Rowlo Media founders Josh Savinson and Sam Venning, who are behind brands such as Wuffes, have set up a new company, alongside Catalyst Global co-founder, George Gazzard.

Los Angeles, CA: Rowlo Media founders Josh Savinson and Sam Venning, who are behind brands such as Wuffes, have set up a new company, ‘Third Phase Group’, alongside Catalyst Global co-founder, George Gazzard. The focus will be on scaling D2C brands for empowered talent.

Savinson and Venning currently scale D2C brands with a subscription angle, building up a group with turnover close to $20m, all without the use of any external capital or influencers.

Savinson says: “We are looking forward to coupling our sustainable cold growth model with the instant traction and trust an influencer generates to create a turbocharged hybrid – one that can ensure sustainable and profitable growth for the talent and the brands we work with/on.”

Gazzard, who helped launch brands like Filter by Molly Mae, Made with Love by Tom Daley, outlined that “there was a big opportunity for an outright ecommerce service provider to offer influencers the value add they require with respect to long term strategy and scale for their brand.” He added “In this day and age, technology provides anyone the opportunity to conceptualize and launch a brand, however, the challenge lies in being able to take the brand past a ‘drop style’ model to demonstrate month on month profitable and sustainable growth

Third Phase are currently developing key product formats in house which they will align with empowered talent. They are not yet able to disclose what verticals these products sit in.

One of the biggest challenges facing influencers who choose to launch their own brands in place of lucrative brand deals is the ability to scale their brand outside of their immediate audience, whilst also building a brand with true longevity.

“We are continually promoting clients who have high performing merchandise sales (brand apparel/accessories) and good conversion on brand deals, into thinking long term with regards to how they can utilise their audience in the short term to generate traffic and sales within a business that has the ability to scale without a reliance on them. This is only done with a ‘product first’ business model, and of course one that is clearly aligned to the talent and their lifestyle – the narrative is crucial”, says Gazzard.