Me-too brands have cluttered and confused the DTC eyewear marketplace in recent years. But EyeBuyDirect was one of the original entrants, founded in 2006. To meet these market challenges, the company recently went through a major rebranding effort around the themes of self-expression and individuality. Brand Director Jim Merk joins us this week to explain how this repositioning and image makeover evolved out of a classic conundrum for DTC brands: Sales success and growth outstripping brand recognition. Jim himself has been in the DTC for a number of years. He joined EyeBuyDirect two years ago, after a long tour of …

Denise Vitola's very title at Bayer tells you a lot about the changes at work in OTC healthcare marketing. She is VP of Brand Integration, PR, Social and Influencer, Consumer Health. The company has launched and led a range of new products using principally digital channels and especially by coordinating influencer, paid social and PR efforts all at once. Denise is a veteran of PR and marketing as well as a health coach and social influencer herself.

When it comes to celebrity-aligned brands, they don't get any wilder than Tyson 2.0. The former heavyweight boxing champ likes his weed, and he has formed a company and brand around that passion. Tyson 2.0 produces a full range of flowers, pre-rolls, edibles, and vapes that are distributed at dispensaries nationwide. And they don't mind having fun with it. Tyson himself likes lighting up for video shoots. And the Mike's Bites line of edibles comes in the shape of a bitten ear, a direct reference to Tyson's infamous "Bite Fight" bout with Evander Holyfield in 1997, when Mike literally took …