Ubisoft Bordeaux. Pierre reveals how AAA game marketing has evolved from traditional campaign-based promotion to embedded development marketing - where marketers function as "enablers" rather than sellers, working directly with creative teams from concept phase through launch. With Assassin's Creed Mirage as a case study, Pierre unpacks how Ubisoft Bordeaux navigated the challenge of marketing a legacy title to hardcore fans in a market releasing 52 games per day, while maintaining creative risk-taking and authentic player relationships. His approach demonstrates how entertainment marketing can balance player expectations with creative surprise in an increasingly fragmented and competitive landscape. Topics Discussed: Embedded marketing in game development vs. traditional go-to-market campaigns Marketing as "enabler" in creative development processes Navigating the saturated gaming market (20,000 Steam releases annually) Competing for player time, not just against other games Building games "from fans to fans" through direct player involvement Balancing player expectations with creative surprise The 3-4 year game development cycle and when marketing enters Cross-functional collaboration between marketing, creative, artistic, and technical teams Positioning vs. advertising in game development Managing tone consistency across multi-year development cycles

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing: Masterclass Edition, host Andres Figueira interviews Abdo Mazloum, Founder & CEO of Webtmize, a Montreal-based performance marketing agency. While Webtimize operates in the B2B space, Abdo shares critical insights about modern digital marketing infrastructure, the emerging shift from Search Engine Optimization to Answer Engine Optimization, and data-driven campaign methodology that consumer marketers can apply to their own brands. From scaling an agency from a spare bedroom to 25 people and 50 clients, Abdo reveals how performance marketers are adapting to AI-powered discovery, building measurement frameworks that prove ROI, and leveraging technology to do more with less in an increasingly complex digital landscape. Topics Discussed: Building performance marketing infrastructure from first principles Transitioning from traditional media to digital with measurable A/B testing frameworks Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) as the evolution of SEO for AI-powered search Developing data-first marketing philosophies for campaign optimization Scaling agency operations while maintaining quality and client selection criteria Leveraging AI and LLMs for campaign management and optimization

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing: Masterclass Edition, host Andres Figueira interviews Nadim Kuttab, CEO and Co-Founder of Xevio, a performance-based native advertising agency that's rewriting the rules of agency economics. In just three years, Xevio has grown to nearly $100 million in annual ad spend with a 50-person team across Europe, built on a radical premise: no retainers, no locked contracts, and pure performance-based fees. Operating in the relatively unknown native advertising space, Xevio has carved out a defensible niche by becoming best-in-class at a channel most marketers overlook. Through aggressive selectivity (rejecting 9 out of 10 client requests), transparent performance metrics, and heavy investment in AI infrastructure, they've built a model where both client churn and employee churn are remarkably low in an industry notorious for both. Topics Discussed: Building a performance-only agency model with no retainers or minimum commitments Scaling native advertising campaigns to mid-six figures monthly spend Operating with six co-founders and the dynamics of a large founding team Creating pod-based team structures for specialized client management Investing six figures per semester into proprietary AI tooling for campaign automation Maintaining sub-10% client acceptance rates through rigorous qualification Building company culture in a hybrid-remote European team with 50% office presence Providing premium employee benefits (daily meals, unlimited transit, gym memberships) to minimize churn Navigating the evolution of native advertising beyond traditional below-the-fold inventory Managing geographic market selection based on native inventory availability

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing: Masterclass Edition, host Andres Figueira interviews Jake Kurtz, CEO and Founder of Brick Media Group. Brick Media has evolved from a general digital marketing agency into a specialized social media powerhouse that helps established brands modernize their online presence through comprehensive social media management. Starting as a side hustle in 2018, Jake built Brick Media by recognizing a critical shift in the marketing landscape: the emergence of short-form video and the algorithmic revolution sparked by TikTok. By 2020, he made the bold decision to cut all services except social media, positioning Brick Media as Tampa Bay's go-to social media agency. Today, the company operates with 21 full-time W2 employees, managing everything from strategy to content creation to analytics for established businesses that need to add "gasoline to an existing flame" rather than starting from scratch. Topics Discussed: Pivoting from full-service digital marketing to social media specialization The algorithmic shift caused by TikTok and short-form video dominance Building a 21-person in-house team without outsourcing Analyzing supply and demand dynamics of attention across platforms The evolution from volume-based to clarity-focused content strategies Strategic platform selection based on audience attention patterns Leveraging AI for efficiency without replacing human judgment

