The Brand Building Podcast

After months of setbacks, broken engines, and bad service, Mark finally got his 28-foot Boston Whaler running—and in the process, learned a powerful lesson about business: cutting corners with the wrong partner always costs more in the long run.
This episode dives into why cheap talent, fast timelines, and unrealistic promises destroy more projects than anything else - and why Bread Loaf’s clients keep coming back after learning that lesson the hard way.

Episode Description:
In this episode of The Brand Building Podcast, Mark Milutin breaks down one of the biggest updates Klaviyo has rolled out in years - the brand-new Instagram integration powered by Gatsby.ai.
For the first time ever, brands can now collect email and SMS subscribers directly from Instagram comments and DMs - no Zapier, no broken APIs, no compliance headaches. Just native, first-party data collection inside Klaviyo.
Mark dives deep into:
How Klaviyo’s acquisition of Gatsby.ai changes the game for DTC list growth
Why traditional pop-ups are losing effectiveness (and what to do instead)
The exact flow of how IG comment-to-DM automations work
How this unlocks a new “Blue Ocean” for eCommerce brands to grow faster
Real stats on why consumers are 3x more likely to engage via DM than the web
Why the brands that move first on this integration will win big in 2025
If you’re serious about growing your email and SMS lists, this is the episode you don’t want to miss.
👉 Learn more about Bread Loaf and schedule your Klaviyo audit:https://retention-lab.com/
👉 Read more about the Klaviyo Gatsby Acquisition: https://www.klaviyo.com/newsroom/gatsby-acquisition

In this episode of the Brand Building Podcast, Mark Milutin (Founder of Bread Loaf) breaks down why pre-sales are one of the most dangerous traps for modern DTC brands—and why he absolutely hates them.
From diluted launches and spiked return rates to broken marketing funnels and lost momentum, Mark shares firsthand experiences from real clients and the brutal downstream effects pre-orders have on performance metrics like CAC, conversion rate, and retention ROI.
If you’re running fashion, footwear, or premium products in the DTC space—and think pre-sales are a shortcut to early revenue—this episode is your wake-up call.
Learn why true product launches drive FOMO, community hype, and 7-figure hours
Discover how pre-sales sabotage your paid and retention teams
Hear what the top-performing Bread Loaf brands are doing instead

The game has changed — creative alone won’t save your brand in 2025. 
In this breakdown of Klaviyo’s KBOs 2025 event, I share the biggest takeaways shaping the future of e-commerce and retention marketing. 
From AI-driven automation and multi-channel orchestration to WhatsApp integrations and real-time data insights — this is where the industry is heading.
If you’re a Shopify brand, an agency operator, or just obsessed with growth, this episode is your roadmap to staying ahead.
✅ Elevate your brand’s Email & SMS marketing: https://breadloaf.typeform.com/to/rotiGDm7?typeform-source=www.youtube.com 
🚀 Discuss your growth strategy: https://calendly.com/markmilutin/retention-audit-kick-off?month=2025-02 
Check out my FREE $4,000 Brand Retention Audit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_tywPkNcqY&t=43s 

Klaviyo just dropped a game-changing WhatsApp integration — and it’s about to completely transform how brands retain customers globally. 🌍
In this video, I break down exactly how Klaviyo’s WhatsApp feature works, why it’s a massive unlock for international DTC brands, and how to build and monetize your WhatsApp list the right way.
✅ Elevate your brand’s Email & SMS marketing: https://breadloaf.typeform.com/to/rotiGDm7?typeform-source=www.youtube.com 
🚀 Discuss your growth strategy: https://calendly.com/markmilutin/retention-audit-kick-off?month=2025-02 
Check out my FREE $4,000 Brand Retention Audit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_tywPkNcqY 

