October 8 - 11, 2023
Austin, TX

The Year of Efficient Growth

Growth in a year of constrained marketing budgets, pinched consumer wallets and crumbling cookie pools are the complex set of challenges facing all D2C brands this year. At the 10th edition of MediaPost's D2C Brand Insider Summit digital native brand leaders share their solutions for each challenge:

How they are stretching their marketing dollar with smarter media planning and new customer acquisition strategies, even in powerful new channels like CTV.

How they are increasing consumer loyalty and LTV against economic pressures. How they are deploying new data strategies to accommodate cookie deprecation and more and higher walled gardens. And how many D2Cs are turning towards wholesale and retail partnerships to escape spiraling CAC.

For 18 years, MediaPost editors have invited a select group of marketing thinkers to our Insider Summits to share their best work and insights in highly interactive presentations, roundtables and activities. The Fall 2023 edition of the Brand Insider Summit: D2C takes on the core challenge facing digital natives as they look for growth in an omni-challenge environment.

We will explore:

- CRM, Loyalty, and LTV
- Building Multicultural Audiences
- The Reality of AI for D2C
- Omnichannel Marketing and the Art of Wholesaling
- New Customer Acquisition Strategies
- Creative Partnerships
- Zero-Party Strategies

At the 10th edition of MediaPost's long-running D2C Brand Insider Summit, we lean into the next playbook for how to do more with less and provide value.
 

Conference Content Programmer

Steve Smith, Editorial Director, Events, MediaPost

Event Details Previous Events

Some attendees of this event include:

Reasons and Benefits of Attending

  • Unparalleled access and knowledge sharing with the leading minds in the Industry
  • Opportunity to hear from and interact with over 40 speakers who are senior level brand marketers and solution providers
  • Be part of driving the Channel forward as a key component of marketing campaigns, within your company and the industry
  • Unlimited access to stay in touch with the office: WiFi enabled conference room and quiet office area; opportunities in morning to stay up to date at the office; afternoon five hour break in order to stay on top of duties
  • Congenial, relaxed experience. Attendees are working together to move the industry forward
  • Enhance your brand marketing initiatives with new solutions learned and partnerships gained
Why You Should Attend

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Sponsor Presentations

Agenda

Sunday, 10/08

6:30 PM Central
7:30 PM ET
Welcome Cocktails

Monday, 10/09

9:15 AM Central
10:15 AM ET
Sponsor Breakfast Presentation
9:35 AM Central
10:35 AM ET
Opening Remarks
MC
Steve Smith, VP, Editorial Director, Events, MediaPost 
9:45 AM Central
10:45 AM ET
Keynote
Keynote
Bruce Smith, Founder & CEO, Hydrow 
10:15 AM Central
11:15 AM ET
Panel: Maximizing Community: CRM, Loyalty, and Growing LTV
As CAC soars and brand loyalty wanes, LTV has become central to D2C growth. But what works against inflationary headwinds and brand hopping? Panelists share the tactics that are increasing loyalty and driving LTV. What role do discounts, product development and community play across different brands? How do you structure and use lifecycle and loyalty programs to drive insights for marketing and new product opportunities for growth? And what are the limits of growth through LTV, anyway?
PanelistS
Eric Bandholz, Founder, Beardbrand 
Jess Cokins, VP of Product Marketing, Thorne 
Barbara Hagen, VP, Sales and Marketing, ThriftBooks 
10:45 AM Central
11:45 AM ET
Sponsor Spotlight and Break
11:15 AM Central
12:15 PM ET
Case Study: If It Takes a Village, Then Buy One
Presenter
Gabrielle Richards, Brand Director, Trafilia Tech-Ecommerce Group 
11:35 AM Central
12:35 PM ET
Panel: Broadening the Base: Inclusive Brand Building
Embracing a diverse and inclusive marketing approach is not only a good policy but good business. Underserved demos are among the most loyal to the brands that recognize them. What is key to correctly finding and speaking to a more diverse and inclusive base both authentically and efficiently? What creative and media strategies work best?
Moderator
Gabrielle Richards, Brand Director, Trafilia Tech-Ecommerce Group 
PanelistS
Giovanna Alfieri, VP of Marketing & eCommerce, The Honey Pot Company 
Jerome Clark, Founder & CEO, In Good Conscience 
Derek Sellhausen, Retention Marketing Manager, Athletic Brewing 
11:55 AM Central
12:55 PM ET
Roundtable: Reaching Multicultural Consumers
How do you identify multi consumers in your target? Are there better ways of reaching them? Are your creative and copy different when reaching multi audiences?
11:55 AM Central
12:55 PM ET
Roundtable: Loyalty and LTV
How can you engage consumers with less perks? Are there other creative ways to keep them loyal to your brand?
2:00 PM Central
3:00 PM ET
Afternoon Activities
Brewery Tour
Pickleball
Kayak on Austin Town Lake
6:30 PM Central
7:30 PM ET
Cocktail Party
7:30 PM Central
8:30 PM ET
Dinner At World Famous Matt's El Rancho (shuttle leaves hotel at 7:30pm SHARP!!)

