01
Paid Acquisition
Meta and YouTube media buying built for profitable scale — full-funnel structure, testing cadence, and budget allocation grounded in unit economics, not vanity ROAS.
DTC Growth & Performance Marketing
I help direct-to-consumer brands
scale profitably.
South Swell Performance is my consulting practice. I'm a marketing operator who has lived on both sides of the table — building and buying media inside high-growth direct-response agencies, and leading marketing as a CMO on the brand side. I turn paid acquisition, direct-response creative, and retention into a predictable, profitable growth engine.
Experience across
- Sun Coast Sciences
- Tried & True Media
- Sawtooth Media Group
About
Operator first. Agency-trained. Brand-tested.
Most marketing consultants have only ever seen one side of growth. I've run both. I cut my teeth inside direct-response performance agencies — owning media buying, creative, and funnel economics for eCommerce brands — then moved brand-side to lead marketing as a Chief Marketing Officer, accountable for the full P&L of acquisition and retention.
That dual perspective is the whole point. I know what an agency can and can't deliver, what actually moves CAC and LTV, and how to build a marketing system that compounds instead of one that constantly needs rescuing. Through South Swell Performance I work with a small number of DTC and eCommerce brands at a time, hands-on.
— João Fernandes · Principal, South Swell Performance · based in Brazil, working with brands worldwide
What I do
Four levers I pull to grow a brand
02
Direct-Response Creative
Ad concepts, advertorials, and VSLs that actually sell. Classic direct-response principles applied to modern video — hooks, angles, and offers engineered to convert cold traffic.
03
Retention & LTV
Email and SMS lifecycle, subscription programs, and offer architecture that lift repeat revenue and lifetime value — so acquisition math finally works.
04
Growth Strategy & Analytics
CAC/LTV modeling, funnel diagnostics, and the data infrastructure to make decisions from real contribution margin instead of platform-reported numbers.
Experience
Where I've done the work
Chief Marketing Officer
Sun Coast Sciences (Hero Co)Lead marketing for a direct-to-consumer skincare & supplements brand — owning paid acquisition, direct-response creative, retention, subscriptions, and lifetime value across the entire funnel.
Head of Performance Management
Tried & True MediaA performance-marketing agency that scales DTC brands on Meta and YouTube through video — a team behind $1.2B+ in direct-to-consumer sales. Led performance management across client accounts and full-funnel customer acquisition.
Media Buyer & Performance Strategist
Sawtooth Media GroupA direct-response eCommerce agency built on three pillars — creative production, media buying, and revenue optimization. Ran data-driven acquisition campaigns to profitably scale eCommerce clients.
Work with me
Let's grow your brand.
South Swell Performance takes on a limited number of DTC and eCommerce brands. If you're trying to scale paid acquisition profitably or fix the retention math underneath it, let's talk.