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Building the ecosystem
that powers business growth.

Building the ecosystem
that powers business growth.

Building the ecosystem
that powers business growth.

Building the ecosystem
that powers business growth.

Agency

Agency

Our leading growth agency.
We scale the world's best ideas through highly effective advertising and marketing strategies.

Our leading growth agency.
We scale the world's best ideas through highly effective advertising and marketing strategies.

Agency

Our leading growth agency.
We scale the world's best ideas through highly effective advertising and marketing strategies.

Darkmatter

Our growth investment vehicle. We invest in and partner with the world's next wave of commerce innovations.

Darkmatter

Our growth investment vehicle. We invest in and partner with the world's next wave of commerce innovations.

Darkmatter

Our growth investment vehicle. We invest in and partner with the world's next wave of commerce innovations.

University

University

Our course library and knowledge center. We provide access to the ideas and frameworks that power the world's best businesses.

Our course library and knowledge center. We provide access to the ideas and frameworks that power the world's best businesses.

University

Our course library and knowledge center. We provide access to the ideas and frameworks that power the world's best businesses.

Our team has seen it all.

Key sectors of industry expertise.

Our team has seen it all.

Key sectors of industry expertise.

Fashion & Accessories

With deep roots in Fashion & Accessories, we understand the level of dedication and taste needed to cultivate an active following in the fashion space. Our expertise in performance creative, retail, and e-commerce equip us for any high-level engagement in fashion and accessories with brands like Anne Klein & Garrett Leight.


With deep roots in Fashion & Accessories, we understand the level of dedication and taste needed to cultivate an active following in the fashion space. Our expertise in performance creative, retail, and e-commerce equip us for any high-level engagement in fashion and accessories with brands like Anne Klein & Garrett Leight.

Home Furnishings

We driven integrated growth programs for many Home Furnishings companies, and have consulted on diversifying channel strategies for many of these business. Our portfolio includes some of the largest Home Furnishings brands like Crate & Barrel, Joybird, and Nourison.


We driven integrated growth programs for many Home Furnishings companies, and have consulted on diversifying channel strategies for many of these business. Our portfolio includes some of the largest Home Furnishings brands like Crate & Barrel, Joybird, and Nourison.

Technology & SaaS

We’re always looking at the next big thing in technology & SaaS and have done both agency work and strategic investment in many of them. We have close working relationships and advisory roles with brands like Triple Whale, Bezel, Medmo, Stationhead, onlife & Arch Labs.


We’re always looking at the next big thing in technology & SaaS and have done both agency work and strategic investment in many of them. We have close working relationships and advisory roles with brands like Triple Whale, Bezel, Medmo, Stationhead, onlife & Arch Labs.

Luggage & Travel

We are always on the move at Darkroom so working with Luggage & Travel brands comes naturally. We’ve done digital strategy and growth work for well-known Luggage & Travel brands like CALPAK & Found Hotels.

We are always on the move at Darkroom so working with Luggage & Travel brands comes naturally. We’ve done digital strategy and growth work for well-known Luggage & Travel brands like CALPAK & Found Hotels.

Celebrity-backed Brands

Celebrity and influencer driven brands are one of the fastest-growing sub-sectors of B2C. We have deep domain expertise and first-hand experience helping brands like Jessica Simpson Style, ZOA Energy, and Rinna Beauty launch and grow.

Celebrity and influencer driven brands are one of the fastest-growing sub-sectors of B2C. We have deep domain expertise and first-hand experience helping brands like Jessica Simpson Style, ZOA Energy, and Rinna Beauty launch and grow.

Beauty & Wellness

Over our six year tenure, we have engaged with countless Beauty & Wellness challenger brands that have reshaped CPG, skincare, and wellness. Our clients executed over 150 million in follow-on capital last year alone. Portfolio brands include Necessaire, Drip Hydration, and Bravo Sierra.



Over our six year tenure, we have engaged with countless Beauty & Wellness challenger brands that have reshaped CPG, skincare, and wellness. Our clients executed over 150 million in follow-on capital last year alone. Portfolio brands include Necessaire, Drip Hydration, and Bravo Sierra.

