The Dirty Secret of eCommerce Growth: Everyone Is Copying Everyone With Cherene Aubert
Up Arrow Podcast
· with Cherene Aubert
· February 17, 2026
· 77 min
Summary
This episode reveals why mirroring competitor strategies leads to growth plateaus and diluted brand identity for ecommerce businesses. Cherene Aubert from Growth Capital argues that sustainable growth stems from deep customer understanding, original creative approaches, and investing in a full-funnel strategy rather than chasing short-term conversion hacks. This is crucial for ecommerce operators looking to differentiate and build lasting brands.
Key takeaways
Shift your team’s focus from obsessing over competitors to deeply understanding your customers to avoid generic marketing and foster long-term differentiation.
Implement a full-funnel content strategy, investing in both upper- and mid-funnel content to generate demand and cultivate future buyers, rather than solely focusing on bottom-funnel conversions.
Redefine quality messaging through the unique lens of your customer’s perceived value to improve resonance and conversion without relying on discounts.
Grant creative teams autonomy and space for experimentation to foster original ideas and culturally relevant campaigns that build memorable brand experiences.
Strategically invest in diverse channels where your target customers spend their time, understanding that not every touchpoint leads to immediate ROI but contributes to long-term brand familiarity and trust.
Cherene Aubert is the CEO of Growth Capital, a growth marketing firm that scales consumer brands. As a seasoned e-commerce and digital growth leader, she has nearly two decades of experience scaling DTC brands and managing media investments across multiple high-growth companies. Before Growth Capital, Cherene was the Fractional SVP of Digital & eCommerce at ILIA Beauty, where she drove omnichannel digital strategy for a rapidly growing clean beauty brand. In this episode… Marketing has become automated and identical across companies. Brands chase the same ads, channels, and short-term wins, only to discover that growth stalls and loyalty disappears. How can you build something memorable and scale without losing trust? The way forward starts with obsessing over customers, not competitors. As a growth and e-commerce leader, Cherene Aubert maintains that brands should use customer insights — from ad data to conversations — to guide creative strategy, redefine quality as value for the customer, and invest in full-funnel thinking. This requires originality, emotional resonance, and the space for creative teams to build long-term demand rather than quick conversions. In this episode of the Up Arrow Podcast, William Harris sits down with Cherene Aubert, CEO of Growth Capital, to discuss how brands can escape the marketing echo chamber. Cherene explains why copying competitors backfires, how full-funnel content drives sustainable growth, and how premium and beauty brands can stay culturally relevant.
Shift your team’s focus from obsessing over competitors to deeply understanding your customers to avoid generic marketing and foster long-term differentiation.
What does this episode say about brand & content?
Implement a full-funnel content strategy, investing in both upper- and mid-funnel content to generate demand and cultivate future buyers, rather than solely focusing on bottom-funnel conversions.
What does this episode say about paid acquisition?
Redefine quality messaging through the unique lens of your customer’s perceived value to improve resonance and conversion without relying on discounts.
What does this episode say about customer retention?
Grant creative teams autonomy and space for experimentation to foster original ideas and culturally relevant campaigns that build memorable brand experiences.
What does this episode say about dtc strategy?
Strategically invest in diverse channels where your target customers spend their time, understanding that not every touchpoint leads to immediate ROI but contributes to long-term brand familiarity and trust.
