The Directly Speaking Podcast

DTC marketing leaders of today and tomorrow share their stories, discuss their brands, and compare notes on trends in the marketing landscape.

Hosted by Quad’s VP of Strategic Sales at Quad / Head of DTC Strategy, Marcus Lancaster.

Featured episode

Episode 9: Ajit Sivadasan, Lenovo

Ajit Sivadasan, President and Global Head of DTC at Lenovo, shares his learnings on change management and ongoing testing, why DTC doesn’t cannibalize other channels and how personalization is critical to genuine audience connections and setting future trends.​ ​

Previous episodes

Episode 8: Shawn Douphner, Mechanix Wear

On experimenting in different channels, the importance of creating content that connects with people, and how they balance lower and upper funnel marketing.

Episode 7: Amber Minson, Blue Apron

On quickly synthesizing customer data, today’s rule of learning fast and the importance of not obsessing over perfection as you test ideas.​

Episode 6: Dan Spiegel, Branch

On how Branch is winning in the hypercompetitive moment by reducing customer friction and lowering cost.  

Episode 5: Scott Thomas, Ownwell

On the frictionless customer experience, testing upper funnel marketing and how failing is just as valuable as winning.

Episode 4: Chris Kolbe, Hypernatural

On creating a sustainable luxury brand, why more marketing after purchase is important and how he applies the principles of Patagonia and Tesla.

Episode 3: Ben Yahalom, True Classic

On building a sustainable business model, the importance of customer first, performance vs. a fully loaded P&L and why “done” is better than perfect.

Episode 2: Alvaro De La Rocha, Bespoke Post​

On growing the vaunted brand and how small brand partnerships have identified the importance of brand marketing post-iOS14. ​ ​

Episode 1: BJ Jacobs, Harper Wilde

On why sustainability leads to filling the top drawer, how we’ve been spoiled by shallow funnels and what marketers can learn from Red Bull. ​ ​