Consumer Packaged Goods

Our understanding of the dynamic between F&B and the impact digital media can have in driving sell-through is core to our strategies. We have had the privilege of working with top brands including Olipop, Verb Energy, VYBES, Everytable, and Popchips.



Our understanding of the dynamic between F&B and the impact digital media can have in driving sell-through is core to our strategies. We have had the privilege of working with top brands including Olipop, Verb Energy, VYBES, Everytable, and Popchips.

Hotels & Hospitality

Hospitality is one of the fastest digitizing verticals in B2C. We have developed specialized services to grow brand-driven hotels and restaurants looking for more meaningful customer relationships.


Hospitality is one of the fastest digitizing verticals in B2C. We have developed specialized services to grow brand-driven hotels and restaurants looking for more meaningful customer relationships.


Our thesis

We’re in a new

era of marketing & advertising.

We’re in a new

era of marketing &

advertising.

We’re in a new

era of marketing & advertising.

The Marketing Landscape
is Rapidly Changing...

Today, many digital marketers have a lack of creative know-how and an over-reliance on data analysis, which hampers their ability to take risks, think creatively, and deliver results for the businesses they represent. Long story short…


We’re long overdue for a serious challenge to the status quo in advertising.


It’s no secret that tumultuous economic conditions both domestically and abroad have put pressure on the end consumer. Inflation, wage changes, and ballooning consumer credit are a steady stream slowly trickling down to the bottom line of many businesses across America. The next twelve to twenty-four months are crucial for companies to adapt marketing strategies that build for resilience.


Gone are the days of unchecked advertising spend. Margin is tight. Budget is tighter. And profit is hard to come by. What we have found over the last decade is that most advertising programs are not positioned to deliver OR track profit for advertisers.

No wonder CMO tenure is the lowest it’s ever been.


The wake of this efficiency drop is creating advertising chaos for brands.


Urgent questions arise: how should we be allocating budget? What channels should we be investing in? How can we drive better efficiency? On LinkedIn and Twitter, there’s a lot of conjecture on all of these topics.


What we’ve understood about marketing teams needs to be re-thought in order to have success in today’s landscape. The old playbooks and frameworks are no longer effective. And yet everybody is still slow to change.


Marketers must challenge the assumptions created by a previous generation with vastly different market conditions. They must adapt to a new era of advertising where channel innovation is much quicker, creative is increasingly important, and competition is stiff.

At a time when there are more ways than ever before to connect, interact, and reach your customer, brands should be succeeding.

In order to do so, it’s important to first understand the history of how we got here.

The “Madison Ave” Model

(1950 — 2000)

Before, things were simpler.

The “golden age” of advertising saw the evolution of Madison Avenue, large agencies, and agency holding companies. Advertisers benefitted from a growing population, the increasing popularity of television, and an insatiable demand for products in the US market.


During this period, advertising was an art form that revolved around singular creative campaigns distributed via newspapers, magazines, billboards, radio, television and direct mail. This spanned decades, eventually evolving with banner ads, affiliates, and search. Ad agencies honed their focus on creative, using it as the main instrument to drive sales and market share for clients. Most of these creative ideas were loosely rooted in data, and this is the same way creative ideation is carried out within the holding companies to this day.


Slow distribution channel innovation, inefficient real-time attribution, and uncertain marketing spend allocation were defining features of the era. Once a marketing campaign began, it was difficult to determine which channel to attribute a purchase to, leading marketers to evaluate performance based on overall media spend rather than on a channel-by-channel basis. In modern day terms, this was the equivalent of putting ad spend behind Twitter, Meta and Tik Tok and not tracking which platforms led to conversions. Consequently, and perhaps more importantly, this allowed advertisers to trust their gut and go for the big creative ideas that brands became known for.


Advertising performance was measured by its impact on — did overall sales go up? Simple.

Before, things were simpler.

