D2C Diaries

Loukas Hambi and Olly Hudson
  • ٠٫٠ (٠)
  • تسويق

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. قبل ٤ أيام

    The Future of Creative Strategy: How AI Is Transforming Performance Marketing in 2026

    🚨🚀 If you're a brand spending £100K/month, we'll run your ads. Apply for your free audit here: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0pzLCJ0 Creative costs are climbing fast. Meta’s changed how ads learn. And AI is completely redefining what “creative strategy” means in 2026. In this episode, Olly and Loukas dive into how brands can adapt to Meta’s creative similarity update, scale creative diversity without burning resources, and build systems that use AI as part of the production line — not a side tool. They unpack what happens when 70% of your iterations get grouped under the same entity ID, why the role of an AI videographer is about to become one of the most important hires in performance marketing, and how tools like Sora, VEO 3.1, Nano Banana, and Gemini are reshaping the creative process. From creative operations to prompt engineering, this episode breaks down what the next wave of performance marketing really looks like and why the future belongs to the brands who move fast and systemise smarter. Watch Andrej Karpathy's podcast episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXUZvyajciY --- We're excited to share that we are hiring creative strategists to join the UK's number one independent meta-agency, as recognised by Meta. Our team is known for being curious, innovative, and fast-growing, and we work with leading D2C brands like Heights, Mindful Chef, and Spacegoods and 47 Skin. If you're interested in being part of our dynamic team, please send me an email loukas@hambimedia.co.uk --- From the team behind Soar With Us and Hambi Media: http://www.soarwithus.co/ 0:00 - Intro 01:08 - Club Neuro community event 03:10 - Film recommendation: “I swear” 04:40 - Creative diversity revisited 07:18 - The new iteration strategy 15:15 - Rise of AI production 19:40 - Andrej Karpathy podcast episode 23:35 - New AI drops 27:45 - Building our AI data warehouse 36:66 - How we're using VEO 3 45:20 - The future of creative operations + predictions Follow Olly on socials: LinkedIn: https://shorturl.at/kPrqO Twitter: https://x.com/oliverwhudson Follow Loukas on socials: LinkedIn: https://shorturl.at/TRI8B Twitter: https://x.com/LoukasHambi Follow D2C Diaries on socials TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@d2c.diaries Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/d2c_diaries/

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  2. ٦ نوفمبر

    Meta’s Creative Diversity Mastermind: The 2026 Playbook for Ad Performance

    🚨🚀 If you're a brand spending £100K/month, we'll run your ads. Apply for your free audit here: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0ppm8t0 Meta’s Creative Similarity Penalty just changed the rules - here’s how to protect your performance in 2026 In one of the biggest creative updates since Andromeda, Meta has changed the way your ads are evaluated and most brands are getting silently penalised. This episode of D2C Diaries is a deep dive into Meta’s new Creative Similarity Algorithm, powered by Entity ID and Creative ID tracking. We tested 20 ads for a top-spending brand. Meta flagged 15 of them as identical, even though they featured different creators, different hooks, and different formats. Why? Because they looked visually similar and that now triggers Meta’s Entity ID grouping, which kills: - Incremental reach - Fresh delivery - Performance learning - CPM efficiency This changes everything about how DTC brands should approach ad iteration, creative testing, and campaign planning in 2026. This is the most comprehensive breakdown of Meta’s creative diversity update you’ll find, packed with examples, agency-tested frameworks, and tactical steps you can implement immediately. --- D2C Diaries is proudly sponsored by Wayflyer They’re offering $25,000 in upfront capital for just $1,800 to help you ramp up your efforts leading into Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This funding can be crucial for covering unexpected costs and ensuring you can double down on your best-performing ads while staying stocked. Timing is everything, so don’t miss out! https://kntn.ly/55cfeeff --- We're excited to share that we are hiring creative strategists to join the UK's number one independent meta-agency, as recognised by Meta. Our team is known for being curious, innovative, and fast-growing, and we work with leading D2C brands like Heights, Mindful Chef, and Space Good 47 Skin. If you're interested in being part of our dynamic team, please send me an email loukas@hambimedia.co.uk --- From the team behind Soar With Us and Hambi Media: [www.soarwithus.co](http://www.soarwithus.co/) 00:00 Introduction to creative update 01:35 Wayflyer's Black Friday offer 03:10 What's changed on Meta 05:40 We're hiring 06:35 The creative diversity scale 08:10 Entity ID vs creative ID 09:25 Visual examples 12:07 Why does Entity ID matter? 13:43 How our testing has changed 15:07 The building blocks of creative differentiation 17:50 How to test 21:40 Creative vehicles we're leaning into 23:45 Iterating with visual differentiation + hooks 30:20 Static iteration examples 37:00 How we're adjusting our approach Follow Olly on socials: LinkedIn: https://shorturl.at/kPrqO Twitter: https://x.com/oliverwhudson Follow Loukas on socials: LinkedIn: https://shorturl.at/TRI8B Twitter: https://x.com/LoukasHambi Follow D2C Diaries on socials TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@d2c.diaries Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/d2c_diaries/

