Hope the new year’s going well.
Has anyone settled on their New Year resolutions yet, or are they still a work in progress?
We know your calendar is already filling up. Everyone’s got an event, a workshop, a must-attend something. So here’s our pitch for why a Deep Dive should make the cut.
Each session is built around a specific growth moment brands are facing right now, whether that’s retention getting harder, scaling without burning budget, preparing for peak, or planning ahead with confidence.
We don’t want to focus on the theory, so instead we want to show how these challenges are actually being solved inside growing DTC teams today.
12 February | Central London | Retention and acquisition (only 2 slots left!)
4 June | Central London | Scaling smarter
16 July | Central London | Preparing for peak
12 November | Central London | Annual planning
Each Deep Dive is designed to give you something genuinely useful to take back to your team. A full day away from Slack, and allow you to focus on what matters most for your next stage of growth.
You’ll have structured sessions, open discussion, and proper breaks throughout the day, with breakfast to start and a high end lunch at one of central London’s best venues, giving plenty of space for conversations beyond the agenda.
You will:
It’s all hosted in a high end central London setting, with a proper lunch included, because good conversations deserve more than a rushed sandwich.
If growth is on the agenda this year, we think yes.
Book your place here...
12 February | Retention and acquisition
See you there.
If you’ve ever left a DTC Live event (or just finished a busy week at work) buzzing with ideas, then open your laptop on Monday and think… cool, but how do I actually implement any of this, this is for you.
The DTC Live Community Platform, sponsored by Brightpearl by Sage, is where the conversations continue between events, and where the real work happens. It’s built for brands who want honest answers, real examples, and people who actually get what it’s like to grow a brand in the current market.
Most brand teams don’t need more content ideas but rather, need clarity and sometimes, somewhere to vent.
So it’s designed around three things:
1) Fast answers to real problems Retention dipping, paid performance wobbling, ops getting messy, post it and get input from people who’ve been there.
2) Practical learning you can actually use Not theory. Not “10 trends for 2030”. More like:
3) Better connections, without the awkwardness You’ll meet the right people based on what you’re working on.
Sign up to the platform here.
Brand is one of those words everyone uses, but half the time we’re all talking about different things.
Some people hear “brand” and think of colours, fonts, and tone of voice. The bits you can see.
But Suze Dowling from Pattern Brands told her her take on branding when she joined us on stage, joined us at DTC Live NYC.
“So often people think about your brand and they think, ‘Oh, it’s my color palette. It’s my tone of voice.’ No, it’s not.”
Your brand is the DNA of who you are and why you exist in the world, and it’s the framework in which you show up. So it's as much an operating system as it is kind of a core strategic document that you begin with.”
That mindset is exactly how Pattern runs its portfolio.
“We are a portfolio of brands. We decided one brand wasn’t enough. Let’s operate seven brands under one team, one roof. We have one cap table model and operate all seven brands with the mission of helping people enjoy daily life.”
Suze also touched on something founders feel as they grow. Although your story matters, the brand can’t stay welded to you forever.
“I think you are not your brand, but it is certainly helpful. Your brand itself should be its own person. Your brand can grow and evolve with time. Your brand shouldn’t be a stagnant being.”
When it comes to what Pattern looks for, it’s simple:
“We’re selling physical products. You can’t sell something that’s a little crappy. Like again, you’re going to lose customer trust.”
“Finances. We need to be able to make money here and so this is something where your unit economics are everything”
“The most valuable thing that you own is that relationship and is your customer file.
"So I look at the engagement of the customer file and I look at the community around that…”
And her advice for what to invest in early was refreshingly doable.
“I think first and foremost understanding your customer. And that’s something that doesn’t cost money. The best thing is to jump on a call with them. I literally to this day will do weekly calls with customers to deep dive into what’s going on in their lives.”
One warning she didn’t sugarcoat:
“Don’t trust someone that says, ‘Oh, it’s going to be fixed in production.’ It cost me literally hundreds of thousands of dollars. And also it eroded the customer trust.”
And finally, the marketing tip that made everyone laugh,
“With paid, I will say we love an ugly ad. But I just mean it’s an ad that you think I can’t see that. Guess what, that's going to be the top performer and top scaler.”
If you’re building right now, treat your brand like the operating system, not the aesthetic and the rest gets easier to scale.
We’re excited to share that the very first DTC Live Magazine is officially in design and launching mid February.
This isn’t a quick-read, hot-take-heavy publication. It’s been created for founders, Heads of E-commerce and senior marketers who want thoughtful insight, practical frameworks and honest conversations, not surface-level commentary.
Inside the first issue, you’ll find long-form editorial on how retail is evolving, sustainability in e-commerce and platform strategy, alongside expert playbooks and founder interviews that go deeper than the LinkedIn carousel version.
Everything is designed to be read, kept and shared, not skimmed and forgotten.
To mark the launch, we’re releasing the first 750 copies completely free to brands, first come, first served.
This has been in the works for a while. It was nearly something for 2025, but sometimes good things really do come to those who wait.
Seeing it now, fully designed and ready to launch, feels genuinely exciting. It’s been shaped carefully to feel intentional, editorial, and genuinely useful to the community.
Seeing it now, fully designed and ready to launch, has been genuinely exciting. It’s been shaped carefully from the start to feel intentional, editorial and genuinely useful to the community.
The magazine brings together reports, interviews and playbooks into one cohesive issue, shaped around the realities of building and scaling brands right now.
One of the standout features is Meet the Women Who Are Redefining DTC, a collection of honest, generous founder conversations with Grace Fodor (Studio10), Lizzie Carter (Only Curls), Lune M. (Monday Muse), Daisy Kelly (Glow For It), Aine Kilkenny (Riley), Giorgia Granata (Wype), Rima Suppan (Peachies), Gillian Quek (Caboodle), Lucie Macleod (Hair Syrup) and Jade Robertson (Little Lies).
We’ve also included in-depth founder interviews with Alex Stark (Ogee) and Joe Jaques (Jaques of London), digging into growth, decision-making and what building a brand really looks like behind the scenes.
This first issue is our way of bringing the DTC Live community to life on the page. The conversations, challenges, and lessons we hear every day, captured in a format designed to last a little longer.
The first 750 copies will be available free to brands, first come, first served. If you’d like a copy, you can register your interest here.