The “golden age” of advertising saw the evolution of Madison Avenue, large agencies, and agency holding companies. Advertisers benefitted from a growing population, the increasing popularity of television, and an insatiable demand for products in the US market.


During this period, advertising was an art form that revolved around singular creative campaigns distributed via newspapers, magazines, billboards, radio, television and direct mail. This spanned decades, eventually evolving with banner ads, affiliates, and search. Ad agencies honed their focus on creative, using it as the main instrument to drive sales and market share for clients. Most of these creative ideas were loosely rooted in data, and this is the same way creative ideation is carried out within the holding companies to this day.


Slow distribution channel innovation, inefficient real-time attribution, and uncertain marketing spend allocation were defining features of the era. Once a marketing campaign began, it was difficult to determine which channel to attribute a purchase to, leading marketers to evaluate performance based on overall media spend rather than on a channel-by-channel basis. In modern day terms, this was the equivalent of putting ad spend behind Twitter, Meta and Tik Tok and not tracking which platforms led to conversions. Consequently, and perhaps more importantly, this allowed advertisers to trust their gut and go for the big creative ideas that brands became known for.


Advertising performance was measured by its impact on — did overall sales go up? Simple.

The “DTC” Era (2008-2020)

Social media advertising changed everything.


Facebook created the most efficient marketing platform in history. Billions of dollars poured into social and the venture-backed companies investing in it as a new acquisition channel. At the same time, the Shopify ecosystem made it easier than ever for brands to get to market.


Soon, measurable channel conversion became a normal part of the attribution equation. An entire generation of marketers became reliant on direct-response creative, deterministic attribution, and the belief that a dollar into Facebook generated an accurate channel-based return-on-ad-spend.


Shifting from larger creative campaigns to more platform-native content, this period of time saw exponential growth in the efficiency of ad spend.


The digital agency, single-channel agency, and freelance economy all carved out market share in the quickly developing digital marketing space, and the “Madison Avenue Era” players found themselves on their heels struggling to develop digital competencies.


However, this time was short lived. A confluence of factors resulted in decreasing ad efficiency and fewer arbitrage opportunities on social platforms. Namely, Apple Tracking Transparency, digital channel saturation, and slowing platform growth marked the end of the DTC Era.

Today — The “Dark Attribution” Era

Today — The “Dark Attribution” Era

The DTC Era precipitated the intense period of competition we find ourselves in today. Most brands are digitally native, community centric, and visually sophisticated.


It’s easier than ever to launch a brand, influencer brands are growing fast, and commoditization seems inevitable for most product categories. Since March 2020, over 2.5 million Shopify stores have been created, a 201% increase. Competing on sales channels like DTC, retail, and third party commerce is now common ground.


Digital advertising represents over 70% of total advertising spend, a statistic which continues to grow year-over-year. And while the customer journey has always been multi-touch, it’s harder than ever to measure or track, with little recourse for help. Agencies, both big and small, are failing clients. A lack of data infrastructure, creative know-how, and efficient team operating processes is prevalent in both options.


Marketers too have forgotten the tried and true advertising strategies that made the Madison Avenue Era companies and brands great.


Advertising on platforms has become more challenging, with the need for more sophisticated creative strategies, more in-tune customer journeys, and a modern approach to data analytics.


Legacy brands will struggle to maintain market share if their strategies do not adapt. It’s no longer sufficient to run the same playbook. But changing the playbook is easier said than done. It can be difficult to operate efficiently and make informed decisions when there are multiple sales channels, an extraordinary number of advertising mediums, increasingly complex customer journeys, and limited access and understanding of data.


We’ve entered into the Dark Attribution Era.

The New Approach

So, how do you gather information that’s truly relevant about your customer and then act on that information? Stop searching for hires or new agencies who blatantly overpromise results or solely focus on what’s trending right now. There are no silver bullets.


It’s time to start prioritizing systems-level thinking and a return to advertising fundamentals. This is how to unlock the new phases of growth over and over again.

  • Process: Equip your team with a framework that allows you to launch and scale sustainable marketing programs for your brand, with a view towards profitable incrementality.