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  3. ٣٠ أكتوبر

    The D2C Reset: Creative Strategy, Incremental Reach, and What’s Working Now

    The D2C landscape has been completely rewritten in the last six months. Meta’s changing what it rewards. AI is reshaping how we research, test, and create. And the creative tactics that worked just half a year ago are already burning out. In this episode of D2C Diaries, Olly and Loukas break down what’s actually driving performance right now and how smart brands are adapting to find incremental reach in a tougher, more competitive landscape. They dig into what Meta is really rewarding in 2025, why format and hook now matter more than volume, and how to build creative that signals to the algorithm - not just the audience. The conversation covers the building blocks of modern creative strategy, how they’re using Grok + Reddit for sharper audience research, and why founder ads, nostalgia, and demographic nuance are quietly outperforming trend chasing. They also unpack a new GMV MAX tactic that’s driving £6–7K/day for clients and discuss how subtle shifts in creative structure are helping brands scale sustainably. 🚨🚀 If you're a brand spending £100K/month, we'll run your ads. Apply for your free audit here: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0nQz9n0 0:00 — Intro 2:03 — Liquid Death controversy explained 7:44 — Creative similarity and incremental reach 14:42 — Using AI (Grok/X) for persona and audience research 17:57 — Google Trends & keyword analysis for insight 22:58 — Tailoring creative for personas and demographics 29:07 — Messaging depth, market sophistication, and emotion 35:06 — Creative formats, founder ads, and persona-driven hooks 42:25 — TikTok Shop, AI content, and evolving creative execution 49:46 — Static ads, nostalgic hooks, and final takeaways From the team behind Soar With Us and Hambi Media: [www.soarwithus.co](http://www.soarwithus.co/) Follow Olly on socials: LinkedIn: https://shorturl.at/kPrqO Twitter: https://x.com/oliverwhudson Follow Loukas on socials: LinkedIn: https://shorturl.at/TRI8B Twitter: https://x.com/LoukasHambi Follow D2C Diaries on socials TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@d2c.diaries Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/d2c_diaries/

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  4. ٢٣ أكتوبر

    How Jack Rubin Scaled Purdy & Figg to 1 in 20 Homes with One Product

    Purdy & Figg has quietly become one of the most impressive DTC brands in the UK. 1 in 20 households now use the product. But what’s more impressive is how they've done it: One product. One market. One channel. For six years. In this episode, Jack breaks down how he's stayed this focused and why most brands burn growth by diversifying too early. We get into how Purdy & Figg became the blueprint for creative volume, running 180 shoots a year and scaling a performance team in-house before it was trendy. Now, he's pivoting again, this time toward creative *diversity*, building campaigns that stretch across YouTube, TV, podcasts and radio. He talks honestly about the real impact of brand spend, the cash flow pain of TV, and why DR alone will never build a lifestyle brand. There's deep insight here on CAC, media mix, testing frameworks, org structure and how to lead a DTC company without losing your grip on creative. This conversation lays out exactly how to scale performance and brand, without sacrificing either. 🚨🚀 If you're a brand spending £100K/month, we'll run your ads. Apply for your free audit here: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0nQwsq0