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing: Masterclass Edition, host Andres Figueira interviews Peter Malick, Founder and CEO of InboundAV. Peter's journey from professional musician and audio producer to marketing agency founder offers a unique lens on how creative expertise translates into marketing innovation. InboundAV has evolved from a marketing automation shop into a forward-thinking agency that's leveraging AI to build micro-SaaS products and fundamentally reimagine what marketing agencies can deliver. After nine years of working with clients ranging from solopreneurs to companies with 170 locations and 2-million-person databases, Peter is now navigating the seismic shift AI is bringing to marketing services—where the competitive advantage is no longer execution capability but strategic thinking and creative direction. Topics Discussed: Transitioning from music production to marketing automation and agency services Building an agency culture focused on internal teams versus contractor reliance Navigating the AI revolution in marketing and web development Developing micro-SaaS products as a marketing agency Securing unsolicited funding from Amazon Web Services for AI product development Strategic positioning for agencies in an AI-first marketing landscape The collapse of traditional web development timelines (from hours to minutes)

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing: Masterclass Edition, host Andres Figueira interviews Scott Leff, Founder of Leff Communications, a content marketing agency that has scaled from a solo freelancer operation to a 30-person team serving global B2B clients. While Leff Communications primarily operates in the B2B space, Scott shares universal lessons about building authority through content, cutting through algorithmic noise on platforms like LinkedIn, and adapting to the AI-driven content landscape that applies across both consumer and enterprise marketing contexts. Topics Discussed: Building a content marketing agency from freelancer to 30-person team Navigating market positioning when you don't fit traditional agency categories Scaling rapidly during COVID and adjusting post-pandemic LinkedIn's evolution and the challenge of breaking through algorithmic noise Conducting systematic experiments with generative AI tools across departments The tension between AI-generated content and authentic human connection Video content as a differentiation strategy on social platforms

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing: Masterclass Edition, host Andres Figueira interviews Dimitra Papastathi, Head of Creative Design at Typeform. Typeform has transformed the mundane task of data collection into an engaging experience for over 150,000 businesses worldwide. Leading a lean team of four designers plus an extended creative agency, Dimitra shares how she's evolved Typeform's visual identity while maintaining brand consistency, navigated the rapidly changing AI landscape in creative work, and balanced the tension between systematic design and creative experimentation. From her background in fashion and culture to shaping tech brand narratives, Dimitra reveals the strategic thinking behind building trust through design while keeping audiences surprised. Topics Discussed: Bringing fashion and culture design principles into tech branding Evolving from generic startup aesthetics to humanized brand experiences Building and managing a hybrid creative team structure Strategic use of AI in creative workflows and content production Measuring creative impact through qualitative and quantitative metrics Balancing brand consistency with creative experimentation The "AI Kitchen" approach to collective tool evaluation Designing for international audiences while maintaining brand coherence

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing: Masterclass Edition, host Andres Figueira interviews Brett Curry, CEO of OMG Commerce, a performance marketing agency specializing in YouTube advertising and omnichannel growth for consumer brands. Since 2010, OMG Commerce has evolved from a general search marketing agency into a specialized growth partner for seven, eight, and nine-figure retail brands. Brett shares how his team creates measurable, incremental growth across YouTube, Meta, Amazon, and Google by combining rigorous testing frameworks, creative strategy, and multi-touch attribution. Through detailed case studies and tactical insights, Brett reveals how brands can unlock YouTube as a performance channel and build sustainable, profitable growth in the post-COVID e-commerce landscape. Topics Discussed: Building YouTube campaigns that drive measurable in-store retail sales Using geo-testing and incrementality studies to prove channel effectiveness Scaling D2C brands by unlocking YouTube as a performance channel alongside Meta Leveraging AI for client sentiment tracking and creative development Navigating agency growth through the COVID boom and post-COVID correction Structuring omnichannel measurement across D2C, Amazon, and retail Developing creative frameworks for high-performing YouTube ads Building data science capabilities within a mid-size agency

