DTC Podcast Ep 569 Summary

How Pilothouse 3x'd Buddha Board with a Year-Long BFCM Strategy and Hyper-Vigilant Milkshake Drinking
Date: December 19, 2025
Host: Eric (DTC Podcast)
Guests: Tyler (Head of Amazon, Pilothouse), Takai (Amazon Team Lead)

Episode Overview

This episode dives into the tactics Pilothouse used to triple Buddha Board’s Amazon sales during Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) through a relentless year-long strategy. The team discusses the necessity for near-constant campaign optimization, building ranking momentum long before Q4, managing major pitfalls (like resellers and inventory), and the importance of hyper-vigilant competitor tracking—a process affectionately nicknamed "milkshake drinking," referencing the iconic film There Will Be Blood. The conversation is a tactical masterclass on thriving in Amazon's fiercely competitive ecosystem.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Aggressive, Real-Time Amazon Campaign Adjustments

• Optimization Mindset:

  • Takai stresses the need for frequent, hands-on adjustments to campaign bids and budgets during high-traffic events, a departure from the usual “set and wait” approach (02:55, 03:46).

    “Essentially you should be in your ad console as much of that day as you can be, really just making sure that everything is on track.” — Takai (02:55)

  • On BFCM, it’s common to swing bids up or down 10–30% in reaction to live performance, with daily spending sometimes soaring from $200 to $3,000 (03:46).

• Audit Insights:

  • Tyler notes a red flag in brands who make zero adjustments in the campaign lead-up or during the event (05:01):

    “There are a lot of adjustments being done, especially in the lead up to those types of events.” — Tyler (05:01)

2. Ranking as a Long Game: Start in Q1, Not Q4

• Year-Round Keyword Planning:

  • Start building keyword relevance at least 6–12 months prior to Q4. By Q4, top-performing brands have already established momentum for their target keywords (06:44).

    "You're building that success in the lead up to Q4... Already built up some relevance for those keywords." — Takai (06:44)

• Google vs. Amazon Differences:

  • Amazon ranking is less about content production (as with Google) and more about PPC, listing quality, and conversion rate (09:14):

    “First, ensuring your listing is optimized for SEO and click-through rate. That’s very important.” — Takai (09:14)

• Tactical Example – Buddha Board:

  • Pilothouse started Buddha Board’s strategy in Q1, targeting creative, adjacent, and seasonal keywords to build year-long relevance and ultimately become a top-ranking BFCM product (10:00, 12:18).

3. Targeting Non-Obvious Keywords & Using Amazon Data

• Adjacent & Seasonal Targeting:

  • For unique products like Buddha Board, success came from targeting adjacent niches (e.g., “arts and crafts for kids,” “art for meditation,” “gift for so-and-so”) rather than just direct descriptors (12:43, 13:06).

• Search Query Performance Report:

  • Takai praises this “Amazon first” data for uncovering under-targeted keywords with strong conversion potential (13:14):

    “You can use that data to kind of work backwards and figure out what keywords you maybe aren’t getting enough impressions for.” — Takai (13:14)

4. Competitor Vigilance: "Drinking the Milkshake"

• Hyper-Vigilant Competitor Tracking:

  • The recurring “milkshake drinking” reference (from There Will Be Blood) is about staying nimble and reacting quickly to competitors’ deals, stockouts, and discounting (06:10, 26:23, 26:38).

    “Vigilance. If you’re in the audience and you have seen the movie… please email me because there’s two people in a row who have not seen this seminal film.” — Eric (27:08)

• Dynamic Deal-Matching:

  • Brands must benchmark and adjust discounts in real time to at least match or beat competitors, or risk competitors “drinking their milkshake” (stealing sales) (26:23).

5. Pitfalls & How to Avoid Them

• Resellers and the Amazon Buy Box:

  • Major brands face resellers taking the buy box, causing PPC ads to disappear and sales to drop—especially disastrous on BFCM (14:14, 16:52, 18:30).

    "If resellers take buy box, you cannot display [ads]... you can end up with a much lower sales result than you expected." — Takai (16:52)

  • Distribution vigilance and minimum advertised price policies are critical to prevent undercutting (19:48).

• Vendor vs. Seller Central:

  • Pilothouse is agnostic, but the right choice depends on margin control vs. flexibility (20:48).

• Billing/CC and Inventory Issues:

  • Declined credit cards and inventory shorts are perennial event killers—active monitoring and client communication are essential (23:21).

• Focusing on Hero SKUs:

  • Brands not running deals on their main ASIN/SKU lose out both during and after the event due to lost relevance (24:35).

6. BFCM 2025 Stats & Market Sentiment

• Record-Setting Sales:

  • Triple Whale brands processed over 26 million orders and $2.9B in revenue in one BFCM weekend, representing nearly 20% of all Shopify sales (00:41).

• General Mood:

  • Despite broad economic uncertainty, BFCM “beat expectations” but wasn’t “the best year ever.” Consumers seemed hyper-focused on value and deals (27:45, 28:16):

    “Maybe consumers are just getting that much more savvy, especially around this time of year.” — Tyler (28:16)

7. Optimal Discounting: The Magic Number

• Minimum Strong Offer:

  • For most Amazon brands, 20% discounts were a magic threshold, with many needing to increase live during BFCM to stay competitive. Anything lower underperformed (29:20):

    “20% was really the minimum magic number. Awesome. Even better. But 20 was really the minimum.” — Takai (29:20)

• Competitor-Responsive:

  • The best offer is always “better than your competition as long as you’re still profitable” (29:58).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “If you're not making these adjustments, we will drink your milkshake.” — Eric (06:10)
• “You're building that success in the lead up to Q4... Already built up some relevance for those keywords.” — Takai (06:44)
• “If resellers take buy box, you cannot display [ads]... you can end up with a much lower sales result than you expected.” — Takai (16:52)
• “There are a lot of adjustments being done, especially in the lead up to those types of events.” — Tyler (05:01)
• “Vigilance… It's a milkshake drinking type situation.” — Eric (26:23)
• “20% was really the minimum magic number. Awesome. Even better. But 20 was really the minimum.” — Takai (29:20)
• “It’s actually an oil reference… Internet attention is the oil in this metaphor.” — Eric (30:46)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Amazon BFCM performance stats: 00:41
• Campaign Optimization Philosophy: 02:29 – 05:01
• Long-Game Ranking & Buddha Board Case Study: 06:44 – 15:33
• Keyword Discovery and Data Use: 13:14
• Buy Box & Reseller Issues: 16:52 – 19:48
• Vendor vs. Seller Central: 20:48
• Pitfalls & Inventory Challenges: 23:21 – 25:57
• Hero SKU Strategy: 24:35
• Competitor Benchmarking & Vigilance: 26:23, 26:38
• Economic Mood & Market Sentiment: 27:45 – 28:16
• Deals & Discounting Thresholds: 29:05 – 29:58

Takeaways for DTC/Ecommerce Teams

• Start Q4 planning in Q1: Early, year-round keyword and product relevance building yields outsized BFCM returns.
• Daily vigilance beats set-and-forget: Real-time bid, budget, and deal adjustments are mandatory in the Amazon “online mall.”
• Data is power: Use native Amazon reports for smart keyword expansion.
• Protect your buy box: Enforce reseller/distribution discipline early.
• Hero SKUs deserve your best deal: Don’t sideline top sellers—match or beat competitor offers.
• Always be “milkshake drinking”: Outmaneuver your rivals via hyper-vigilant monitoring and quick adaptation.

For more detailed case studies, subscribe to the DTC Newsletter and check out Pilothouse’s tactics. See you next episode!