Alex Gassner is the Director of Growth and Ecommerce at The Absorption Company, a highly absorbable supplement brand. In her role, she has led website optimization, overhauled email flows, and launched paid media campaigns. Before The Absorption Company, Alex was the Director of Ecommerce at Moon Juice.

Many brands struggle to stand out in a crowded market, especially when launching a new product in a competitive industry. Beyond product quality, companies must educate consumers, build trust, and create a compelling brand story to drive conversions. How can businesses balance brand awareness, performance marketing, and consumer education to fuel long-term growth?

With businesses struggling to communicate their true value to potential customers, growth and e-commerce marketer Alex Gassner emphasizes the importance of brand trust and communication. Companies should craft compelling messaging, strategically leverage organic and paid marketing, and build a long-term strategy rather than relying solely on promotional spikes. Well-crafted narratives can differentiate companies in a saturated market, and partnering with authentic influencers can build credibility, helping to reach new audiences.

In this episode of Chief Advertiser, Samir Balwani interviews Alex Gassner, Director of Growth and Ecommerce at The Absorption Company, about building a high-impact brand. Alex talks about the challenges of launching a brand with celebrity co-founders, the importance of balancing short-term revenue tactics with long-term brand building, and how to manage agency partners and external teams.

Greg Vetter is the Founder of Home Grown Brand Accelerator, which empowers emerging entrepreneurs. He is also the former CEO of Tessemae's, which he co-founded with his brothers to bring their mother’s salad dressing recipe to market. Under Greg’s leadership, Tessemae's became the #1 organic salad dressing brand in the refrigerated aisle space. He also co-founded Alta Fresh Foods, a company revolutionizing the salad dressing industry with innovative processes, and is the author of Undressed, which recounts the challenges of building Tessemae's.

Turning a homemade recipe into a national brand is a passionate entrepreneurial endeavor, but scaling it comes with unexpected challenges. From breaking into grocery stores to navigating supply chain crises and investor disputes, the path to long-term sustainability is rarely straightforward. How do you grow a business from scratch, build brand loyalty, and handle setbacks without losing everything?

Pioneering entrepreneur Greg Vetter went from cold-calling grocery stores with no formal company to building the #1 organic salad dressing brand. He emphasizes trusting your instincts, creating authentic connections with customers, and using grassroots marketing to establish a brand. Although Greg leveraged influencer partnerships and authentic, unified storytelling to build his brand, investor conflicts ultimately led to its downfall. By remaining positive and being transparent about the realities of entrepreneurship, Greg demonstrates the importance of resilience and adaptability.

In this episode of Chief Advertiser, Samir Balwani hosts Greg Vetter, Founder of Home Grown Brand Accelerator, about the highs and lows of building a business from the ground up. Greg shares his experiences with grassroots marketing, the impact of his brand’s major advertising campaigns, and lessons from scaling a product into a national brand.

Benjamin Davis is the Founder and CEO of TryNow, which has pioneered the “try before you buy” model to improve conversion rates for eCommerce brands. Under his leadership, TryNow has raised approximately $24 million in funding. Before TryNow, Benjamin founded an apparel brand and worked in private equity.

“Try before you buy” has transformed e-commerce by reducing customer acquisition costs and improving conversion rates. Many online shoppers hesitate to purchase due to uncertainty about fit, feel, or function, leading to abandoned carts and high return rates. How can companies remove friction from the online shopping experience and increase customer lifetime value?

According to “try before you buy” frontrunner Benjamin Davis, major retailers like Amazon have already seen success with similar programs, making “try before you buy” a proven strategy for growth. These programs can integrate seamlessly with Shopify and return management systems, minimizing operational disruptions for brands. While some companies worry about higher return rates, Benjamin maintains that faster return cycles improve inventory efficiency and that the additional revenue outweighs the costs.

In today’s Chief Advertiser episode, Samir Balwani speaks with Benjamin Davis, the Founder and CEO of TryNow, about how “try before you buy” is driving the future of e-commerce and customer acquisition. Benjamin discusses how to communicate this program’s benefits to company executives, the importance of reducing reliance on paid media, and how TryNow helps brands optimize profitability while enhancing the customer experience.