Black Friday just got more interesting.

While most brands were bracing for skyrocketing ad costs and fierce competition, something unexpected happened during BFCM 2025—and it's reshaping how smart brands should approach next year's holiday season.

In this jam-packed episode, OMG Commerce CEO Brett Curry sits down with four of the agency's top strategists—spanning Google, YouTube, Amazon, and retention marketing—to dissect what actually worked (and what flopped) during one of the most surprising Black Friday weekends in recent memory.

You'll also get the 2026 prep checklist, including why AI is about to eliminate every excuse you have for not planning year-round promos, how to break down channel silos that are costing you sales, and the exact timing strategies that separated winners from everyone else.

Whether you crushed it this BFCM or are wondering where you went wrong, this episode gives you the data, insights, and tactical playbook to make next year your best yet.

Featured experts:

1. Bill Cover, Google & YouTube Director
2. Luba, Amazon ABM Strategist
3. Barry Bowman, Amazon Ads Specialist
4. Nick Flint, Retention Marketing Director

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Sponsored by OMG Commerce - go to (https://www.omgcommerce.com/contact) and request your FREE strategy session today!

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Chapters:

(00:00) Intro

(02:06) Meet the panel

(05:52) Google/YouTube: weekend “plateau” + CPM/CPC drops and why it happened

(08:50) Amazon: expanded event length, strong YoY, and the “off-Amazon” halo effect

(12:28) SMS surpasses email + why brands still underuse it

(13:47) What worked across all channels

(19:33) Save Money and Connect Your Marketing Channels with Channable

(20:35) Top-of-funnel and offer strategy

(24:02) What didn’t work on Amazon: skipping promos, waiting too late, and thinking margin over LTV

(27:42) Best brands vs. struggling brands

(42:22) Playbook for next year

(47:02) Channel strategy + 2026 planning

(51:00) Final thoughts: AI’s impact on creative + planning

(53:11) Fast Funding the Way You Need It with Wayflyer

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Connect With Brett:

1. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thebrettcurry/
2. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@omgcommerce
3. Website: https://www.omgcommerce.com/
4. Request a Free Strategy Session: https://www.omgcommerce.com/contact

Relevant Links:

1. Keranique: keranique.com
2. Sponsor Offer | Channable (Mention Ecommerce Evolution): https://www.channable.com/

This is a recording from AMZ Innovate 2025 in New York City. Brett Curry breaks down why YouTube is a fundamentally different growth channel than Meta, TikTok, or Amazon ads, and why most brands struggle when they treat it like “just another social platform.” He explains the four key ways people use YouTube (searching, streaming, scrolling, shopping), shares a proven creative formula to keep viewers from skipping, and walks through an Arctic case study showing measurable lift in branded search and Walmart sales. Finally, he covers why YouTube measurement often understates true performance and what to track instead (search lift, sales lift, geo holdouts, Amazon + DTC combined impact).

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Sponsored by OMG Commerce - go to (https://www.omgcommerce.com/contact) and request your FREE strategy session today!

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Chapters:

(00:12) Intro

(01:11) YouTube is the missing piece for ecommerce growth

(04:07) YouTube on CTV + why creative can’t be a direct Meta/TikTok copy

(06:50) Examples of YouTube-powered brand growth (Dr. Squash, Native, BOOM)

(10:20) Creative strategy: length, formats, and what actually converts

(11:12) The 5-part YouTube creative formula (hook → CTA)

(14:34) Creative examples breakdown (RTIC durability, Native UGC montage, OPO Pop)

(15:51) Sponsor Offer: Loop Subscriptions

(21:18) What metrics matter for creative feedback loops (view rate, watch time, clicks, CVR)

(26:01) Why YouTube under-measures + incrementality findings (House Analytics)

(28:36) The “trifecta of lift”: Amazon baseline + search lift + overall sales trend

(30:41) Sponsor: Fermat (AI-native commerce platform)

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Connect With Brett:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thebrettcurry/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@omgcommerce
• Website: https://www.omgcommerce.com/
• Request a Free Strategy Session: https://www.omgcommerce.com/contact

Relevant Links:

• Sponsor Offer | LOOP (Mention Ecommerce Evolution): https://www.loopwork.co/
• Sponsor Offer | Fermat (Mention Ecommerce Evolution): fermatcommerce.com

Past guests on eCommerce Evolution include Ezra Firestone, Steve Chou, Drew Sanocki, Jacques Spitzer, Jeremy Horowitz, Ryan Moran, Sean Frank, Andrew Youderian, Ryan McKenzie, Joseph Wilkins, Cody Wittick, Miki Agrawal, Justin Brooke, Nish Samantray, Kurt Elster, John Parkes, Chris Mercer, Rabah Rahil, Bear Handlon, JC Hite, Frederick Vallaeys, Preston Rutherford, Anthony Mink, Bill D’Allessandro, Stephane Colleu, Jeff Oxford, Bryan Porter and more

When Beav Brodie was handed his wife's purple diaper bag to carry around town, he knew something had to change. As a tattooed, custom car-building dad, that bag just didn't fit. So he did what any problem-solver would do—he grabbed his sewing machine and made his own. That side project turned into Tactical Baby Gear, a thriving eCommerce brand that's become the go-to for dads who want gear that's as functional as it is badass. In this episode, Beav shares his journey from knowing absolutely nothing about eCommerce (including what a UPC code was) to building a product line that customers trust and keep coming back for. He also pulls back the curtain on navigating the chaos of 2025—from Meta auction issues to tariff headwinds—and why he's betting big on Amazon and YouTube as his growth channels for the year ahead.

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Sponsored by OMG Commerce - go to (https://www.omgcommerce.com/contact) and request your FREE strategy session today!

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Chapters:

(00:00) Opening & Introducing Beav Brodie

(04:45) 2025 Headwinds, Tariffs & Personal Life Challenges

(08:45) Becoming a Real Operator: Systems, SOPs & Founder Mindset Shifts

(12:00) Origin Story: From Custom Cars to Tactical Baby Gear

(17:00) Manufacturing Realities: COVID, Price Creep & Moving Abroad

(24:38) Recover hidden Amazon revenue with Threecolts

(25:33) Meta Constraints & The Founder Bottleneck in Content

(29:30) UGC, Influencers & Why Authenticity Beats “Pretty” Content

(36:25) Offers, Acquisition & The Realities of Low-Repeat Categories

(42:10) Brand vs Discounts: Community, Trust & True LTV

(47:00) Channel Expansion & Product Philosophy

(50:19) PostPilot: Direct mail that prints money.

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Connect With Brett:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thebrettcurry/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@omgcommerce
• Website: https://www.omgcommerce.com/
• Request a Free Strategy Session: https://www.omgcommerce.com/contact

Relevant Links:

• Tactical Baby Gear: https://tacticalbabygear.com
• Sponsor Offer | Threecolts: http://threecolts.com
• Sponsor Offer | PostPilot: http://postpilot.com/

Past guests on eCommerce Evolution include Ezra Firestone, Steve Chou, Drew Sanocki, Jacques Spitzer, Jeremy Horowitz, Ryan Moran, Sean Frank, Andrew Youderian, Ryan McKenzie, Joseph Wilkins, Cody Wittick, Miki Agrawal, Justin Brooke, Nish Samantray, Kurt Elster, John Parkes, Chris Mercer, Rabah Rahil, Bear Handlon, JC Hite, Frederick Vallaeys, Preston Rutherford, Anthony Mink, Bill D’Allessandro, Stephane Colleu, Jeff Oxford, Bryan Porter and more