As our unofficial “shadow guest”, Taylor Holiday, CEO of Common Thread Collective, finally joins us to unpack what growing a brand actually looks like in 2025. From shifting Meta performance and rising creative demands to tighter margins and changing consumer behavior, we explore the real constraints shaping how brands operate today.
We talk about how the best brands are adjusting their messaging to drive performance, how to think about media spend through a margin-first lens, and why bundling, offer structure, and disciplined execution are more important than ever.
Taylor also shares his take on the evolving balance between brand and product-led growth, how to think about testing in a high-cost environment, and why most teams of the future will look leaner, faster, and increasingly AI-powered.
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00:00 Introduction
04:08 E-commerce Challenges and Growth Strategies
11:08 Navigating Meta's Advertising Landscape
18:14 Optimizing for Incrementality and Brand Engagement
25:21 The Role of Brand Activations and Measurement
37:44 Unlocking New Reach in Marketing
40:05 The Short-Term Impact of Advertising
43:39 Balancing Brand and Performance Marketing
46:24 Evolving Marketing Strategies for Growth
49:19 The Role of Creative Campaigns in Business Growth
53:08 The Future of Marketing and AI Integration
01:00:09 The Changing Landscape of Creative Development
01:05:42 The Role of Humans in an AI-Driven World
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