What founder-led brands get right

Hi {{first_name|there}},

Day 1 of eTail London brought the energy—literally. PerfectTed’s matcha-fuelled rise, bold takes on brand building, and a clear shift toward people-first, performance-smart strategies set the tone for the day.

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In an energy drinks category dominated by synthetic ingredients and macho marketing, PerfectTed did the unthinkable: it launched a clean-label, matcha-powered product aimed at audiences usually ignored by the industry—women, wellness-minded Gen Zs, and neurodiverse consumers seeking calm energy over chaotic buzz.

Co-founder Levi Levenfiche took the eTail stage to break down how PerfectTed rewrote the category rules—becoming the world’s largest matcha brand and a global case study in inclusive brand building.

🏗️ 1. From coffee competitor, not matcha maker.

Buyers said “niche.” Levi saw opportunity. Instead of focusing on the matcha niche, PerfectTed positioned itself against the real incumbent: coffee. Their pitch reframed the category from “small tea trend” to “anxiety-free energy for the caffeine-fatigued.”

📈 2. Brand before shelf, story before SKU.

With no celebrity co-signs or VC-fuelled ad budgets, PerfectTed used storytelling as strategy. Their Dragons’ Den appearance (all five Dragons wanted in) became a viral media moment that still fuels their sales every rerun.

🛒 3. Make access easy—online and on shelf.

PerfectTed made matcha unavoidable. Café partnerships with Blank Street, Tesco Cafés, and Joe & the Juice introduced the product to everyday consumers—sometimes without them even realising it. “Most people who think they’ve never tried us… probably have.”

📦 4. They didn’t ride the matcha wave—they secured it.

During a global matcha shortage, PerfectTed grew. By investing in direct partnerships with 500+ Japanese farms, they locked down 25% of Japan’s matcha supply, while others scrambled for inventory. Now, competitors come to them for product.

📊 5. The real moat? Data.

PerfectTed leveraged retail and supply chain data not just for logistics—but for AI-fuelled automation. From marketing to manufacturing, the team is building in-house AI agents to scale faster, serve better, and stay lean.

Right after his keynote, we caught up with Levi for a quick chat.

🎥 Watch the interview below:

What do brands like Dr. Martens, Cult Mia, and The Sole Supplier have in common?

They’ve all mastered the messy middle between art and ROI — scaling not just with product-market fit, but with purpose, people, and platforms that actually measure what matters.

At eTail’s headline panel, leaders from the UK’s boldest challenger brands unpacked how to grow fast without going generic. Here’s what stood out:

🔥 1. Distinctive > Different.

Charlotte Ford (ex-Ruggable) put it bluntly:

In an era of brand uniformity, it’s about standing out in a feed and in a memory.

💬 2. People follow people — not logos.

From Cult Mia’s curated luxury to Moss & Noor’s niche energy, the takeaway was unanimous: founder visibility and real voices still outperform corporate gloss.

🎯 3. The best marketers think beyond conversion.

George Sullivan (The Sole Supplier) called out a big blind spot:

His point? The savviest brands know how to work with full-funnel creators — not just influencers who push product, but those who shape brand love and loyalty.

🧠 4. Instinct + data = actual strategy.
Sure, data is king. But several speakers warned against abandoning creative intuition.

Brands win when they blend hard metrics with real human understanding.

That line from Emily Rose Cole, Principal Partner at Havas Market, drew a knowing laugh—and a few frantic scribbles—from the eTail crowd. But behind the quip lies a serious challenge: brands are still measuring performance like it’s 2014.

In a joint keynote with Stephanie Rivas, Director of Media Planning & Buying at HARMAN International, the pair argued that retail’s metric obsession—ROAS, impressions, last-click attribution—is doing more harm than good. Their advice? Stop chasing vanity and start designing for real business value.

One slide said it all:
👉 “Many brands are still chasing siloed vanity metrics.”
📉 The result? A performance plateau—where returns flatten, but spend doesn’t.

At HARMAN (home to JBL and other audio brands), Rivas is steering toward agile planning, platform-first creative, and measurement frameworks that prioritise value over volume. Meanwhile, Cole championed a more human-first approach—content powered by lived experience, not just algorithmic targeting.

💡 Want a smarter way to track what matters? You might be interested in how brands are turning to Fospha to finally move beyond channel-level metrics.

Themes taking centre stage today include:
🔹 Social commerce and the power of community
🔹 Predictive analytics and CLV optimisation
🔹 Emotional branding and human-centric CRM
🔹 Creative storytelling as a growth engine

Here are a few standout sessions to keep an eye on:

ClickZ will be there, speaking with retail’s smartest voices and surfacing what really matters. Got something to say?

Thanks for reading — we’ll be back tomorrow with more fresh insights, key takeaways, and behind-the-scenes moments from the floor.

Enjoy Day 2!

Unofficially eTail London Team

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