Tuesday, 10/10

9:15 AM Central
10:15 AM ET
Sponsor Breakfast Presentation
9:35 AM Central
10:35 AM ET
Opening Remarks
MC
Steve Smith, VP, Editorial Director, Events, MediaPost 
9:45 AM Central
10:45 AM ET
Keynote
Keynote
Stephanie Retcho, CMO, HungryRoot 
10:15 AM Central
11:15 AM ET
Rapid Response Reallocation
Panelist
Dan Williams, CRO, 3 Day Blinds 
10:25 AM Central
11:25 AM ET
Sponsor Spotlight & Coffee Break
10:55 AM Central
11:55 AM ET
Panel: Reallocation Tango: The Post-Cookie Media Plan
As platforms cut brands off from the precise ad tracking that helped build D2C, companies are diversifying their media mix, devising workarounds, opting for bigger branding efforts on CTV and even OOH and direct mail. We ask our panel to declare where, how and why they have reallocated their media budgets in the last year. What have they learned about post-cookie performance and ROAS?
PanelistS
Matt Annerino, VP, Growth, CRM & Media, Fender Musical Instruments Corporation 
Dan Williams, CRO, 3 Day Blinds 
11:25 AM Central
12:25 PM ET
Case Study: Creative Partnerships and Sharing Data Interchangeably
Customer acquisition through brand partnerships, affiliate programs and co-branding is trending. But what does it take to work? How are audiences and affinities best aligned, and what does it take to execute this well?
11:45 AM Central
12:45 PM ET
Case Study: Building Zero-Party Data with Strong Customer Experience
Trust and privacy go hand in hand when consumers are considering whether to share their data with D2Cs. How can D2Cs provide strong customer experiences that build trust and in doing so also builds their zero-party data?
12:05 PM Central
1:05 PM ET
Roundtable: Creative Partnerships
How do you identify other brands to partner with? What types of data are shared between D2Cs? How is your team structured for these campaigns?
12:05 PM Central
1:05 PM ET
Roundtable: Post-Cookie Customer Acquisition
What is the media and partnership strategy now as cookies crumble and CTV as well as social media costs climb?
2:00 PM Central
3:00 PM ET
Afternoon Activities
Axe Throwing at Urban Axes
Cruise on Lake Austin
Golf at River Place Country Club
6:30 PM Central
7:30 PM ET
Cocktail Party
7:30 PM Central
8:30 PM ET
Dinner

Wednesday, 10/11

8:45 AM Central
9:45 AM ET
Panel: The Opportunities and Challenges of Brick-and-Mortar Retail
D2Cs that were digitally native now have their products available sometimes in their own stores and/or traditional retailers. How do they balance both marketing D2C and in store? How are their teams structured to handle both?
PanelistS
Jimmy DeCicco, Co-founder, Chief Brand Officer, Super Coffee 
Collier Hammons, Director of Growth Marketing, Removery 
Jennifer Peters, DTC Manager, Olly 
9:15 AM Central
10:15 AM ET
Case Study on Wholesale to B2B Audiences
D2Cs have moved into wholesale to reach B2B audiences. These audiences can be very profitable and can also help expose your brand to that business's consumers. A few digital platforms have enabled D2Cs to sell wholesale. How do D2Cs set up their products for success on these platforms? How can they establish good relationships with both platforms and their B2B audiences? Do they use different marketing channels to reach them?
Presenter
Nicolas Lukac, Director. Emerging Channels, Brooklinen 
9:45 AM Central
10:45 AM ET
Panel: Did You See That Ad?: Messaging the Breaks Through the Clutter
We close the D2C Brand Insider Summit with Show and Tell. We ask several of our D2C brands to share examples of creative ads that have broken through and tell us how and why it worked.
PanelistS
Joe Anhalt, VP of Marketing, KOIO 
KC Simmons, Senior Digital Marketing Manager, Quiksilver 

Featured Speakers

Giovanna Alfieri

The Honey Pot Company
VP of Marketing & eCommerce

Joe Anhalt

KOIO
VP of Marketing

Eric Bandholz

Beardbrand
Founder

Jess Cokins

Thorne
VP of Product Marketing

Jimmy DeCicco

Super Coffee
Co-founder, Chief Brand Officer

Barbara Hagen

ThriftBooks
VP, Sales and Marketing

Collier Hammons

Removery
Director of Growth Marketing

Nicolas Lukac

Brooklinen
Director. Emerging Channels

Jennifer Peters

Olly
DTC Manager

Stephanie Retcho

HungryRoot
CMO

Gabrielle Richards

Trafilia Tech-Ecommerce Group
Brand Director

KC Simmons

Quiksilver
Senior Digital Marketing Manager

Bruce Smith

Hydrow
Founder & CEO

Matt Annerino

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation
VP, Growth, CRM & Media

Jerome Clark

In Good Conscience
Founder & CEO

Kevin Lao

MNTN
Managing VP, Mid-Market Sales

Derek Sellhausen

Athletic Brewing
Retention Marketing Manager

Steve Smith

MediaPost
VP, Editorial Director, Events

Dan Williams

3 Day Blinds
CRO

View All SpeakersSpeaker Proposal Form

Activities

Monday 2 p.m.

