Leo Gubbins
Email & SMS / Marketing / Co-Founder of Nudge
Toronto, ON
www.nudgestudio.xyz
twitter @LeoGubbins
linkedin @leogubbins
Q What do you do?
“I’m a marketer and graphic designer who is one-half of the email & SMS studio. My focus is building loyalty and retention systems to supercharge sales for DTC brands. ”
Q What steps did you take to get to where you are now?
Transitioning from my roots in social media to a wider scope encompassing content strategy, e-commerce, creative strategy, and brand marketing sparked a pivotal transformation. I’ve worked for household names such as Adidas, Beats by Dre, Diageo, The North Face, Pernod Ricard, Unilever, Red Bull, Champion, Converse, Google, and Nike. These days, I’m fortunate enough to collaborate with the internet’s favourite DTC brands under my email and SMS studio.
Q How do you stand out in your field?
I’m the Co-Founder of Nudge, we're a team of DTC experts building your winning campaigns and flows. We use expert strategies to keep our brands' customers engaged and excited to open their emails, we're focused on working within brand guidelines to create a personalized experience for readers and content that turns heads.
Q What are you working on right now?
I’m wrapping up a project for Matty Matheson’s clothing brand Rosa Rugosa and working on another project for Adam Levine’s Calirosa Tequila. It’s been a year of celebrity brands for the team at Nudge. I’m also supporting new DTC brands in emerging categories, these get me excited as I enjoy the challenge of a highly regulated industry or complex product education.
Q What’s your style?
My expertise is conversion-focused design and I've worked both in-house and agency-side for global brands and DTC startups. I'm not looking to win awards, I'd prefer that the numbers do the talking and our brands continue to work with us.
Q Out of all your slashies, which one do you wish you could do more often?
Self-promotion is one skill I'd like to focus on. Being a Brit who lives in North America, it doesn't come naturally. I'm a believer in "don't tell me what you're going to do, show me what you've done."
Q What is frustrating you right now?
Take time to promote the work we're doing; it's the last on our priority list when our focus is putting attention on the brands we're supporting. This year, we're focused on growing our brand awareness to showcase some of our work.
Q If you could hire someone for $20/hour, what would you have them do to make your day easier?
An animator! I love animations and renders, I'd love to find a way to make our winning emails become physical objects we could send to our clients.
Q What do you wish you could have told yourself, when, and why?
That online shopping accelerated during 20' - 22' and your skills in community, content and e-commerce would become a core part of a brands sales.
Q If you could talk to an expert to gain more insight on something, what would it be about?
Showing me new exciting and challenging categories I could support with Nudge, we want to test new industries and learn with founders what makes their audience engaged.
Q What kind of opportunities/projects are you looking for?
To work with a variety of e-commerce brands that want help in increasing sales through email and SMS marketing. I enjoy partnering with founders and operators who appreciate the journey of brand building. We like it when brands see Nudge as an extension of their team and trust the process.
Q Describe your ideal job/client/collaboration.
Blue-collar service businesses are always in demand and there are so many that would benefit from email marketing, I'd like to find ways we can work with them.
Q What is your rate?
We're for brands looking to scale, so get in touch to discuss what you need and how we can achieve it. Our rates are reflective of the amount of campaigns or flows we'll work on and the length of the engagement.
Q How should someone approach you about working together?
Feel free to reach out via email at leo@nudgestudio.xyz, or you can visit the Nudge Studio website to schedule a call with me.
Q Who is a creative you admire?
Huge fan of Wedge Studio as they've worked on some of my favourite brands and know their lane of expertise.
Q Oh! and… how do you stay creative?
Online communities, I'm a myspace-era guy who loves to connect with people.
This member profile was originally published in April 2024