  • Long-term oriented: Stakeholders need to be clear about what the ultimate business outcome for the company is, what a practical roadmap looks like, and which team members and partners they need to get there.


  • Integrated Tactics: Every single marketing program must consider acquisition and retention as two sides of the same coin. Focus on the tactics that will deliver the right mix for your business.


  • Measurement: Brands need on-the-pulse data that capture most of the relevant marketing metrics to paint a clear picture of what’s working across all sales and distribution channels at a single point in time. Today, this can be done with simple data and AI tools we’ve invested in and partnered with. Avoid over-complicating your data stack or decision-making process.


  • Creative: Do you have a “process” for deploying and improving how your creative resonates with customers over time, and how that’s applied to your entire customer journey? Every campaign should start small, be tested frequently, and scale in perpetuity. We focus on quality, volume, and organic content. We embed creative into every service at Darkroom.


  • Efficiency: Newer marketing programs do not deserve higher spend until they prove scalability. Look at overall MER and spend pragmatically based on revenue and profitability targets.

Equipped with the right partners, agile businesses can deploy smart advertising strategies that win mind and market share. Strong growth today necessitates research, frameworks, and toolsets that empower brands to find gateways to growth.


Over the past six years, we’ve helped B2C commerce companies implement successful revenue programs that deliver sustainable growth over time. 


Equipped with the right partners, agile businesses can deploy smart advertising strategies that win mind and market share. Strong growth today necessitates research, frameworks, and toolsets that empower brands to find gateways to growth.


Over the past six years, we’ve helped B2C commerce companies implement successful revenue programs that deliver sustainable growth over time. 



If you’d like to learn more about how we partner with our portfolio of brands, schedule a free discovery call with our team. 



If you’d like to learn more about how we partner with our portfolio of brands, schedule a free discovery call with our team. 


Top heavy, by design. We’ve invested in senior leadership across our entire portfolio.

Top heavy, by design. We’ve invested in senior leadership across our entire portfolio.

Team Image

Steve Geick

VP, Growth

Partners with client leaders to systematically plan and build their growth roadmaps, team capabilities, and advertising strategies. Focus is on ensuring the integrity and development of all Darkroom growth service offerings. Client engagements have included global campaigns for Necessaire, Mack Weldon, Mizzen+Main, and Marine Layer. Past Life: Performance Marketing at WPromote and Metric Digital.


Team Image

Stephanie Jiang

Director, Growth Strategy

Spent more than 10 years growing direct-to-consumer businesses, with a focus on driving sustainable and profitable growth by leveraging brand and performance marketing in equal parts. Holistic growth marketer with a deep passion for making data-driven, omni-channel growth plans that result in happy, healthy businesses. Previous engagements include Ring (now part of Amazon), Alleyoop, and Healthybaby.

Team Image

Darragh Rose

Director, Creative

Leads our Design, Editing, and Creator Management teams, overseeing creative programs for our clients. 8+ years of experience working with global brands on identity design, digital platform, and content production. Deeply passionate about the lasting impact of good creative.

Team Image

Lucas DiPietrantonio

Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer

Forbes 30 under 30 winner. Leads global agency strategy. Focus is to building innovative marketing teams for our portfolio—building a suite of proprietary research, strategy tools, and marketing execution services for modern consumer brands. Over 10 years of experience in digital strategy, growth marketing, and venture. Investor to fast growing commerce companies: Triple Whale, Varos, Canal.

Team Image

Brian Gleason

Senior Director, Retention Marketing

Leads our Retention Marketing team in delivering and executing loyalty strategies that drive customer lifetime value for clients. With more than 20 years of marketing experience in growth, retention, social media, and PR, Brian has worked with global brands in the sports, health and wellness, home, fashion, and apparel industries.

Team Image

James Buell

Director of Partnerships

Leads our Business Development teams and oversees strategic business relationships. Responsible for managing the integrity of the Darkroom portfolio and maintaining strong partnerships between clients and stakeholder ecosystem. Past life in financial services.

