D2C Diaries

Loukas Hambi and Olly Hudson
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  • MARKETING

Join Olly Hudson and Loukas Hambi in a laid-back yet insightful podcast, where we dive into the heart of D2C and e-commerce. With a combined experience of managing over £150 million in ad spend across Meta and TikTok and helping scale over 200 brands, we bring you a digestible blend of performance, operational, and creative wisdom.

  1. 1 DAG SIDEN

    M&A Secrets for selling your DTC brand in 2026

    🚨🚀 If you're a brand spending £100K/month, we'll run your ads. Apply for your growth roadmap: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0slb_f0 Most DTC founders have a number in their head. A valuation. An exit. A moment where the work pays off. What nobody tells you is that the decisions killing that outcome are being made right now, long before you ever sit across from an acquirer. In this episode, Olly and Loukas sit down with Paul Hanley from the Fortia Group, one of the UK's leading e-commerce M&A advisors, to pull back the curtain on what the exit process actually looks like from the other side of the table. Paul and his team have seen hundreds of DTC businesses come through their doors — from £400K startups to £50M+ brands — and the same mistakes keep showing up. Paul breaks these down. Plus Paul launches Beauty Value Labs — a new network built specifically for beauty founders who want to understand where their valuation stands today and what it could be. About Beauty Value Lab: For beauty brands doing $10M+ in revenue, the most important exit decisions are already being made,  without you realising it. Years before a banker gets hired, through operating choices and reporting discipline. Beauty Value Lab is a pre-exit value engineering platform built by career investment bankers at the Fortia Group, working with founders 12 to 36 months ahead of a transaction. Membership includes quarterly Buyer-Grade Valuation Memos, ongoing decision support grounded in buyer logic, and direct access to active beauty acquirers through closed-door sessions. This is not a founder community. It sits upstream of advisors and bankers, engineering the conditions under which future transactions succeed. If you're a beauty founder building toward an exit in the next 1 to 3 years, find out more at the link below: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DfEGtuaRTYMsFYeVoK3CBQf8GH0GJ1dV/view https://thefortiagroup.com/ Follow Paul: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-hanley-4ab64592/ Follow Olly: https://linktr.ee/ollyhudson Follow Joe: https://linktr.ee/joe_marston Follow Loukas: https://shorturl.at/TRI8B / https://x.com/LoukasHambi Follow Liam: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liam-dean-a11a43152/ Follow D2C Diaries: https://www.tiktok.com/@d2c.diaries / https://www.instagram.com/d2c_diaries/

    1 t. 9 min.

  2. 26. FEB.

    How to Make AI UGC Ads in 2026: Sora 2, Claude and the Full Workflow

    🚨🚀 If you're a brand spending £100K/month, we'll run your ads. Apply for your growth roadmap: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0s7Jtp0 AI UGC has come on leaps and bounds. In this episode Loukas breaks down the exact workflow he's using right now to generate hyper-realistic UGC style ads, without booking a creator, running a shoot, or spending a fortune on production. We cover the full tech stack: Claude for prompt writing, Sora 2 for hook footage, ElevenLabs for voice cloning, ChatGPT for subject consistency, Nano Banana for B-roll generation and Kling for bringing static images to life. Then Olly and Loukas go deep on Claude skills, recursive self-improvement loops, and how they're using AI to grade scripts, review landing page congruency and build self-improving creative workflows across the agency. Comment PROMPT below and we'll send you the Claude template we use to generate Sora 2 prompts. Read Sarah's article here: https://x.com/SarahLevinger/status/2021281038895546761 Recursive self improvement loop: https://x.com/vibemarketer_/status/2019435524532904205?s=46  Follow Olly: https://linktr.ee/ollyhudson Follow Joe: https://linktr.ee/joe_marston Follow Loukas: https://shorturl.at/TRI8B / https://x.com/LoukasHambi Follow Liam: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liam-dean-a11a43152/ Follow D2C Diaries: https://www.tiktok.com/@d2c.diaries / https://www.instagram.com/d2c_diaries/

    46 min.

  3. 17. FEB.