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing: Masterclass Edition, host Andres Figueira interviews Markus Hetzenegger, Founder & CEO of NYBA Media. NYBA is transforming how the live entertainment industry approaches ticket sales by bringing performance marketing precision to an industry that traditionally relies on unmeasurable old-school advertising. Starting from promoting small university events in Germany, Markus has scaled NYBA to sell over 75 million tickets for artists ranging from Coldplay and The Weeknd to Cirque du Soleil and BBC Earth Experience. By leveraging proprietary AI trained on years of campaign data, NYBA delivers measurable ROI in a market where promoters often invest millions without knowing which marketing efforts actually drove ticket sales. Topics Discussed: Building a performance marketing model for live entertainment ticket sales Leveraging AI trained on 75+ million ticket sales to optimize campaign strategy Scaling a B2B marketing agency from Germany to UK, US, and Middle East markets Creating automated infrastructure to enable lean team operations at scale Discovering unexpected audience behaviors on TikTok for family entertainment and niche genres Structuring long B2B sales cycles through education and case study marketing Adapting campaign strategies based on artist relevance, venue size, and budget allocation

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, host Brett Stapper interviews Roxy Young, Former Chief Marketing & Consumer Experience Officer at Reddit. Roxy brings a unique perspective to consumer marketing - she's a self-described "pragmatic brand marketer" who started her career in finance and built her expertise through the most quantitative side of marketing before evolving into brand leadership. Over eight years at Reddit, she helped transform the platform from a niche community for gamers and programmers into a mainstream product used by hundreds of millions globally. Her career spans iconic consumer brands including Netflix, Gap, and Sephora, where she learned that great brands aren't built on creative instinct alone—they're built on deep consumer understanding, conviction, and the discipline to evolve thoughtfully. Topics Discussed: Building mainstream appeal while maintaining community authenticity The evolution vs. rebrand framework for brand transformation Quantitative approaches to brand marketing Navigating consumer backlash during brand evolution Understanding consumer needs as the timeless marketing skill Managing "the Internet" as a key stakeholder Direct response marketing as a foundation for brand thinking

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, host Andres Figueira interviews Jana Kleemeier, Senior Director of Creative & Brand Marketing at True Botanicals. True Botanicals is challenging the false dichotomy between clean beauty and high-performance skincare in a market where premium brands typically sacrifice ingredient transparency for efficacy. Operating in a space where consumer skepticism around "clean" claims runs high due to rampant greenwashing, Jana shares how True Botanicals leverages clinical science, sensorial product design, and authentic creative execution to build a luxury brand that refuses to compromise on either performance or sustainability—all while navigating the cultural shift away from digital-first marketing toward experiential, analog brand building. Topics Discussed: Bridging the clean beauty performance gap in premium skincare Leveraging clinical studies and science-backed messaging to overcome consumer skepticism Building brand credibility through word-of-mouth in a crowded beauty market Capturing the new and expecting mother demographic through ingredient transparency Navigating the tension between AI efficiency and authentic brand storytelling Adapting marketing strategy to the cultural countermovement away from screen time Scaling a luxury beauty brand through strategic retail partnerships versus owned stores Maintaining creative authenticity in an increasingly AI-generated content landscape

In this episode of The Future of Marketing, host Andres Figueira interviews Erika White, Chief Marketing Officer at Navan, the leading all-in-one business travel and expense management platform. Navan is disrupting the antiquated corporate travel industry by bringing consumer-grade personalization to business travel—enabling employees to book trips as seamlessly as their personal travel while maintaining compliance and giving finance teams real-time visibility. After going public in October, Navan is scaling its marketing organization globally while maintaining an in-person culture that mirrors the in-person connections their product facilitates. Erika shares how she's building a unified global marketing function, leveraging AI for brand consistency at scale, and creating demand in a $185 billion addressable market dominated by legacy solutions. Topics Discussed: Globalizing a disparate marketing organization across US and EMEA markets Orchestrating a high-impact IPO marketing campaign as a demand generation event Building an in-person marketing culture that reflects the product's value proposition Training custom LLMs on brand voice for scalable content creation Allocating marketing budget toward upmarket demand generation and sales enablement Leveraging out-of-home advertising contextually for business travelers Expanding from travel into expense management and payments during COVID