What if your entire marketing and support team ran on AI? 🤯In this video, I break down Klaviyo’s brand new AI Agents — the Marketing Agent and Customer Agent — and show you how they’re completely redefining what it means to automate your email, SMS, and customer experience.
You’ll learn:🚀 How Klaviyo’s AI Agents actually work (and what they can do)💡 Real examples of how brands are using them right now⚠️ The top 3 mistakes people make when turning on AI in Klaviyo🔐 How to safely adopt AI without losing control of your brand voice
If you use Klaviyo, you need to understand what’s coming — this update will change how every marketer operates.
✅ Elevate your brand’s Email & SMS marketing: https://breadloaf.typeform.com/to/rotiGDm7?typeform-source=www.youtube.com 
🚀 Discuss your growth strategy: https://calendly.com/markmilutin/retention-audit-kick-off?month=2025-02 
Check out my FREE $4,000 Brand Retention Audit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_tywPkNcqY 

What if you could run your entire email marketing operation just by talking to AI? 
In this video, I’m breaking down Klaviyo’s brand-new MCP Server integration with Claude AI — what it is, how it works, and why it’s about to completely change how we run campaigns.
If you’re using Klaviyo or Shopify, this is one you don’t want to miss. 
✅ Elevate your brand’s Email & SMS marketing: https://breadloaf.typeform.com/to/rotiGDm7?typeform-source=www.youtube.com 
🚀 Discuss your growth strategy: https://calendly.com/markmilutin/retention-audit-kick-off?month=2025-02 

In this video, I’m breaking down Klaviyo Analytics — the hidden engine behind your revenue. Most brands send emails, run flows, and optimize campaigns without truly knowing what’s driving results or bleeding them dry.
I’ll show you how to use customer analytics, product insights, and attribution models inside Klaviyo to turn your data into action. 
If you’re on Shopify and serious about scaling through lifecycle and retention marketing, this deep dive is for you.
✅ Elevate your brand’s Email & SMS marketing: https://breadloaf.typeform.com/to/rotiGDm7?typeform-source=www.youtube.com 
🚀 Discuss your growth strategy: https://calendly.com/markmilutin/retention-audit-kick-off?month=2025-02 

In this video, I’m breaking down 7 proven strategies to grow your email and SMS list in 2025 so you can crush Q4 revenue without relying on discounts or overspending on ads.
At Breadloaf, we help Shopify brands scale through lifecycle and retention marketing, and I’ll show you the exact list growth tactics we run every day for our partners using Klaviyo, Postscript, and Attentive. From popups that actually convert, to sweepstakes, product launch lead gen, and back-in-stock flows—this is the playbook for building the one asset you truly own: your list.
If you’re serious about making Q4 your biggest yet, this is where you start.
✅ Elevate your brand’s Email & SMS marketing: https://breadloaf.typeform.com/to/rotiGDm7?typeform-source=www.youtube.com 
🚀 Discuss your growth strategy: https://calendly.com/markmilutin/retention-audit-kick-off?month=2025-02 
Planetags $1,000,000 in less than an hour video HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeLrawEHrsc 
 

In this episode, I share a boots-on-the-ground recap from Klaviyo’s K:BOS in Boston—why the energy mattered, how Klaviyo is evolving from ESP to full CRM, and what operators (brand and agency) need to do right now to win Q4 and 2026.
If you’re a Shopify brand and want a Klaviyo CRM + omnichannel gameplan for Q4 and 2026 (WhatsApp, RCS, direct mail, social capture, AI workflows), click the link below to lear more about my retention audit:
https://youtu.be/A_tywPkNcqY?si=JBA4pc6sy9KBnpHJ
Timestamp guide
00:00 Intro, why K:BOS mattered this year
03:12 High-frequency vs low-frequency operating
07:40 Agencies: creative is table stakes—what’s next actually wins
12:18 Brands’ reality: margins, talent, tool-sprawl
15:09 Klaviyo’s 3 investment pillars (omnichannel, analytics, autonomous)
18:22 Roadmap: Service desk, AI agents, RCS, WhatsApp, Gatsby
25:11 Claude + Klaviyo via MCP (why I’m hyped)
28:45 PostPilot playbook (1% budget, handwritten VIP, fence-sitters)
33:02 Operator dinner: Kona, Copley, partners
37:30 Goals for 2026 + invite to next year’s K:BOS