Host:
Hello and welcome—good morning, afternoon, or evening wherever you are. I have the great pleasure of introducing my good friend Vincenzo to the podcast. Whether you’re listening or watching, it’s an honor to have you. Thanks for joining us.
Vincenzo:
Thank you, George. Great to be here. I’ve had you on my podcast, so it’s my turn to give back. I hope I can share some useful insights and my story—and have some fun along the way.
Host:
It would be rude not to invite you—you’ve had me on twice!
To start, I know you run an ad agency and help brands globally with full-service support. Is that right?
Vincenzo:
Yes. I’m the founder and CEO of Ecoms. We do full brand management across Amazon, Walmart, and TikTok—all in-house: PPC, listings, branding, DSP, back-end, the works.
Host:
Let’s rewind before e-commerce. What did you study at university?
Vincenzo:
My background is far from e-commerce—I’m an aerospace engineer. Since I was young, I dreamed of working for NASA and everything related to space. I studied in the UK—undergrad and master’s—and then joined Rolls-Royce in their aircraft division. I worked on engines for the Airbus A380—design, maintenance, and updates. Later, e-commerce came knocking.
(And yes, I graduated with First-Class Honours.)
Host:
You had a clear path—great grades, a role at Rolls-Royce. What moment pulled you toward e-commerce?
Vincenzo:
I come from an entrepreneurial family. I was born in Italy, and when I was three, we moved to Venezuela during a boom—like the Dubai of Latin America—so I grew up around business owners. I always wanted control over my time and income.
At Rolls-Royce I was proud, but after talking to colleagues with 20–30 years in, I realized that lifestyle and ceiling weren’t what I wanted. I started researching side options I could do after work from my laptop. Back then Amazon FBA was taking off. I was in Derby (where Rolls-Royce is based), so the plan was: keep the day job, work on Amazon at night. Things grew faster than expected.
Host:
How long did you sell on Amazon before moving into the agency world—and why make that move?
Vincenzo:
I sold for about two years before shifting. Once my Amazon income surpassed my engineering salary, I took a one-year leap—I had the resume and grades if I needed to go back. Without the day job, the business grew even faster.
I started attending masterminds, meetups, and events. I shared what I was doing, helped people, and realized there was real demand for expertise. I began one-to-one consulting, which evolved into an agency. Six years later, we’re 60+ people, with deep capabilities in PPC, listing optimization, DSP, and more.
Host:
What big challenges have you seen in the last year? Many brands aren’t growing as fast on Amazon.
Vincenzo:
Amazon keeps getting more complex. Years ago, a decent product with basic PPC could work—sometimes even without ads. Not anymore. You need a brand, real differentiation, and a clear value proposition.
A common mistake—especially in emerging markets—is grabbing a generic product from Alibaba, slapping on a logo, and expecting results. The “me-too product” playbook is dead. You must bring something unique to the table.
Host:
When you audit accounts, what are the most common problems?
Vincenzo:
Two big ones:
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Bad unit economics. People try to sell a $15 item they buy for $5 and hope PPC magic makes it profitable. It won’t. With fees and rising CPCs, some categories simply don’t work, even with a great product and conversion. Run the numbers first.
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Misreading market share. Sellers see a category doing $5M/month and think, “I only need 5%.” But in many niches, the top five ASINs capture ~60% of traffic. Breaking in is far harder and often burns capital.
Host:
Where are the biggest opportunities in the next year?
Vincenzo:
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Omnichannel. With Amazon’s MCF and AWD in the U.S., it’s easier to extend your Amazon inventory to your DTC site and other marketplaces. This helps navigate Amazon’s saturation.
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Behavioral and contextual advertising via Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) and DSP. We’re moving beyond just search keywords to intent-driven audiences. It’s still blue ocean compared to Sponsored Ads.
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Influencer ecosystems. Brands that invest in content, creators, ambassadors, events, and community outside Amazon build durable awareness and defend against low-priced competitors.
Host:
Which areas have driven the most growth lately?
Vincenzo:
For brands doing $500k+, DSP + AMC are accelerating. Barriers to entry and general confusion mean fewer competitors. If you match the use case well, you can stretch ad dollars further than with standard Sponsored Ads.
Host:
For those new to it: explain Amazon Marketing Cloud like you’re talking to a 10-year-old.
Vincenzo:
AMC is a secure data room. You can bring in data from different sources and ask questions with SQL to understand who buys, how they behave, and what paths lead to purchase.
You can learn age, gender, location, income bands, interests (aggregated and privacy-safe), then build lookalike audiences and measure touchpoints—DSP, Sponsored Ads, organic, even website data—to see what combinations actually drive results. It helps you show the right ad to the right person at the right moment.
Host:
How has bringing AMC signals into Sponsored Products helped your brands in practice?
Vincenzo:
If you have AMC access (via your agency or your own DSP seat), you can push AMC audiences into Sponsored Ads. Example: you’re targeting “garlic press,” but you know a certain demographic/behavioral audience converts best. You can bid-boost when the searcher matches that AMC audience.
It’s not just keyword anymore; it’s keyword plus a high-intent audience overlay. That lifts efficiency.
Host:
What else should listeners know that we haven’t covered?
Vincenzo:
AI is reshaping search and ad relevance on Amazon. Tools like Rufus will favor listings whose images and copy clearly communicate use-case intent. If someone searches “garlic press for barbecue” and your visuals never show a BBQ context, AI may not consider you relevant.
We audit creatives with Amazon Rekognition (images) and Amazon Comprehend (text) to ensure the listing semantically aligns with target intents—this is the same family of tech Amazon uses to understand content.
Host:
Random one: as a business owner you never switch off. In the last week or two, what’s been on your mind?
Vincenzo:
Two things.
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Clients and team: How do we keep bringing new training, proactive ideas, and latest tactics so clients stay ahead?
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Personal resilience: The pressure is real—clients, team, life. I reset by remembering why I chose this path: to create a better life for my family and to deliver impact for clients and employees. Reconnecting to that purpose keeps me moving.
Host:
How long has the agency been running?
Vincenzo:
Six years.
Host:
What keeps you engaged after six years?
Vincenzo:
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Constant learning and testing. I push the team to try new tools and tactics, even if we lose money on experiments—it prevents stagnation.
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Networking and travel. Building real relationships around the world that evolve into partnerships keeps the work exciting.
Host:
If people want to reach you?
Vincenzo:
On social: @VinceDo (I should be the only one with that handle in the space).
Agency: ecoms.com. Happy to explore how we can help.
Host:
Leave listeners with one actionable piece of advice.
Vincenzo:
The hard conversations and decisions you’re avoiding are usually the ones that drive the biggest impact. Don’t let fear paralyze you. Make fast decisions, accept fast failures, learn, iterate. It’s often cheaper to fail quickly and adjust than to wait months for “perfect” analysis and still be wrong.
Host:
I’ve really enjoyed this. Thanks for joining me—hopefully I’ll see you at an event soon. I’m planning to be more active and follow your travel trail!
Vincenzo:
Thanks, George. It’s been a pleasure. See you next time.
