Expo West has always been a special gathering for brands, marketers, and innovators, but for Sreenath Reddy of Intentwise, Expo West 2026 carries added significance. Based in San Diego, his team shows up in full force, connecting with supplement and coffee brands while scouting what’s new. This year’s conversations are as much about data, AI, and strategy as they are about products.
In a conversation with Kevin Lee of the eMarketing Association, Reddy unpacked how brands can navigate marketplaces, influencers, KPIs, and the emerging world of AI-driven and zero-click search.
Many brands struggle with the tension between control and reach. They want to own the customer relationship, which pushes them toward direct-to-consumer (DTC), yet they also need to be present wherever customers choose to shop, including Amazon, Walmart, and TikTok Shop. Some brands have tried to avoid marketplaces entirely and go pure DTC, but that hasn’t always worked out. Reddy argues the real challenge isn’t choosing a single “right” channel, but mastering the ones you’re already in before expanding further.
The reality is that channel lines are blurring. Amazon’s “Buy with Prime” can sit on a Shopify site, Amazon ads can drive traffic back to DTC, and TikTok Shop can create halo effects on Amazon performance. In this environment, the key question becomes: are you executing well and understanding cross-channel influence, rather than simply accumulating more channels?
That same philosophy of depth over breadth shapes Reddy’s view on influencers. As Intentwise moves deeper into platforms like TikTok, they see that not all influencers are equal. A small subset will drive outsized results, and brands are better served by building authentic, long-term relationships with those partners rather than taking a “spray and pray” approach. Influencers want recognition across channels too, whether a purchase happens on Amazon, a brand’s website, or elsewhere, so treating them as true partners is essential.
Data and KPIs are where Intentwise leans in most heavily. Kevin Lee points out that many brands rely on narrow metrics such as ROAS or acquisition cost without considering existing customers or broader impact. Reddy agrees but notes the deeper issue: brands are drowning in channel data yet starved for insight. The problem is not data scarcity but underutilization and lack of connection across platforms.
Some of the fastest-growing brands are shifting toward a more holistic view using concepts like Total Return on Marketing (TROM), which compares aggregate ad spend to total sales across channels. They also pay attention to net new customer acquisition where platforms like Amazon provide that visibility, and they use brand search volume and organic ranking as practical proxies for upper-funnel performance.
The conversation turns to AI and zero-click search. As generative AI tools answer more questions directly, organic discovery is changing. Reddy believes it’s still early, but brands should start asking whether their products surface when consumers query tools like ChatGPT.
For Reddy, Expo West provides a snapshot of how quickly the landscape is shifting. The brands that win will be those that embrace multi-channel complexity, build real influencer partnerships, turn fragmented data into unified insight, measure success holistically, and start preparing now for an AI-shaped future of discovery.
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