In this episode of Chew on This, Ron, Ash, and Ankit discuss their goals and predictions for e-comm in 2025. Key themes include the increasing difficulty of relying solely on paid advertising (especially on Meta), the necessity for product innovation and uniqueness to stand out in saturated markets, the growing importance of building an owned audience through creator collaborations and “building in public,” and the need for higher margins to support more diversified marketing strategies. They also touch on the challenges posed by evolving advertising platforms like TikTok Shop and Meta’s changing policies regarding health and wellness brands.
📈 Increased Difficulty of Paid Advertising: The founders emphasize the rising cost and diminishing returns of paid advertising, especially in saturated markets like supplements. They highlight the need to diversify marketing strategies and build owned audiences.
💡 Product Innovation is Key: Brands must prioritize unique, proprietary, and high-value products to differentiate themselves. The era of easily marketing commoditized goods is over. Significant investment in R&D is crucial.
🤝 Creator Economy Dominance: Leveraging creators and influencers to build brand awareness and reach target audiences is paramount. “Building in public” and cultivating an owned audience are essential for long-term success.
📊 Platform Diversification: The discussion emphasizes the need to move beyond reliance on Meta and explore other channels like AppLovin, YouTube, and Pinterest, while acknowledging the challenges and costs associated with each.
🤔 Evolving Platform Policies: Meta’s tightening policies on health and wellness advertising, particularly regarding targeting specific medical conditions, present significant challenges for brands in this sector.
0:00 - Intro
1:51 - Creating convenient and consumable products
3:11 - Brand differentiation in saturated markets
4:17 - Product uniqueness is essential for success
5:29 - Innovating to stand out in 2025
7:10 - Channel influence on consumer trends
9:31 - Changed prerequisites for launching a product
12:02 - Differentiation is crucial as competition increases
19:02 - Adapting to market changes and consumer behavior
22:19 - Differences in advertising algorithms
23:34 - Effectiveness and evolution of advertising channels
25:07 - Measuring the impact of advertising on revenue
29:30 - Recommendations for diversifying advertising strategies
31:02 - Targeting specific medical conditions in advertising
35:06 - Balance between safety and usefulness in content
37:15 - Producing quality products and unique marketing strategies
39:01 - Evolution of knowledge access and learning methods
41:30 - Final chews
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Ron Shah - https://twitter.com/obviceo
Ash Melwani - https://twitter.com/ashvinmelwani
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