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, host Andres Figueira interviews Sarah Qualters, VP of Marketing at Rack & Riddle Custom Wine Services. As the #1 custom sparkling wine producer in the U.S. with 3.5 million cases of capacity, Rack & Riddle operates behind the scenes, producing sparkling wine for over 400 clients who sell it under their own labels. Sarah shares how she's building a marketing function from scratch in a B2B2C business model where most consumers have never heard of the brand—yet have likely enjoyed their wines at retailers like Trader Joe's, Kroger, and Albertsons. With just a two-person marketing team, she's establishing innovation processes, navigating complex multi-stakeholder decision chains, and identifying white space opportunities in a market dominated by European imports. Topics Discussed: Building marketing infrastructure in a company that operated without a marketing team for 18+ years Navigating B2B2C marketing across winemakers, distributors, retailers, and consumers Establishing innovation processes to capture emerging trends (premixed cocktails, alcohol-removed wines) Managing stakeholder marketing across the three-tier alcohol distribution system Leveraging AI for efficiency with a lean marketing team Identifying market gaps in domestic vs. imported sparkling wine

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, host Andres Figueira interviews Isabella Sobieski, Director of Brand and Marketing at Pluto TV. Pluto TV is competing in one of the most crowded entertainment landscapes by positioning itself as the anti-subscription streaming service - completely free, always. Operating across 36 countries since being acquired by Paramount in 2019, Pluto TV faces a unique challenge: convincing consumers accustomed to Netflix's on-demand model or traditional TV's familiarity that there's a third way. By treating content curation as community building, leveraging nostalgia as a psychological trigger, and finding white space in niche content markets, Pluto has carved out a sustainable position in an oversaturated streaming market. Topics Discussed: Building a free streaming service in a subscription-dominated market Using niche content verticals to create loyal audience segments Leveraging psychological triggers like nostalgia and recognition in product design Competing for attention without traditional marketing budgets Adapting marketing strategies across culturally diverse markets (US, Latin America, Europe) Converting influencers and content creators into distribution partners Operating lean marketing teams through strategic agency partnerships

In this episode of The Future of Marketing, host Anders Figueira interviews Tyler Axon, Head of Growth at BetHog, a crypto casino and sportsbook from the founders of FanDuel. BetHog is entering one of the most challenging marketing environments imaginable: combining crypto and gambling regulations while competing against established giants like Stake. With just 15 people, BetHog is building trust in a space flooded with anonymous crypto casinos by leveraging their team's FanDuel pedigree, pioneering AI-powered gaming experiences, and completely reimagining digital marketing playbooks for Web3 consumers. Tyler shares how they're navigating the shift from traditional regulated betting to global crypto gambling, where wallet data replaces credit cards, influencer marketing trumps TV commercials, and ChatGPT rankings matter as much as Google SEO. Topics Discussed: Marketing crypto gambling under dual regulatory constraints Building trust and brand legitimacy in anonymous crypto casino markets Transitioning from Web2 (traditional betting) to Web3 (crypto) marketing strategies Product-first growth philosophy and timing market entry Leveraging AI for product differentiation and viral marketing content Adapting acquisition channels for crypto-native consumers Using founder credibility and transparency as marketing tools Token economics and airdrop programs as retention mechanisms

