BWG Global Archives - BWG Connect

Scott Needham is the Founder and CEO of SmartScout, an Amazon FBA product research software. He is also the former CEO of BuyBoxer, which he built into a top 100 Amazon seller, managing over 120,000 products. Scott hosts the Smartest Amazon Seller podcast, which shares insights on navigating the Amazon marketplace.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

[1:34] Scott Needham shares how he began selling on Amazon and founded SmartScout
[5:09] How tariffs have impacted product pricing on Amazon and how brands are responding
[12:37] Amazon’s 10% year-over-year growth and the rise of TikTok Shop
[17:02] The challenges of a full-funnel digital marketing approach
[23:39] Scott shares TikTok Shop strategies, like hosting a 24/7 livestream to drive conversions
[26:43] SmartScout’s pricing intelligence dashboard — and Scott’s favorite Amazon sellers
[33:14] The future of AI-driven personal shopping assistants and consumer search behavior

In this episode…

As global tariffs shift and economic uncertainty looms, brands are under pressure to make informed pricing decisions and maintain margins. Many rely solely on internal data for scenario planning, making it difficult to benchmark against the broader market. Without visibility into industry-wide pricing trends, how can businesses decide whether to raise prices or maintain their threshold?

After monitoring price movements across product categories, pricing and market intelligence expert Scott Needham noticed that only 3% of products available on Amazon experienced price increases during the initial tariff period. He emphasizes that brands need external market visibility to justify pricing structures internally. Additionally, brands can leverage TikTok Shop and influencer-led strategies as growth engines, especially in fast-moving categories like groceries and supplements.

Join Aaron Conant in The Digital Deep Dive as he hosts Scott Needham, Founder and CEO of SmartScout, to discuss pricing strategies and market trends in a shifting eCommerce landscape. Scott shares how brands can use data to avoid reactionary pricing, Prime Day discounting strategies, and the future role of AI shopping assistants.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Quotable Moments:

“We want to create… cool, flashy analytics, big numbers… we’re not building accounting software.”
“Amazon might be the cutting edge of where tariffs start to show their ugly head.”
“No one wants to be… associated with raising prices… Amazon doesn’t want to be the story.”
“Retail media has exploded in a way that is… just big.”
“I like seeing US brands win in unique ways… that’s exciting to me.”

Action Steps:

Use external data to inform pricing strategies: Relying solely on internal data can create blind spots when responding to market shifts. Incorporating competitor insights and category benchmarks strengthens scenario planning and executive decision-making.
Track pricing movement over time: Monitoring changes across SKUs helps identify trends, outliers, and opportunities to adjust or defend pricing strategies. This visibility is crucial during volatile periods like tariff hikes.
Leverage influencer marketing on emerging platforms: TikTok Shop and short-form video content are accelerating brand growth, especially for consumer-friendly categories. These platforms offer cost-effective exposure and can jumpstart product awareness.
Analyze category-specific Prime Day trends: Understanding how discounts and deal volume vary by category enables more strategic participation in high-traffic events. This insight helps brands plan inventory and pricing with greater precision.
Build tools for scenario testing and market share analysis: Having flexible tools allows brand leaders to test pricing hypotheses and understand competitive positioning. It enables confident forecasting and internal alignment.

About BWG Connect...

BWG Connect provides executive strategy and networking sessions that help brands from any industry with their overall business planning and execution. We network and knowledge share together to better understand and adapt to the newest trends, strategies, and pain points shaping growth in the digital space. BWG Connect, in conjunction with BWG Strategy, has built an exclusive network of 125,000+ senior professionals and hosts over 2,000 virtual and in-person networking events on an annual basis.

In addition, we have had 1x1 conversations with over 5,000 brands and have a real-time pulse on what digital strategies are successful and why. This in-depth knowledge allows our team to operate on the cutting-edge and provide our clients with best-in-class guidance on how to win in the digital world. We have provided free consultations and strategy sessions for companies of all sizes, from start-ups to Fortune-100, to enable growth, resolve issues and make curated service provider introductions that can impact your digital footprint.

We have held to the philosophy of providing high-level insights and actionable knowledge with no sales pitches in order to provide to our network the ability to listen, learn and act to improve themselves as well as their organizations. Our ultimate goal is to be the resource out there to help digital executives find the research they need to excel in the modern marketplace.

If you are interested in getting involved with any of our current or past events, you can find them here. If you are looking for help & would like to set up some time to chat with our team, you can schedule a time or reach out directly to Aaron@bwgconnect.com or Tiffany@bwgconnect.com.

Max Sinclair is the Founder and CEO of Azoma (formerly Ecomtent), which generates AI-powered product content across eCommerce sites. Before founding Azoma, he spent six years at Amazon, where he launched Amazon Business in the UK, Amazon.sg in Singapore, and Amazon Grocery across the EU. Max is also the host of New Frontier: The AI for ecommerce podcast.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

[1:44] Max Sinclair shares how Azoma helps brands appear in AI searches
[7:56] How Amazon’s Rufus and Google’s Gemini have reshaped how consumers search for products
[11:13] Azoma’s methodology for helping brands rank in AI engines through data and personas
[18:17] Refining your LLM and SEO strategy based on AI answer engines
[26:52] The importance of multimodal content in AI search
[32:05] Max’s predictions for AI shopping assistants and how a ChatGPT-Shopify integration could rival Amazon

In this episode…

Traditional search engines are losing their dominance as consumers turn to AI-powered tools for product discovery. This shift challenges eCommerce brands to stay visible in a digital landscape driven by conversational interfaces and personalized recommendations. How can businesses optimize their online presence when search requires context, intent, and interaction?

