Ugly Talk partnered with New Edition and Shopify to host an engaging 60-minute panel discussion reflecting on the biggest commerce trends of 2024. The event featured leading founders and executives who shared their experiences, wins, lessons learned, and the strategies they plan to double down on in the coming year.
The panel included Sahand Dilmaghani, CEO and founder of Terra Kaffe; Lauren Melzer, Sr. Director of eCommerce at Bubble Skincare; and Olivia Landau, CEO and founder of The Clear Cut. Brandon Blum, CEO and founder of New Edition and lifestyle apparel brand For Others, moderated the discussion.
From resilience in growth to the power of community-driven marketing, here is what we learned from Ugly Talk: The Growth Blueprint @ Shopify NY
1. Growth Requires Adaptability & Resilience
Every founder on the panel shared stories of near-failures, pivots, and unexpected challenges—whether it was navigating funding difficulties, shifts in consumer behavior, or rising acquisition costs. The key to success? Staying adaptable and resilient.
For Terra Kaffe, gifting became a growth driver, but early-stage brands often face a major hurdle: influencers charging high fees for promotions. The solution? Building relationships early and being strategic about spending. Sahand emphasized the importance of being forward-thinking and agile when weighing opportunities.
The takeaway: Growth isn’t linear, and the best founders are those who remain nimble, strategic, and willing to pivot when necessary.
2. Succeeding in Retail Requires More Than Just Getting In
Securing a retail deal is an achievement, but true success requires continuous investment. Bubble Skincare’s expansion into Target significantly boosted its visibility and accessibility, but Lauren explained that retail success isn’t just about placement—it’s about support.
Bubble fuels retail sales by investing in content and paid ads to create awareness so that when consumers see their products in stores, they already recognize them. Additionally, they allocate significant effort toward trade promotions, eye-catching in-store displays, and endcaps to stand out in retail spaces.
For Terra Kaffe, retail dominance means equipping sales associates with the right training to effectively tell the brand’s story. Many consumers buy this high-ticket item in-store due to pricing considerations, making it crucial that retail partners understand and articulate key differentiators.
The takeaway: Getting into major retailers is just the beginning—continuous marketing, promotions, and in-store activations are necessary to sustain momentum.
3. Community & Word-of-Mouth Fuel Sustainable Growth
Paid ads can drive traffic, but organic referrals and community engagement build lasting trust and brand equity.
For The Clear Cut, engagement rings naturally spark social sharing. Customers eagerly post engagement photos and proposal stories, which the brand features across Instagram, their blog, and other platforms such as Clear Cut Couples. This creates a ripple effect—friends and followers see these stories, discover The Clear Cut, and may become future customers.
Terra Kaffe found that 25–33% of their customers come from word-of-mouth. Recognizing this, they’ve doubled on community investments, ensuring every machine owner feels directly connected to the brand. They actively listen to their customers—so much so that when one loyal fan built excitement around a specific coffee formulation in online forums, Terra Kaffe named a product after him: Dave’s Drip. They even sent him a personalized mug to celebrate.
The takeaway: Community-driven marketing builds credibility, loyalty, and organic growth—advantages that paid ads alone can’t replicate.
4. Diversifying Marketing Strategies is Essential
While paid media remains essential, over-reliance on it can be risky. The panelists emphasized the need for a diversified marketing approach, incorporating organic content, PR, experiential marketing, and direct engagement strategies.
The Clear Cut, for example, has not depended heavily on paid media. Instead, they have prioritized PR, which has landed them features in major publications like Forbes, Vogue, Business Insider, TechCrunch, and The New York Times.
Lauren from Bubble Skincare highlighted the power of organic content, noting that one of their most viral TikTok videos—garnering 20 million views—was just four seconds long and took minimal effort to create. Meanwhile, highly produced campaigns often failed to achieve the same impact.
Additionally, Bubble fuels growth through its ambassador program. Bubble is also investing in hyper-targeted direct marketing landing pages tailored to specific communities to drive online conversions more effectively.
The takeaway: A well-rounded marketing strategy that blends organic, paid, and PR efforts leads to more sustainable and cost-effective customer acquisition.
5. Experiential & In-Person Retail Strengthen Customer Connection
For high-consideration purchases, in-person experiences and retail activations play a critical role in building customer confidence. The ability to see, touch, and experience a product in real life can dramatically improve conversion rates.
The Clear Cut has leveraged in-person experiences through its Manhattan showroom, where customers can schedule appointments to see handpicked diamonds. Even more impressively, 90% of their clients go through their virtual showroom, where they receive personalized recommendations.
Similarly, Terra Kaffe brought experiential marketing to the panel itself by hosting a live demo of their latest espresso machine. Attendees could sample coffee after the discussion, creating an immediate and tangible connection to the product.
The takeaway: In-person experiences—whether through showrooms, retail activations, or live product demos—help customers feel confident in their purchase decisions and foster deeper brand engagement.
Final Thoughts
The Ugly Talk x New Edition panel offered a compelling look at what it takes to succeed in today’s commerce landscape. The key themes—resilience, retail strategy, community building, marketing diversification, and experiential retail—will continue to shape the future of brand growth in 2025 and beyond.
For founders and marketers, the lessons are clear: Stay agile, invest in relationships, balance paid and organic marketing, and create memorable in-person experiences. As the industry evolves, those who embrace these principles will be best positioned for sustained success.