Brewery Tour

Join fellow summit attendees aboard Austin’s only concert on wheels! The Twisted Texas Tour bus features a local band riding on board, providing the jams for a good time as we visit THREE local breweries. At each of the breweries, they will serve up local craft brews. You’ll get to try seasonal releases and small batch brews not found anywhere else. Your tour guide will also give a little information about the local craft beer scene and the brews on tap.

Monday 2 p.m.

Pickleball

Join fellow Summiters for the hottest new social and athletic activity - Pickleball!  Paddles, refreshments and good times all made available at this great facility.

Monday 2 p.m.

Kayak on Austin Town Lake

Experience the scenic and beautiful Austin from the unique perspective of your kayak on this 2-hour tour.  Paddle along and discover some of Austin's great landmarks, including Barton Springs, the Congress Avenue Bridge (famous for its 2 million bats), the Stevie Ray Vaughan statue, and the Austin boardwalk. The tour is a mix of history, new landmarks in the expanding Austin skyline and we also include a little information about the wildlife in the area.




Tuesday 2 p.m.

Axe Throwing at Urban Axes

Join fellow summit attendees at Urban Axes for a fun afternoon. The sport of axe throwing was invented about 5 minutes after the first axe was created, however it was traditionally undertaken in the outdoors, far away from urban environments. Our aim is to take axe throwing out of the woods and into the bright lights of the big city, by presenting you with ... Urban Axe Throwing!

Tuesday 2 p.m.

Cruise on Lake Austin

Enjoy the beauty of Lake Austin and its surroundings on this fun and scenic cruise. Located just minutes from downtown, what it lacks in size, it makes up for in proximity and charm.  You’ll see tons of multi-million dollar homes, the famous 360/Pennybacker bridge and Austin Country Club, site of the annual Dell Match Play golf tournament each spring.  Refreshments and great networking abound with your fellow Summiters.  A memorable excursion, for sure!

Tuesday 2 p.m.

Golf at River Place Country Club

Over 6,600 yards of rolling hills, twisting creeks and rocky canyons comprise this memorable and challenging golf course. The course was originally opened in 1984, with a redesign in 1995 through the combined efforts of Tom Kite and Roy Bechtol. The championship design, as well as one of Austin's premier Hill Country settings, makes this golf course a truly spectacular gem.



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Venue

The Otis Hotel Austin, Autograph Collection
1901 San Antonio St
Austin, Texas, 78705

As the first Autograph Collection Hotel in Austin, The Otis Hotel is the educated choice in the bustling Campus District just one block from the University of Texas. The Otis believes that life should be an adventure in elevated living by offering easygoing luxury. Boutique guest rooms feature nods to Austin's history as The Live Music Capital of the World as well as the neighboring university with in-room vinyl record players and more vintage schoolroom touches.
Booking your Room at The Otis Hotel

To secure a room for MediaPost's Brand Insider Summit D2C, you MUST be a registered attendee of the 3-day conference. If you ARE NOT registered in our event system you will NOT be able to retain any reserved room under our discount booking link below. Any reservations made WITHOUT event registration will be revoked. If you haven't done so yet, you may register for the event here.

To book your discounted room at The Otis Hotel, go to:
https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=1689788305515&key=GRP&app=resvlink

This discounted room block will EXPIRE on FRIDAY, 9/22/23!!

If your room is not booked by this time, you will run the risk of prices increasing and hotel inventory becoming unavailable, so please book as soon as possible.

 

The Otis Hotel Austin, Autograph Collection

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Speaker Consideration

For speaker consideration please complete the speaker proposal form. Due to the high volume of speaker proposals that we receive we will only be able to notify those whose proposals have been selected. All proposals must go through this form, no exceptions. Do not contact other MediaPost representatives regarding speaker opportunities.

Sponsorships

For questions regarding sponsorship of this event please contact Seth Oilman, SVP, Chief Revenue Officer at seth@mediapost.com.

Press

For press inquiries, please contact Ken Fadner at ken@mediapost.com.

General

For general summit inquiries please contact Maya Abulashvili, Coordinator of Events and Conferences at maya@mediapost.com.

VIP Program

For questions about or to apply to the VIP Program please contact Kevin Massa, Manager of Brand & Agency Relations at massa@mediapost.com.

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MediaPost strives for excellence in its coverage of media, marketing and advertising. Our mission is to critically engage key questions for brand marketers, media buyers, sellers and emerging platforms. We choose speakers exclusively for their ability to bring perspective and insight to our stage. All conferences are programmed by proven, expert, unbiased journalists. MediaPost has never and will never engage in "pay to play" conferencing.