[11:03] Invest in Brand to Lift Performance — Tecovas moved beyond lower-funnel performance marketing after realizing it limited growth. Lafitte highlights the power of brand-building creative to educate customers and create an emotional connection, critical for premium products. Campaigns like cinematic storytelling ads elevated baseline awareness that persisted beyond spend. The lesson: investing in upper-funnel marketing builds lasting equity, making lower-funnel efforts more efficient over time.
[13:44] Use AI for Ops, Not Creativity — Lafitte takes a selective approach to AI, embracing it for supply chain planning, inventory allocation, and demand forecasting, while avoiding it in creative work. AI improves efficiency behind the scenes, but using it for storytelling risks diluting Tecovas’ authentic voice. The takeaway: apply AI where it enhances operations, but protect the human creativity that defines brand identity.