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  5. ١٦ أكتوبر

    The New Meta Ad Playbook: Avoiding Creative Similarity on Meta

    D2C Diaries is proudly sponsored by Wayflyer Running an ecom brand and struggling with cash flow? Whether you're scaling ad spend or restocking bestsellers ahead of peak season, Wayflyer provides fast, non-dilutive funding tailored to e-commerce businesses. No equity. No months of waiting. Just the capital and insights you need to grow, on your terms. Check them out: https://tinyurl.com/4jfc8yej Creative similarity is quietly killing Meta ad performance and most brands have no idea it’s happening. In this episode of D2C Diaries, we dive into the biggest update to Meta’s creative delivery system since Andromeda: how visual similarity between ads is now being flagged and penalised, even when the creator, script, or copy is different. Read Olly's update here: https://x.com/oliverwhudson/status/1975537673470132358 This isn’t theory. We’ve seen the impact inside high-spend accounts over the past 6 months. Brands that look like they’re iterating are actually just reskinning. Meta sees it. And performance suffers. We share how one client went from £54k to £622k/week in spend by building persona-led creative that delivers stronger signals. We unpack what Meta really wants from your ad account in 2025 and why creative diversity now matters more than creative volume. We also break down the 3 new in-platform creative metrics Meta is rolling out (Creative Similarity, Fatigue, and Top Themes), how CPMR and New Visitor % are changing how we benchmark creative success, and why testing strategies need to evolve beyond micro iterations. Read Jason Yim's update here: https://x.com/jasonyimco/status/1975687580449710215 🚨🚀 If you're a brand spending £100K/month, we'll run your ads. Apply for your free audit here: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0nQwmw0 0:00 Intro 2:51 How Meta reframed creative diversity 9:30 Asset similarity explained 10:35 Persona-led strategy  13:55 Volume vs quality of assets 15:25 Signal engineering: how Meta reads engagement 17:00 Tracking Meta performance 24:23 Creative strategy: vehicles, angles, and hooks 26:20 Concept-level variations and visual diversification 33:00 Meta introducing 3 new creative metrics 39:20 Brand consistency vs creative diversity 42:14 Creative production scale challenges 43:40 Sora’s leap in speed, cost, and realism 48:20 OpenAI + Shopify + Stripe integrations  50:20 Further AI advancements 55:35 Tactical Section: Black Friday prep  1:01:28 Final Thoughts  From the team behind Soar With Us and Hambi Media: www.soarwithus.co Follow Sam on socials: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-wright-324737216/ 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/

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  6. ٩ أكتوبر

    How To Run Partnership Ads on Meta Like The Top 1%

    How to Scale DTC Brands with Third-Party Ads Struggling to scale Meta ads without killing your CPA? In this episode of D2C Diaries, Olly breaks down the exact whitelisting and partnership ad strategies we’re using across 8 figure ad accounts to unlock First-Time Impression Ratio (FTI) and drive incremental reach. This internal training reveals why Meta’s Andromeda algorithm update makes creative and third-party identity the new targeting, how to build high-performing whitelisting ad funnels, and what most DTC brands get wrong when trying to scale on Facebook and Instagram. You’ll learn how to use creator-led content, publisher positioning, and partnership ads to lower CPMs, improve engagement, and grow your customer base profitably. Whether you’re running ads for a DTC brand or managing a performance team, this is a plug-and-play strategy for scaling Meta spend without burning efficiency. Watch the full Meta ad strategy training now to see how we do it. 00:00 What this session covers 02:17 How Meta has changed 03:18 What Meta Andromeda is 06:07 What FTI is and how to track it 11:30 The FTI funnel 12:30 Why now is the time to adopt third-party ads 13:48 The 3 types of third-party delivery on Meta 23:45 What best-in-class looks like: 3 funnel examples 29:10 Brands doing this well (and why to study them) 30:05 Tactical ways to execute for your brand 34:05 Results you'll see when done right 35:13 How to measure success (FTI, CPM, visitor % etc) 37:30 5 action points to takeaway