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, host Andres Figueira interviews Andrew Maffettone, Founder of BlueTuskr, a full-service e-commerce marketing agency that operates at the intersection of Amazon marketplaces and direct-to-consumer strategies. With 15 years in e-commerce marketing and multiple agency exits under his belt, Andrew has built BlueTuskr into a 55-60 client operation that serves as an outsourced marketing department for e-commerce brands. BlueTuskr's differentiation lies in its ability to bridge the traditionally siloed worlds of marketplace and D2C marketing, creating truly omnichannel strategies through specialized sub-departments that function like seven agencies under one roof. Topics Discussed: Building a full-service agency structure with specialized sub-departments Qualifying clients through an investor lens: treating agency partnerships like investment decisions Navigating the tension between being embedded in client teams while maintaining agency culture Developing new service offerings through complimentary pilot programs with early clients Scaling operations with a global team across US, LATAM, and Philippines Integrating AI tools strategically to improve efficiency without sacrificing quality Managing omnichannel marketing strategies that bridge Amazon marketplaces and D2C platforms

In this episode of The Future of Marketing, host Andres Figueira interviews Lin Sällström, Head of Sales & Marketing at Hickap, a 9-year-old Scandinavian vegan beauty brand. Hickap is carving out space in the highly competitive beauty market by building an inclusive community-first brand that treats customers like friends rather than transactions. Operating with a lean team of just nine people, Hickap has become one of the fastest-growing vegan beauty brands in Scandinavia through a marketing approach centered on consistency, authenticity, and deep customer relationships. Their strategy demonstrates how smaller brands can compete against legacy players like Max Factor, Lancôme, and Maybelline by leveraging proximity to customers and cultural relevance. Topics Discussed: Building an inclusive, warm beauty brand for Gen Z and Gen Alpha first-time beauty users Operating a lean, high-performing marketing team in a competitive category Leveraging consistency as a competitive advantage and growth accelerator Creating community through customer-influencer integration at events and campaigns Using customer feedback to drive product development and category expansion Launching culturally-relevant seasonal campaigns in Nordic markets Expanding from makeup brushes into skincare, makeup, and hair care categories Competing against legacy beauty brands with significantly larger marketing budgets

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, host Andres Figueira interviews Jordan Malara, owner of Adventure Inn Durango and The Ridge Hotel (rebranding to The Outrider Hotel). Jordan is building a boutique hotel brand in Colorado's competitive hospitality market by recognizing a fundamental insight: guests don't search for hotels first - they choose destinations, then look for places to stay. By marketing the destination alongside the property and focusing on authentic local experiences over sterile accommodations, Jordan is creating a scalable hospitality brand that stands apart from both traditional hotels and the fragmented short-term rental market. Topics Discussed: Marketing destination experiences rather than room amenities Leveraging user-generated content and influencer partnerships for authentic storytelling Building brand consistency while maintaining local authenticity across multiple properties Creating operational efficiency through centralized management structures Using seasonal marketing strategies to balance revenue across peak and off-peak periods Developing partnerships with local businesses to enhance guest experience Training staff to embody brand culture and deliver insider local knowledge Applying AI to guest communications, bookkeeping, and market research Transitioning from short-term rental management to branded hotel operations

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, host Andres Figueira interviews Tyson Hill, Vice President of Content, Marketing and Communications at Phoenix Rising Football Club. Phoenix Rising operates in one of marketing's most challenging environments: a second-division soccer team competing in a crowded sports market dominated by NFL, NBA, and major university programs—while also competing globally against Premier League and international soccer broadcasts. Rather than trying to convert existing soccer fans, Phoenix Rising has carved out a unique positioning by marketing live experiences to non-traditional audiences, turning accessibility and atmosphere into their competitive advantages. Through hyper-targeted creative, experience-first messaging, and a lean but highly skilled team, they're building a community-driven sports brand in a market that didn't know it existed. Topics Discussed: - Marketing a second-division sports team in a saturated major market - Competing against global sports broadcasting for local attendance - Building community and camaraderie as the core product experience - Converting non-soccer fans through live experience marketing - Operating with lean, expert teams in resource-constrained environments - Creating accessible sports experiences versus premium league paywalls - Leveraging broadcast partnerships for brand awareness without major budgets

