Why Your Creative Isn’t Converting (And What to Fix First)

Why Your Creative Isn’t Converting (And What to Fix First)

From eCommerce Evolution by Brett Curry

February 27, 2026 · 48 min · Season 1 · Episode 335

About this episode

Brett Curry and Nate Lagos discuss the importance of storytelling in driving customer performance and improving advertising results.

Creative volume isn’t the unlock. Better messaging is. In this episode of eCommerce Evolution, Brett sits down with Nate Lagos (CMO of Adapt Naturals, former Head of Growth at Original Grain) to break down how great storytelling drives real performance. From selling wooden watches through emotional positioning… to increasing AOV by reframing gift messaging… to building ads that scale without “fatigue” — this episode is a masterclass in understanding why customers actually buy. If you’re a DTC founder, CMO, or operator tired of launching more ads without improving results, this conversation will recalibrate how you think about copy, positioning, and brand personality. — Sponsored by OMG Commerce - go to (https://www.omgcommerce.com/contact) and request your FREE strategy session today! — Chapters: (00:00) Intro (05:05) Nate’s origin story, and why storytelling became a “performance lever” (07:40) Selling the story behind the materials (10:30) Customer motivation deep dive: status, identity, and gift-giving (15:05) Creative quantity vs quality (19:05) Finding the real “why”: research methods (23:10) Brand as “personality” (30:10) Testing surprises + valence/intensity framework…

People in this episode

Host: Brett Curry

Guest: Nate Lagos

Topics covered

  • creative messaging
  • storytelling
  • DTC marketing
  • customer motivation
  • advertising strategies

Keywords

  • creative conversion
  • storytelling
  • DTC founder
  • advertising fatigue
  • customer identity

Sponsors

OMG Commerce

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Adapt Naturals, Original Grain

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