Translating Cross-brand Knowledge Into Wins | Jennifer Peters | OLLY
Honest Ecommerce · with Jennifer Peters · December 1, 2025 · 29 min
Summary
Jennifer Peters, Director of DTC at OLLY (a Unilever brand), shares how OLLY leverages its DTC channel not just for sales, but as a critical hub for customer insights, loyalty, and experimentation. She emphasizes that while Amazon excels at transactions, a brand's own DTC site is invaluable for building direct relationships, gathering first-party data, and testing innovative customer experiences that inform strategies across all sales channels. This episode is a must-listen for brands looking to maximize the strategic value of their DTC presence beyond pure revenue.
Key takeaways
Don't just chase aesthetics; prioritize conversion. Design decisions should be data-driven, focusing on customer behavior and what truly motivates purchases, rather than just what looks good.
Utilize your DTC channel as a "learning lab" to gather first-party customer data and understand consumption patterns. These insights are invaluable and can be applied across all sales channels, including retail and marketplaces.
Invest in personalized customer experiences and "surprise and delight" moments on your DTC platform. These build loyalty and provide differentiation that larger marketplaces like Amazon cannot offer.
Agencies offer diverse problem-solving experience due to exposure to many brands, which can be a valuable asset. Brand-side roles offer deeper focus but risk stagnation without external stimulation like freelancing.
Proactively seek and adopt new marketing technologies (MarTech) that can serve multiple departments within your company. Being at the forefront of tech adoption can optimize investments and improve overall business functions.
On this episode of Honest Ecommerce, we have Jennifer Peters. She is the Director of Direct to Consumer, Martech, and Digital Compliance at OLLY, a Unilever brand. We talk about using D2C as a customer learning engine, reviving traditional marketing with modern tech, Focusing on product value over flashy design, and so much more!
Don't just chase aesthetics; prioritize conversion. Design decisions should be data-driven, focusing on customer behavior and what truly motivates purchases, rather than just what looks good.
What does this episode say about conversion & cro?
Utilize your DTC channel as a "learning lab" to gather first-party customer data and understand consumption patterns. These insights are invaluable and can be applied across all sales channels, including retail and marketplaces.
What does this episode say about customer retention?
Invest in personalized customer experiences and "surprise and delight" moments on your DTC platform. These build loyalty and provide differentiation that larger marketplaces like Amazon cannot offer.
What does this episode say about analytics & attribution?
Agencies offer diverse problem-solving experience due to exposure to many brands, which can be a valuable asset. Brand-side roles offer deeper focus but risk stagnation without external stimulation like freelancing.
What does this episode say about dtc strategy?
Proactively seek and adopt new marketing technologies (MarTech) that can serve multiple departments within your company. Being at the forefront of tech adoption can optimize investments and improve overall business functions.
