How These 8 & 9-Figure Brands Are Winning in 2025

Your weekly dose of growth marketing news & tactics for DTC brands.

Author

Brian Roisentul
July 23, 2025

Welcome to this issue of The DTC Insider newsletter. 👋

We strive to deliver the latest growth marketing news and trends in the DTC space straight to your inbox every Wednesday.

Do you enjoy reading this newsletter? It'd mean the world to me if you could leave a review here.

Let's dive in!

Topics we'll cover today:
💠 How 8 & 9-Figure Brands Are Winning in 2025
💠 I Have a New Best Friend (But It's Not a Human)
💠 Building a Golf Brand for Everyday Players

How These 8 & 9-Figure Brands Are Winning in 2025

By now you know...

Meta costs are up.
Margins are getting squeezed.
AI is changing everything. 

All true.

But here’s the thing...

The best brands I’ve interviewed this year aren’t stuck.
They’re growing.

Here’s exactly what they’re doing differently, straight from my recent podcast interviews with the founders at BRĒZ, Portland Leather Goods, Born Primitive, Black Rifle Coffee, and Montana Knife Co.

1. They’re Not “Surviving” Meta → They’re Outgrowing It

They’re not panicking over ROAS drops.

They’re building multi-channel engines that print customers — and stack profits:

→ BRĒZ scaled AppLovin to $20K+/day, and expects $50K/day in 3 months. It’s already outpacing Meta for them.

→ Montana Knife Co. relied heavily on email and SMS, building a list before they had inventory. Now their product drops sell out in minutes.

→ Black Rifle Coffee doesn’t just spend on ads, they run it like an entertainment company (their words): scripted content, humor, influencers, distribution across every platform.

→ Born Primitive takes a hybrid approach: strong Meta fundamentals + deep organic + tight control of MER + community-based creative.

 

❝

“We use Meta. But we’re not dependent on Meta. Each channel has a purpose, some for CAC, some for LTV, some for trust.” - multiple founders, said differently, but same idea.

 

2. They Built for LTV from Day One

The brands scaling the fastest aren’t scrambling to fix retention now, they designed for it from the start:

→ BRĒZ launched as subscription-first. High AOV, excellent margins, recurring product use = retention flywheel.

→ Born Primitive built an emotional connection with customers who share their values (patriotism, performance, resilience). Their LTV shows it.

→ Portland Leather makes everything in-house. That means higher quality → higher retention → better margin → better ads. Rinse, repeat.

→ Montana Knife Co. only sells what they believe in, and when it’s gone, it’s gone. That scarcity model + loyalty = reorders for life.

Bonus: All of them are obsessed with MER (Media Efficiency Ratio), not just ROAS.

❝

“If you know your LTV and AOV, you can scale while others panic.” - Aaron Nosbisch, BRĒZ

3. Retail Isn’t a Panic Button → It’s a Power Move

Here’s what most brands get wrong:

They treat retail as an extension of DTC.
The great ones treat it like its own game, and they enter with leverage. 

→ BRĒZ built massive DTC demand first, then launched into Total Wine, sent 1 email, and stores sold out in 24 hours.

→ Born Primitive went retail after building a rabid fanbase online.

→ Portland Leather has scaled in-store presence smartly, but always with the brand in control, never as a band-aid for weak online sales.

The key takeaway?

They use DTC to test, scale, and build brand equity.
Then they bring that firepower into retail and win shelf space with proof.

 

4. They Build Teams Like High-Trust Navy SEAL Units 

They’re not hiring to “fill seats.”

They’re hiring to win with small teams that punch above their weight:

→ BRĒZ grew to $28M with a 30-person team, most of whom are A-players hired for autonomous execution.

→ Montana Knife Co. runs lean, but every person knows the mission, the metrics, and their part in the system.

→ Portland Leather hires people they actually like working with. That creates better collaboration, fewer silos, and more energy.