Team Image

Leo Chang

Principal Designer

Oversees UI/UX & brand engagements with our clients to craft user-centered digital experiences for e-commerce and SaaS startups. Brings over five years of experience at the intersection of product design, UX strategy, and visual design to impact business growth and build experiences that customers love.

Team Image

Jackson Corey

Co-founder & Chief Creative Officer

Forbes 30 under 30 winner. Has led award-winning engagements across branding, user experience, and content for leading consumer-facing brands and acclaimed global institutions alike over the past 10+ years. Serial founder and strategic investor in companies such as Rad AI, Halfday Tonics, Tejesta Eyewear, and more.

Team Image

Max Showalter

Director, Growth Strategy

Dynamic marketing leader with extensive experience merging performance and brand marketing strategy to help businesses achieve growth at scale through strategic omni-channel initiatives. Past life as a cofounder.

Team Image

Anthony Fanelli

Director of Content

Anthony has extensive experience in the fields of creative production, marketing, and business strategy. His work with influencers like Snoop Dogg and Paris Hilton and his success with award-winning films like "The Akron Holy War" underscore his talent and versatility. At Darkroom, he is focused on end-to-end creative and content implementation and strategy to help businesses thrive in the digital landscape.

Team Image

Matt Lewis

Director, Marketplaces

Matt is an entrepreneur and e-commerce executive with extensive knowledge in building, scaling and perfecting multimillion dollar brands across DTC and Amazon FBA experiences. He has the proven ability to drive results with tactical data- based solutions and creative resources.

Team Image

Pedro Seca

Associate Director, Digital Products

With an extensive career in brand building and marketing management, Pedro's expertise spans all facets of digital marketing for brands. He places his emphasis on integrated growth strategies and delivering long term value to clients.

Team Image

Ramy Mahfouz

Financial Director

Ramy gained valuable experience at BPE Partners in Cairo where he advanced from Analyst to Senior Associate, gaining extensive knowledge in financial analysis, investment strategies, and mergers and acquisitions. Additionally, he served as an Investor Relations Officer at B Investments, where he honed his skills in stakeholder communication and investment management.

Team Image

Mona Abdou

Chief of Staff

Mona believes there is no asset greater in importance or sweeter in reward than versatility. By working across the various spectrums, from journalism to corporate marketing, she has learned the importance of curiosity - of being able to deconstruct ideas, revisit theory, and build coherent narratives, bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Darkroom team.

Team Image

Violet Selznick

People Ops Manager

Violet is a passionate advocate for redefining people operations strategies, empowering individuals, and fostering diverse and inclusive work environments. By integrating DEI&B practices into talent acquisition tactics, and L&D, she ensures that the organization attracts and retains a thriving team. With a deep understanding of the global talent landscape, she has successfully led recruitment and HR operations for employees across five countries.

  • Brian Gleason

    VP, Retention Marketing

    Leads our Retention Marketing team in delivering and executing loyalty strategies that drive customer lifetime value for clients. With more than 20 years of marketing experience in growth, retention, social media, and PR, Brian has worked with global brands in the sports, health and wellness, home, fashion, and apparel industries.

  • Darragh Rose

    Director, Creative

    Leads our Design, Editing, and Creator Management teams. With over eight years of experience working with global brands on identity, web, and production, she is deeply passionate about the lasting impact of good creative. Darragh’s expertise and commitment to user-centered design have helped businesses grow by leveraging the power of design to positively shape their brand and the world around us.

  • Steve Geick

    VP, Growth

    Partners with client leaders to systematically plan and build their growth roadmaps, team capabilities, and advertising strategies. Focus is on ensuring the integrity and development of all Darkroom growth service offerings. Client engagements have included global campaigns for Necessaire, Mack Weldon, Mizzen+Main, and Marine Layer. Past Life: Performance Marketing at WPromote and Metric Digital.


  • James Buell

    Director of Partnerships

    Leads our Business Development teams and oversees strategic business relationships. Responsible for managing the integrity of the Darkroom portfolio and maintaining strong partnerships between clients and stakeholder ecosystem. Past life in financial services.

