DTC Growth Hacking

For our season 2 premier we've invited Alexis Walsko, founder of Lola Red Public Relations.Alexis and Rob discuss their wildly successful collaboration with the team at Sphero, the importance of media coverage, and how to best leverage its power for your brand.This is required listening for brands wondering not only how to get the word out, but why.You can find out more about Lola Red on their website.And connect with Alexis via her Twitter.

In today's episode Rob speaks with Shawn Gold - the Founder and CEO of Pilgrim Soul, a mission-driven cannabis brand focused on optimizing human creative performance to gain a competitive edge in business and life. Shawn has been a part of the internet since it became mainstream. He was Partner and Founding Publisher of Weblogs, Inc., the CMO of MySpace, CMO of Inside Studios, Head of Brand Partnerships at Wattpad. More recently he’s been CMO of TechStyle Fashion Group, CMO of Lowell Herb Co and advised many other leading cannabis companies including MedMen and Charlotte's Web. It's a master class on the history of internet marketing and the perfect episode to listen to if you're in need of some creative inspiration.

Zachary Glassmith is many things. Multi-discipline digital marketer, check. Brand whisperer, check.  Director of ecommerce at hot CBD startup Miraflora, check. Awesome human being, triple check. On our 20th episode of DTC Growth Hacking, Rob sits down with Zach to talk about everything from the effects of marketing due to the pandemic, what makes a good brand, how Miraflora is helping the American Farmer, and just how silky smooth Zach’s voice really is. This is a great episode for those who want to connect with the human part of the marketer’s journey. Enjoy!

Prairie Rose is everyone’s favorite drinks writer, blogger, and podcaster. She’s a trained sommelier, spirits educator and her blog - Bit by a Fox is a winner of Saveur Magazine’s Readers’ Choice Award for Best Drinks Blog. She’s also now the commerce editor at Liquor.com. AND she has a book coming out this month, called Mixology for Beginners, that is available for pre-order on Amazon right now. Prairie has created a niche brand in a very broad market that embodies cocktail culture and beyond. She shares her journey, what she’s gleaned along the way, and dives into the creation, marketing, and consumption of great adult beverage brands. Go ahead and give it a listen.

Allis Markham is an award-winning master taxidermist based in Los Angeles, California. She’s the founder of Prey Taxidermy, who works closely with museums all over the globe. She’s also a former professional marketer, transitioning from marketing to taxidermist after a highly successful career which ultimately led her into the executive ranks at Disney. Her brand is a carefully executed version of “her perfect self”, and she’s been featured in countless publications and is the subject of the feature documentary “Stuffed”, which is available for download on Amazon. In today’s episode, Allis and I dive into how brand and persona intersect in today’s world of DTC marketing, and how carefully curated brands need to be -- especially when they are an extension of an actual person. This is an amazing tale of a person leveraging DTC to manifest their perfect scenario, and highly inspirational. Go ahead and give it a listen!-Rob Stuffed on Amazon Instagram

Ezequiel Abramzon is an artist, executive, marketer, and brand strategist. A 20+ year Disney veteran who, after running digital for LATAM and later overseeing global creative out of the UK, landed in Spain where he has spent the last year developing an extensive program for companies who want to better understand the power of a brand - and how to master it. In this episode Ezequiel and Rob discuss how companies can build true brand value, the difference between branding and marketing (hint: strategy vs tactics), and how invaluable insights into the process that Ezequiel’s agency, Lalo, leverages to help leaders build great brands that can drive business decisions and more importantly — build and nurture customer relationships. If you’ve ever wondered where the idea of a brand fits into DTC, this one is definitely for you. Listen. Subscribe. Learn. Enjoy. Links:Ezequiel’s LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ezequielabramzon/ Ezequiel’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ezzek/

Jonny Grant is a gentleman marketing magician. He’s clearly a showman, as was witnessed with his Lexus immersive experience that put journalists literally in the life of a celebrity, in nothing seen outside of the David Fincher masterpiece “The Game”, prior. A commercial director by trade, and all things theatrical by experience, Jonny brings immersive experiences to life, and has been part of a growing movement dedicated to these unbelievable first-person ultra-reality showcases.Here’s where it gets interesting for the DTC marketer. Listen to Jonny reflect on seeing just how powerful immersive theatre could be, how he started to bring brands into the fold. This hybrid form of immersive marketing is highly powerful for creating lifelong relationships between products and consumers in part due to the overwhelmingly emotional connection they end up sharing after an immersive experience. Jonny and Rob dive into the history of immersive theatre, how it’s been used by brands to date, and how Jonny is looking to break new ground with his Department Studios — of which Jonny is co-founder and Chief Creative Officer. If you’re interested in where things are going in the world of live events and brands, this one's for you.

Sarah Wagman Ellenbogen is the co-founder and CEO of DigiFresh — who have created tools that allow for the merger of traceability and accountability with marketing and storytelling — in a way that feels organic to the brand and entertaining to the customer. After a career for building amazing partnerships between brands and technology organizations like Revver, YouTube, and Google, Sarah has now turned her focus to helping consumer brands tell their stories, and ultimately, witness them gain more trust and grow their customer relationships.If you’re interested in how the origin stories of goods are becoming more important for driving consumer decisions, what future awaits us, and how “good” is always the side to be on, then dive in and listen. She and Rob will take you there.This episode is guaranteed to paint a picture of a marketplace lush with accountability.