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, host Andres Figueira interviews Hal Smith, Founder of H Street Digital, a performance marketing agency that guarantees to 2x digital advertising revenue for eight-figure DTC brands in 90 days. After a decade of scaling multiple performance marketing agencies and working across presidential campaigns, Fortune 100 banks, and DTC brands, Smith identified the systematic bottlenecks that prevent most brands from scaling efficiently. His agency's approach differs radically from the typical agency model: they audit brands across five core performance levers, identify the single biggest constraint using theory of constraints methodology, and commit to specific, measurable outcomes through 90-day sprints with full refund guarantees if they don't deliver. Topics Discussed: - Applying theory of constraints to identify the biggest growth bottleneck in DTC brands - Building a performance marketing audit framework across thousands of data points Using 90-day outcome-based sprints with measurable KPIs and refund guarantees - Leveraging AI for creative research and customer insight extraction Testing product-market fit through systematic persona and pain point matrices - The five core performance levers: offer strategy, creative systems, media buying, CRO, and attribution - Why tactical advice on social media often delivers low-impact results Building a lean, profitable agency model focused on accountability over growth - Preparing for agentic commerce and AI disruption in the DTC ecosystem

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, host Andres Figueira interviews John Tabis, Founder and Chairman of The Bouqs Company. The Bouqs Company transformed the floral industry by eliminating the traditional five-to-six layer supply chain and shipping flowers directly from eco-friendly farms in Ecuador, Colombia, and beyond to consumers across the United States. Starting with just $13,000, Tabis and his co-founder grew the company from $2 million in year one to $32 million by year four—all by rejecting commodity positioning and building a premium brand in one of the most emotionally charged but underserved consumer categories. Through strategic storytelling, aggressive PR tactics, and ruthless focus on customer experience optimization, The Bouqs Company carved out a new position in a market dominated by players competing solely on price. Topics Discussed: Disrupting traditional supply chains by shipping directly from farms to consumers Finding the "Holy Shit Moment" (HSM) in brand storytelling to break through noise Leveraging guerrilla PR tactics to secure celebrity endorsements and media coverage Evolving brand narrative and product offerings based on customer feedback Transitioning from growth-focused founder to strategic chairman role Building subscription models that balance flexibility with customer lock-in Expanding from pure e-commerce to omnichannel retail strategy

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, host Andres Figueira interviews Allie Egan, Founder and CEO of Veracity. After reversing her own autoimmune thyroid disease through functional medicine, Allie built Veracity into a doctor-recommended, clinically-backed metabolic health brand that's achieved 40x growth in two years. Operating in the increasingly crowded natural alternatives to GLP-1s market, Veracity has differentiated itself by combining rigorous Western scientific validation with plant-based ingredients, while riding the wave of consumer education created by the prescription weight loss medication boom. Through strategic product development driven by biological data from tens of thousands of hormone tests, Veracity pivoted from a broad wellness brand to focus exclusively on metabolic health - a decision that 4x'd their business in a single year. Topics Discussed: Using proprietary biological data to identify product-market fit and category opportunities Positioning against prescription medications without directly competing Leveraging market education created by pharmaceutical competitors (GLP-1s) Building scientific credibility through physician partnerships and clinical testing Pivoting from broad wellness to category-specific focus based on customer data Balancing founder authenticity with scalable content production Maintaining brand principles throughout manufacturing and supply chain decisions

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, host Andres Figueira interviews Andres Gimeno, Director of Growth Marketing at Hyperice, the world's leading recovery technology company. Hyperice has mastered the art of building premium brand authority through professional athlete validation while simultaneously scaling to everyday consumers. Born from a courtside observation of Kobe Bryant's recovery routine 12 years ago, Hyperice now partners with every major professional sports league globally - NBA, NFL, MLB, PGA, UFC - and has recently launched the groundbreaking Nike x Hyperice boot collaboration. With just over 100 employees operating across 65+ countries, Hyperice demonstrates how a lean team can execute sophisticated global expansion through strategic partnerships, localized market intelligence, and a product-first marketing philosophy that lets results speak louder than campaigns. Topics Discussed: Building brand authority through professional athlete validation before scaling to mass market Translating premium product positioning from elite athletes to everyday consumers Leveraging UGC content to bridge the gap between professional and amateur use cases Executing global expansion with cultural localization across 65+ countries Using AI to accelerate creative prototyping and market-specific insights at scale Navigating payment infrastructure differences in emerging markets Partnering with Nike to launch category-defining products (Hyperboot) Focusing on endurance sports communities as primary adoption channels

