D2C Diaries

Loukas Hambi and Olly Hudson

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. 4 天前

    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/

    53 分鐘
  2. 10月16日

    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/

    1 小時 4 分鐘
  3. 10月9日

    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

    40 分鐘
  4. 10月2日

    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

    1 小時 8 分鐘
  5. 9月25日

    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/

    1 小時 9 分鐘
  6. 9月18日

    How Martyn Cook Scaled a Brand That Fortified 250M Meals

    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 This mission-first ecom brand has fortified 250 million meals without compromising scale. In this episode, Olly and Loukas sit down with Martyn Cook, founder of Noobru, the mission-first ecom brand that’s already fortified 250 million meals for malnourished children and is on track for 1 billion. But this isn’t charity for charity’s sake. It’s mission-led growth done right. They break down: - Mission-first growth (with real impact) - The unit of good concept and how to apply it - How mission affects AOV, retention, and partnerships - The downside of “fake” charity positioning - Tactical stuff: upsells, advertorials, and affiliate scale If you're a founder who wants to scale with purpose (and still keep control) this one's unmissable. 0:00 Meet Martyn Cook: Founder of Noobru 03:15 The brand background 05:20 The whiteboard method 06:50 Identifying malnutrition as the problem to solve 09:10 What can you build that keeps your interest? 10:45 Addressing the hot take 14:10 The 'unit of good' framework 20:05 Optimising everything by 1% 26:40 Advertorials as a method for acquisition 38:50 Dipping into founder style creatives 40:05 Upsells and cross-sells unlocking 30–50% more AOV 47:50 How super affiliates help you scale 57:40 What's next for Noobru & the future of ecom in the AI era Follow Martyn on socials: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martyn-cook/ Podcast: https://smarterdestiny.com/series/podcast/ https://noobru.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/

    1 小時 3 分鐘
  7. 9月11日

    A Proven Meta Blueprint for Reaching New Customers at Scale

    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 CPMs climbing. Frequency spiking. CAC creeping up... If you’ve felt your Meta ads are “hitting a ceiling”, this episode is for you. We break down incremental reach, the hidden KPI that dictates whether your Meta spend is actually reaching net new audiences or just recycling the same eyeballs. Inside this episode we cover: - What incremental reach really means (and how to measure it) - The signals your account is fatiguing (and how to fix it fast) - Why creative strategy is the #1 lever for reducing frequency and unlocking growth - How to forecast the creative volume you actually need to scale - Our research process for uncovering new personas, pain points, and angles - The account structures that work best at 5-figure+ daily spend This is the Meta Blueprint for founders and marketers who want to scale without killing CAC or exhausting their warm audience. We’ve stress-tested these strategies across 8 and 9-figure DTC brands and they work. 0:00 Intro 2:36 Today’s topic: incremental reach explained 5:40 What is incremental reach (and how to measure it) 10:10 Creative as the key lever to fix incremental reach 12:00 Breaking down the creative strategy layers 15:45 Meta creative fatigue reports 17:00 Quick creative wins 19:45 Researching new personas & angles  32:50 Using AI to uncover hidden pain points & angles 34:20 Seasonality 35:15 Forecasting creative volume 45:00 Account structure & testing strategies  48:30 Scaling winners 50:30 Why consolidation helps incremental reach at scale 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/

    53 分鐘

簡介

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.

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