What does it really take to build a brand people can't stop talking about, and can't stop buying from?
This week on That Digital Take, host Torri Webster sits down with Ashley Boyce, luxury brand strategist, former Unilever portfolio lead, co-founder of $12M DTC fragrance company Noteworthy, and now CEO of Zero Collective, for a masterclass in brand building at every stage of growth.
Ashley breaks down what nearly two decades inside the world's biggest CPG machine taught her that most founders never learn, why she walked away from billion-dollar budgets to bet on herself, and the real reason DTC isn't dead, it just grew up.
In this episode, we get into:
- The mindset shift from corporate marketer to founder (and why your instincts can work against you)
- How she scaled Noteworthy to $12M+ and what she'd do differently today
- What "luxury" actually means in 2026 — and why the word is dangerously overused
- Whether Instagram and TikTok can build real premium brands, or slowly kill them
- The truth about influencers: are they elevating luxury or quietly diluting it?
- How Zero Collective is carving out a niche in fashion without the designer price tag
- The JFK Jr. / Carolyn Bessette Kennedy nostalgia wave — and how to manufacture desire in an algorithm-saturated world
- What separates the brands that scale past $1M, $5M, $10M from the ones that stall
Plus, a rapid-fire round on DTC vs. retail, TikTok vs. email, AI in marketing, and the one brand actually doing luxury right in 2026.
Whether you're a founder, a marketer, or a brand-obsessed creative, this one is packed with the kind of strategic thinking that usually stays in the boardroom.
🎧 Listen now and subscribe so you never miss an episode of That Digital Take.
luxury branding, DTC marketing, brand strategy, founder story, fashion marketing, Unilever, fragrance brand, premium brands, digital marketing 2026, brand building, consumer goods, TikTok marketing, influencer marketing, CEO interview, Canadian entrepreneurs, Zero Collective, Noteworthy, Ashley Boyce
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