AI-driven search optimization expert Max Sinclair maintains that brands can remain competitive by aligning their content strategies with the mechanics of large language models. Appearing in AI search results involves more than traditional SEO; it requires crafting semantically rich content that aligns with customer personas, goals, and use cases. Max emphasizes the importance of visual elements, customer sentiment, and AI’s multimodal capabilities, allowing brands to improve visibility and relevance on emerging platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Amazon’s Rufus.

Tune in to this episode of The Digital Deep Dive as Aaron Conant hosts Max Sinclair, Founder and CEO of Azoma, to discuss the evolution of product search in the age of generative AI. Max talks about the rise of conversational and voice-based search, how direct checkout integrations could disrupt traditional online marketplaces, and his predictions for AI shopping assistants.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Quotable Moments:

“ChatGPT is fast becoming a real channel for people to discover products on.”
“Customers that arrive at websites through ChatGPT are much higher intent because they’ve done the research.”
“This is an incredible tailwind… a new opportunity to get ahead of your competitors.”
“We build for the customer a mini digital twin of the AI engine for the topic they care about.”
“Saying the same thing over and over again, a slightly different keyword is an absolute losing strategy.”

Action Steps:

Identify high-intent customer segments: Focusing on buyers who use AI search tools can drive more conversions and efficient marketing. These users often arrive with specific needs and have already done substantial research.
Optimize content for AI search engines: Tailor your content to include contextual details like audience, use case, and buying motivation. This helps large language models understand and recommend your brand.
Incorporate multimodal content strategies: Combine relevant visuals with tailored text to align with how AI models interpret and prioritize information. This approach improves product visibility and user engagement across platforms.
Monitor share of voice and brand sentiment in AI engines: Tracking how often and positively your brand appears can inform strategic content adjustments. These insights help you stay ahead in an evolving digital marketplace.
Engage early with conversational commerce tools: Adopting platforms like ChatGPT shopping or Rufus integration early can secure competitive advantages. Early movers often establish lasting brand visibility in emerging channels.

About BWG Connect...

Justin Ruiss is the SVP of the Media Sector at BWG Global, a knowledge-sharing network hosting in-person and virtual industry events. In his role, he hosts Q&A forums with executives from various sectors, including social media, advertising, connected TV, streaming, and gaming. Before joining BWG Global, Justin was the Investor Relations Activations Developer at Cision and an Equity Analyst at The Benchmark Company.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

[2:56] Justin Ruiss shares trends in the CTV space
[9:02] How brands are meeting multi-platform content demands
[14:52] Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) as a cost-effective ad tech tool
[20:22] AI Overview’s impact on search behavior and traditional CPC models
[25:39] How AI agents are enabling voice commerce and shifting the focus back to human-driven creativity and storytelling
[33:45] The uncertain future of the eCommerce space

In this episode…

Retail media, CTV advertising, and AI-powered search are evolving faster than many brands can adapt. Marketers are grappling with fragmented content strategies, fluctuating CPMs, and uncertainty around how to allocate budgets effectively across platforms. With performance expectations rising and consumer behaviors shifting, how can brands stay competitive without overspending?

According to media and eCommerce analyst Justin Ruiss, now is an ideal time to invest in CTV due to oversupply, lower CPMs, and advanced targeting capabilities. He recommends increasing production budgets to create modular, high-quality content that can be repurposed across channels like TikTok, Amazon, and streaming platforms. Brands can also adopt centralized content planning and leverage tools like Amazon Marketing Cloud to drive enhanced targeting and performance while planning for economic volatility and regulatory changes.

In this episode of The Digital Deep Dive, Aaron Conant interviews Justin Ruiss, SVP of the Media Sector at BWG Global, about the future of digital media buying and AI in eCommerce. Justin explores CTV trends, the rise of agentic AI, and how brand guidelines shape content in gaming environments.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Quotable Moments:

“It's a great time to be a buyer for CTV — really good trajectory there from advertisers.”
“Our promotional budgets are down, but our production budgets are oddly up.”
“The left hand is starting to know what the right is doing; that’s a huge unlock.”
“Amazon is creating more tools, and I think AMC is one of those points.”
“AI is getting to scary types of effectiveness; it’s three guys or gals running three dozen agents.”

Action Steps:

Consolidate your content strategy across platforms: Aligning creative efforts under one plan helps maintain brand consistency and maximize production efficiency. This is especially critical as content is repurposed for CTV, social media, and eCommerce channels.
Leverage Amazon Marketing Cloud for targeting: AMC offers powerful tools for building custom audiences and analyzing performance across platforms. Using it effectively can drive ROI while keeping ad spend efficient.
Increase investment in production over promotion: High-quality, reusable content can stretch further across campaigns than one-time promotional efforts. This shift enables brands to stay nimble in fast-changing media landscapes.
Plan for multiple economic and regulatory scenarios: Scenario planning prepares brands to respond quickly to changing tariffs, costs, and retail behaviors. It ensures teams remain adaptable rather than reactive.
Monitor ad experience and frequency: Ensuring viewers aren’t overwhelmed with repetitive ads improves engagement and brand perception. Thoughtful frequency capping supports better campaign outcomes and user sentiment.