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, host Andres Figueira interviews Sangwook Park, Chief Executive Officer at Laughland. Laughland is disrupting the oral care category by bringing dentist-level personalization to teeth whitening at an accessible price point. Starting from a consumer growth equity background at a fund investing in brands like Olaplex and Curology, Park identified a critical gap: oral care lacked the innovation and fun that had transformed skincare and beauty, while remaining clinically credible. With over 200,000 customers across 25+ countries and a lean team of nine, Laughland has proven that personalization doesn't require sacrificing accessibility, achieving double-digit growth while actually reducing prices through supply chain optimization. Topics Discussed: Building a personalized oral care brand in a commoditized category dominated by legacy players Scaling internationally from day one through organic press coverage Leveraging dentist expertise and authority to educate consumers on product differentiation Optimizing team productivity through AI tools to maintain lean operations while scaling rapidly Transitioning from premium positioning to mass-market accessibility through strategic pricing and product expansion Balancing clinical credibility with brand personality in a traditionally boring category

In this episode of The Future of Marketing, host Andres Figueira interviews Joseph Heller, CEO & Founder of The Studio. The Studio has quietly become one of the most essential manufacturing platforms for consumer brands, serving over 100,000 customers across 14 years by solving one of the hardest problems in consumer business: finding the right manufacturer. Rather than competing on price or technology features, The Studio built its business around curation and trust—acting as the critical bridge between brands and the world's manufacturing infrastructure. Their approach to marketing reflects a fundamental understanding that sophisticated customers don't buy software or platforms; they buy solutions to specific problems delivered with speed and clarity. Topics Discussed: Building trust in a market where manufacturers have poor reputations Evolving marketing strategies as customer acquisition costs increase Curating manufacturing partners rather than simply connecting buyers and sellers Using AI to compress design iteration cycles from days to hours Expanding beyond China to build global manufacturing networks Translating complex B2B services into simple, compelling marketing messages Leveraging organic growth and word-of-mouth in the early stages Adapting to social media-driven product trends and customer inspiration

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, host Andres Figueira interviews Phil Cohen, COO and Co-Founder of Simplifyber. Simplifyber is tackling one of manufacturing's most entrenched challenges: making sustainable materials compete directly with plastics at scale. Rather than positioning themselves as a premium alternative that costs more, they've engineered a platform technology - combining proprietary liquid natural fiber slurries with custom manufacturing equipment - that can produce everything from flexible shoe uppers to rigid automotive interiors. By starting with high-margin durable goods rather than commoditized packaging, and by designing for scale from day one, Simplifyber is building a razor-and-blades business model where their technology diffuses globally through equipment sales and consumable material contracts. Topics Discussed: Designing sustainable materials companies for scale from inception Competing with plastics through strategic product positioning in high-margin categories Re-engineering industrial equipment to create proprietary manufacturing advantages Building platform technologies that enable unforeseen applications Maintaining ruthless team accountability in venture-backed environments Navigating complex technical decisions with multiple stakeholder voices

In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, host Andres Figueira interviews Ankur Goyal, SVP of Growth at Coterie. Coterie is disrupting the baby care category dominated by legacy CPG giants through a relentless focus on product superiority, demand generation marketing, and leveraging direct-to-consumer advantages that traditional competitors simply cannot replicate. In four years, Ankur has scaled the company 15x while taking it from unprofitable to highly profitable, culminating in an acquisition by Mammoth Brands. Through sophisticated use of AI, hyper-personalized customer experiences, and creative that prioritizes demand generation over demand capture, Coterie has proven that even in commodity categories, digital-native brands can command premium pricing and build defensible moats. Topics Discussed: Disrupting legacy-dominated CPG categories with demonstrably superior products Building a demand generation-first paid acquisition strategy Leveraging AI for customer segmentation, personalization, and CX automation Creating digital product experiences as competitive advantages in physical product categories Structuring lean growth teams with specialized creative pods Extracting customer insights to drive messaging breakthroughs Balancing premium positioning with accessible brand communication