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  7. ٢ أكتوبر

    The Product-Led Strategy That Rebuilt Hera: Holly Beadle

    D2C Diaries is proudly sponsored by Wayflyer Running an ecom brand and struggling with cash flow? Whether you're scaling ad spend or restocking bestsellers ahead of peak season, Wayflyer provides fast, non-dilutive funding tailored to e-commerce businesses. No equity. No months of waiting. Just the capital and insights you need to grow, on your terms. Check them out: https://tinyurl.com/4jfc8yej Most founders obsess over CAC, ad spend and creative testing, but almost no one talks about the thing that actually drives LTV: Product. In this episode, we sit down with Holly Beadle, CEO of Hera, who took over a legacy fashion brand right before Black Friday and had to rebuild it from the ground up. Just product, operations, and a brutal growth ceiling to solve. You won’t hear any fluff here. Just the raw truth about: - What happens when you scale before you’re ready - How product scaled the brand - The real role of CX, refunds, and fulfilment in retention - How Holly thinks about launches, core categories, and loyalty - What most operators get wrong when they inherit a brand This isn’t a growth-hack playbook. It’s a look behind the curtain of what rebuilding a real DTC brand actually looks like, especially when product is the lever that works. 🚨🚀 If you're a brand spending £100K/month, we'll run your ads. Apply for your free audit here: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0nv7p90 0:00 Hera’s origins & acquisition story 4:14 Early days at Gymshark + MyProtein  6:02 Taking over Hera: product vs. CEO role 8:43 Talent development at The Hut Group 10:30 Hera acquisition: first steps & early struggles 16:19 Product development & trend forecasting 19:47 80/20 rule in product 21:24 Acquisition vs. retention through product 23:57 3 key product tips for founders 29:04 The friction between product & marketing 32:23 Entering new markets & territory growth 36:33 Marketing mix post-acquisition: paid vs. organic 42:12 Influencer collabs + Partnerships 47:08 Growth strategy + Black Friday 52:56 Building the team & hiring for scrappiness 57:06 AI in the business 59:04 A day in the life as CEO & being a parent 1:04:53 Vision for Hera over the next 3–5 years Follow Holly and Hera https://www.instagram.com/holly.beadlex/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/holly-beadle-4308b037/ https://heraclothing.com/ 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

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  8. ٢٥ سبتمبر

    Scaling to £35M+ with Minimal Meta Spend: Pure Pet Food's Story

    Before pet food was “DTC sexy,” Pure Pet Food was scaling with zero ad spend. In this episode, Matt and Joe unpack how they built early traction through scrappy tactics like event pitching, awards, and PR - not Meta. With just a £300 council grant and no industry experience, they grew the brand to £1M+ in revenue without touching paid media. They share how that foundation led to VC backing and how they leveraged Meta spend, a custom subscription stack, and retention-first thinking to push past 8 figures. If you’re early-stage and trying to scale without burning cash, or already spending and want to scale smarter, this one’s for you. 🚨🚀 If you're a brand spending £100K/month, we'll run your ads. Apply for your free audit here: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0nkf8h0 00:00 Meet Pure Pet Food 04:35 Early failures + finding purpose 12:09 Early adoption into the pet food category 14:30 The rise of subscription pet food 16:50 How they were scouted for Dragons Den  19:20 Pitch experience  23:45 The impact post-air date 25:40 Inflection point for the business 28:03 Scrappy techniques 29:30 Hiring proactive team members 32:20 Raising investment 36:50 Understanding the game of venture 39:55 Overraising = pressure to 10x 42:10 How they unlocked Meta 49:15 In-house growth restructure  50:40 Scaling and testing  54:35 Retention & subscription flywheel 56:55 Post-purchase flows & feedback 1:02:20 Future vision for Pure Pet Food 1:04:50 Will they exit? Follow Pure Pet Food https://www.linkedin.com/in/mathew-cockroft-78bb2489/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/joemitchellcreative/ https://www.purepetfood.com 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/

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مشاهدة الكل (٥٧)

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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.

المعلومات

  • صناع العمل
    Loukas Hambi and Olly Hudson
  • سنوات النشاط
    ٢٠٢٥
  • الحلقات
    ٥٧
  • التقييم
    ملائم
  • حقوق النشر
    © 2025 D2C Diaries
  • موقع البرنامج على الويب
    D2C Diaries

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