→ Black Rifle Coffee built an internal “writer’s room” like a content studio, full of people who get the brand voice and execute like pros. 

They’re not scaling with bloated org charts.
They’re scaling with clarity, ownership, and fast decisions.

 

5. Why AOV Is the Metric to Scale in 2025

Here’s what the top operators know:

If you can raise your AOV by $10, you can outbid your competitors. 
And in a world where CPMs are up 20–40% YoY, that matters.

→ BREZ is obsessed with AOV. They’ve designed their pricing, bundles, and subscription flow to push it up relentlessly.

→ Portland Leather uses product design (limited colors, drop scarcity) to increase cart size.

→ Black Rifle Coffee upsells subscriptions, apparel, and exclusive blends — and bundles them all in a Shopify cart that feels like a curated mission.

AOV is leverage.

If you don’t have it, your CAC ceiling is low.
If you do? You can scale healthier. 

If you need help to scale more profitably, you don't need to:
→ Spend more
→ Create 100 ads
→ Or do a rebranding 

You just need to find misalignments between your marketing and customer behavior. 

How does it work?
Look at the examples I put together in this mini-guide.

Don't have time to read that guide and just wanted to get it done?
Book a call with me and let's see how we can help you.

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I Have a New Best Friend (But It's Not a Human)

Before you call me crazy...

(Ok, you can call me crazy. 😅)

I'm obsessed with this relatively new Shopify feature.

Because I don't need to browse through reports anymore.
I just...chat. 

So, if you're tired of spending hours digging through Shopify reports or spreadsheets to find actionable data, this is for you.

A few months ago, Shopify launched Sidekick.
Think ChatGPT, but plugged into your store. 

Since it came out, I was blown away.

If you'd rather watch me show you how it works, you can do that here.

First, I started with some basic questions:
⤷ “What’s our revenue over the last 12 months?” → boom, chart + full breakdown.
⤷ “Best-selling products?” → easy.

Then, I got creative:
⤷ “What’s our 3-month LTV?”
⤷ “What’s the average time between 1st and 2nd order?”
⤷ “What products are often bought with the best-sellers?”
⤷ “What % of orders came from subscribers in the last 90 days?” 

Yes, it answered all of that.

Even cooler?

I asked Sidekick for a 7-day performance report.

It gave me trends + insights + action steps.

You can even ask it:
“Why are sales dropping?”
“What’s the biggest bottleneck?”
“Which products are underperforming?”

It’s wild how much “hidden” data Sidekick can dig up for you.

And if you want help making sense of the data + a custom 90-day plan to grow (or get out of a plateau), you know where to find us. 😉 

(Actually, just in case you don't, you can do it here 😅)

--
Follow me on LinkedIn for more growth marketing content in the e-commerce space.

Building a Golf Brand for Everyday Players

For this brand, going international is not a goal…it’s a reality.

In this episode of The DTC Insider podcast, Brian Roisentul sat down with Jordan Lunetta, founder of ODIN Golf.

Check it out 👇

We discussed:
👉 Jordan's Background in Tech and Transition to Golf
👉 Cultural Differences: US vs. Europe
👉 Exploring the Importance of Travel and Perspective
👉 Navigating Business in Europe: Insights for American Brands
👉 Localization Challenges in European Markets
👉 Identifying Key Markets in Europe for Business
👉 Building Community Beyond Products
👉 Creating Unique Experiences for Customers
👉 Engaging Customers Through Events

Tune in:

📺 YouTube
🎙️ Spotify
🍏 Apple
🌐 Website

More episodes our listeners love:

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About The Writer

Brian Roisentul is the founder & CEO of BSR Digital, a growth marketing agency he started in 2013 to help e-commerce brands unlock hidden revenue by identifying misalignments between their marketing and customer behavior. He is also the host of The DTC Insider podcast, where he interviews thought leaders, founders, and directors in the e-commerce space.