    Meta Insider Reveals How £100M+ Disruptor Brands Scale With Andromeda

    🚨🚀 If you're a brand spending £100K/month, we'll run your ads. Apply for your growth roadmap: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0rNf_N0 For this episode, we’re joined by a Meta Creative Strategist working directly with some of the most disruptive brands on the platform. This is someone inside the system, helping fast-scaling brands rethink how they approach creative, performance, and growth. We unpack how the algorithm actually works in 2026 and why so many brands are still optimising for an outdated version of Meta. From the shift away from interrupting attention toward earning it, to Andromeda acting like a “super intelligent librarian” that reads the entire book rather than judging the cover, this conversation reframes how creative is interpreted at scale. We dive into why small iterative tweaks stop unlocking growth, how creative diversity fuels learning, and what really separates the top 1% of brands from everyone else. We also explore the real role of partnership ads, why identity changes how the algorithm understands your message, and where brands are over-relying on AI instead of strengthening creative judgment. If you run Meta ads, lead a DTC brand, or oversee creative strategy, this episode will likely challenge a few assumptions you didn’t realise you were making. You can download our 2026 Partnership Ads Guide here: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0rNfZb0 Read our Meta campaign study here: https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/creative-customers/1942172 This episode is sponsored by Foreplay. Start your free trial here: https://tinyurl.com/msm5ak8c Follow Maxime: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxime-menant/ Follow Olly: https://linktr.ee/ollyhudson Follow Joe: https://linktr.ee/joe_marston Follow Loukas: https://shorturl.at/TRI8B / https://x.com/LoukasHambi Follow Liam: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liam-dean-a11a43152/ Follow D2C Diaries: https://www.tiktok.com/@d2c.diaries / https://www.instagram.com/d2c_diaries/

    1 t. 5 min.

  4. 5. FEB.

    Meta Algorithm Update: How to Adjust Your Organic and Paid Media Strategy

    🚨🚀 If you're a brand spending £100K/month, we'll run your ads. Apply for your growth roadmap: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0rw0Jc0 From the team behind Soar With Us and Hambi Media: http://www.soarwithus.co/ In this episode, we break down Meta’s latest algorithm updates — including UTIs and the next phase of Andromeda and what they actually mean for reach, creative strategy, and performance. We explore why Meta is moving away from engagement-led optimisation toward interest alignment, how organic content is increasingly training paid delivery, and why generic, broad hooks are losing effectiveness. The conversation digs into creative diversity, persona depth, and how brands should rethink both organic and paid as part of the same system. We also share how we’re experimenting with Claude Skills, Co-worker, and Claude Code inside our creative strategy team, moving from prompt engineering to codified inputs, context-driven workflows, and structured delegation. This is a practical, operator-level discussion on how platforms are changing, how strategy needs to evolve, and where AI genuinely creates leverage without the hype. Read Olly's Meta GEM article here: https://x.com/oliverwhudson/status/2016142894504047008 You can download Olly's Partnership ads guide here: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0rw5St0 Follow Olly: https://linktr.ee/ollyhudson Follow Joe: https://linktr.ee/joe_marston Follow Loukas: https://shorturl.at/TRI8B / https://x.com/LoukasHambi Follow Liam: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liam-dean-a11a43152/ Follow D2C Diaries: https://www.tiktok.com/@d2c.diaries / https://www.instagram.com/d2c_diaries/

    1 t.

  5. 29. JAN.

    The 2026 Meta Playbook: Creative Formats, Personas & Scaleable Structures

    In this episode, we break down what’s actually driving Meta performance right now and why the brands scaling in 2026 aren’t chasing more creative, but building smarter systems around personas and AI. We go deep into how top-performing accounts are reusing existing assets, structuring creative by persona, and using AI to unlock speed, diversity, and incremental reach... without burning teams out or inflating creative costs. We also cover what’s next for high-production creative, why emotional authenticity still beats AI in key moments, and how founders and teams should be thinking about context, not prompts, as AI becomes embedded in everyday work. If you’re a founder, head of growth, or creative leader trying to scale Meta in a world where targeting is gone and AI is everywhere, this episode will reset how you think about creative strategy. Deep research AI guide here: https://kylepoyar.substack.com/p/deep-research-for-gtm?r=10j51v&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true From the team behind Soar With Us and Hambi Media: http://www.soarwithus.co/ 🚨🚀 If you're a brand spending £100K/month, we'll run your ads. Apply for your growth roadmap: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0rls0q0 00:00 Intro 01:15 Creative formats we're using right now 11:20 Next evolution of AI generated content 15:30 Creative testing strategy (ABO vs. CBO vs. ASC) 17:40 Criteria for deeming a scalable ad 19:40 ASC by persona scaling campaigns 22:40 The "Bidcap Graveyard" hack 24:20 Exclusions in ad setup 25:50 Intentional persona mapping 30:50 Post-purchase surveys for purchase triggers 34:10 AI-powered customer interviews  35:20 Do not turn off winning ads 36:50 Importance of AI experimentation 39:00 Claude Skills and Co-worker 42:15 Context engineering over prompt engineering 44:20 Building a Claude Skill for script writing 51:45 The rise of vibe coding Follow Olly: https://linktr.ee/ollyhudson Follow Joe: https://linktr.ee/joe_marston Follow Loukas: https://shorturl.at/TRI8B / https://x.com/LoukasHambi Follow Liam: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liam-dean-a11a43152/ Follow D2C Diaries: https://www.tiktok.com/@d2c.diaries / https://www.instagram.com/d2c_diaries/

    55 min.

  6. 23. JAN.