  • Jackson Corey

    Co-founder & Chief Creative Officer

    Has led award-winning engagements across branding, user experience, and content for leading consumer-facing brands and acclaimed global institutions alike over the past 10+ years. Is a serial (3x) founder, and strategic investor in companies such as Rad AI, Halfday Tonics, Tejesta Eyewear, and more. As an advisor, Jackson’s focus is on driving business results through brand strategy, product strategy, and creative.

  • Lucas DiPietrantonio

    Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer

    Currently oversees global strategic initiatives for the agency. An active angel investor and advisor to some of the fastest growing technology startups such as: Triple Whale, Varos, Canal, and InHouse, consumer products like Tarform and Sauz, and financial platforms like Axo. An avid traveler, the New York-born CEO has built a global organization that is adapting and excelling with the remote-first work culture as he helps brands navigate, thrive, and grow in today’s market.

  • Pedro Seca

    Digital Project Manager

    With an extensive career in brand building and marketing management, Pedro's expertise spans all facets of digital marketing for brands. He places his emphasis on integrated growth strategies and delivering long term value to clients.

  • Stephanie Jiang

    Director, Growth Strategy

    Spent more than 10 years growing direct-to-consumer businesses, with a focus on driving sustainable and profitable growth by leveraging brand and performance marketing in equal parts. Holistic growth marketer with a deep passion for making data-driven, omni-channel growth plans that result in happy, healthy businesses. Previous engagements include Ring (now part of Amazon), Alleyoop, and Healthybaby.

  • Max Showalter

    Director, Growth Strategy

    Established marketing leader with extensive knowledge of growth marketing, demand generation, and content marketing. Helping business scale through strategic omni-channel initiatives. Past life as a cofounder.

  • Team Image

    Violet Selznick

    People Ops Manager

    Violet is a passionate advocate for redefining people operations strategies, empowering individuals, and fostering diverse and inclusive work environments. By integrating DEI&B practices into talent acquisition tactics, and L&D, she ensures that the organization attracts and retains a thriving team. With a deep understanding of the global talent landscape, she has successfully led recruitment and HR operations for employees across five countries.

  • Team Image

    Matt Lewis

    Director, Marketplaces

    Matt is an entrepreneur and e-commerce executive with extensive knowledge in building, scaling and perfecting multimillion dollar brands across DTC and Amazon FBA experiences. He has the proven ability to drive results with tactical data- based solutions and creative resources.

  • Team Image

    Anthony Fanelli

    Director of Content

    Anthony has extensive experience in the fields of creative production, marketing, and business strategy. His work with influencers like Snoop Dogg and Paris Hilton and his success with award-winning films like "The Akron Holy War" underscore his talent and versatility. At Darkroom, he is focused on end-to-end creative and content implementation and strategy to help businesses thrive in the digital landscape.

  • Team Image

    Leo Chang

    Principal Designer

    Oversees UI/UX & brand engagements with our clients to craft user-centered digital experiences for e-commerce and SaaS startups. Brings over five years of experience at the intersection of product design, UX strategy, and visual design to impact business growth and deliver joy for customers.

  • Team Image

    Mona Abdou

    Chief of Staff

    Mona believes there is no asset greater in importance or sweeter in reward than versatility. By working across the various spectrums, from journalism to corporate marketing, she has learned the importance of curiosity - of being able to deconstruct ideas, revisit theory, and build coherent narratives, bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Darkroom team.

  • Team Image

    Ramy Mahfouz

    Financial Director

    Ramy gained valuable experience at BPE Partners in Cairo where he advanced from Analyst to Senior Associate, gaining extensive knowledge in financial analysis, investment strategies, and mergers and acquisitions. Additionally, he served as an Investor Relations Officer at B Investments, where he honed his skills in stakeholder communication and investment management.

We’d love to partner with you and your team.

We’d love to partner with you and your team.

Our conversations start with discovery calls before proceeding to more formal diagnostics of the business, revenue, and marketing programs. We identify revenue maximizing opportunities before proceeding with any prospective engagement.