    How to Hire (or Create) Elite Creative Strategists for DTC Brands | Meta Ads & Creative Strategy

    How we’re solving the biggest hiring bottleneck in DTC (and why Meta’s backing it). There’s a shortage of world-class creative strategists and it’s slowing down growth for agencies and brands alike. You can apply for the incubator here: Apply here: https://apply.workable.com/soar-with-us/j/F587A37B6F/ You can find more information on the opportunity here: https://www.notion.so/soarwithus/Are-you-ready-to-launch-your-career-in-performance-marketing-2e611884e3c980589a44cb0d73c6bfb8 In this episode, Olly and Loukas break down how Soar/Hambi are solving the problem from the inside out… by launching the UK’s first Creative Strategist Incubator. Whether you're hiring for this role or trying to be the hire, this episode covers: — Why great creative strategists are so hard to find (and even harder to train) — The exact soft skills to screen for if you're hiring — How we built a system to turn generalists into high-performance strategists fast — What Meta told us about upcoming creative similarity changes and why they're backing this programme — Who this is for, how to apply, and what’s actually included Applications for the first 5-person cohort are now open.This is not a junior marketing role. This is the MBA for creative strategy.  Apply here: https://apply.workable.com/soar-with-us/j/F587A37B6F/ Chris’s newsletter (featured in the episode): https://copychris.substack.com/ Timestamps:  00:00 Intro 01:16 The shortage of great creative strategists 03:50 What makes a great CS: baseline traits + transferable skills 07:53 Incubator announcement 12:01 9–12 month pathway to Creative Strategist role 14:51 Why CS is hard to train 15:56 Training method + modules 21:48 Scriptwriting focus: train hardest first 27:58 Gold Standard scorecard 34:18 Why people leave companies: managers, progression, culture 45:24 What’s next: course content + apply link From the team behind Soar With Us and Hambi Media: www.soarwithus.co Follow Loukas on socials:  LinkedIn: https://shorturl.at/TRI8B  Twitter: https://x.com/LoukasHambi Follow Olly on socials:  LinkedIn: https://shorturl.at/kPrqO  Twitter: https://x.com/oliverwhudson Follow D2C Diaries on socials  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@d2c.diaries  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/d2c_diaries/

    45 min.

  7. 15. JAN.

    How IM8 Hit $120M in 11 Months | Danny Yeung on Scaling the World’s Fastest Growing Supplement Brand

    IM8 went from $0 to a $120M run rate in just 11 months and they’re targeting $300M by the end of 2026. In this episode of D2C Diaries, Olly sits down with Danny Yeung, CEO and co-founder of IM8 Health, to unpack how he built one of the fastest-growing supplement brands in the world. From bringing on David Beckham as co-founder, to replacing 16 supplements with one clinically-backed daily drink, to assembling a scientific board with experts from NASA, UFC and Mayo Clinic, Danny shares the full playbook behind IM8’s explosive growth. You can watch our IM8 breakdown here: https://youtu.be/FSO_kiGOVu8 Download the IM8 funnel resource here: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0q_2-h0

    55 min.

  8. 8. JAN.

    Dan Murray on the £25M Brain Health Brand Celebrities Swear By

    🚨🚀 If you're a brand spending £100K/month, we'll run your ads. Apply for your growth roadmap: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0qMvq60 What does it take to scale a wellness brand to £25M+ after your first startup crashes, your health collapses, and you’re told sleeping pills are the only way out? In this episode, Dan Murray-Serter, co-founder of Heights, breaks down the unfiltered journey of building one of the UK’s fastest-growing brain health brands. From startup failure and burnout-induced insomnia to founding a category-defining company used by real celebrity customers, Dan shares the mindset shifts, health breakdowns, and bold brand decisions that fuelled Heights’ rise. We talk: How burnout and gut issues led to a £25M brandWhy Heights rejected nootropics hype and built around boring fundamentalsHow they landed celebrity endorsements Why real customer obsession beats clever marketingThis one’s part growth playbook, part founder therapy. Raw, honest, and genuinely useful for any DTC operator or founder building through the pain. Follow Dan on socials: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danmurrays/ X: https://x.com/danmurrays Follow Olly on socials: LinkedIn: https://shorturl.at/kPrqO X: https://x.com/oliverwhudson Follow Loukas on socials: LinkedIn: https://shorturl.at/TRI8B X: https://x.com/LoukasHambi Follow D2C Diaries on socials TikTok: / d2c.diaries Instagram: / d2c_diaries

    1 t. 19 min.
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Om

Join Olly Hudson and Loukas Hambi in a laid-back yet insightful podcast, where we dive into the heart of D2C and e-commerce. With a combined experience of managing over £150 million in ad spend across Meta and TikTok and helping scale over 200 brands, we bring you a digestible blend of performance, operational, and creative wisdom.

Oplysninger

  • Skaber
    Loukas Hambi and Olly Hudson
  • Aktive år
    2025 - 2026
  • Episoder
    68
  • Vurdering
    Anstødeligt
  • Copyright
    © 2026 D2C Diaries
  • Websted for serie
    D2C Diaries
  • Leverandør

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