A big thank you to Frederick Smith and Martine Darlington for being so generous
By Elevate The Amazon Agency Accelerator · November 7, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
A big thank you to Frederick Smith and Martine Darlington for being so generous and candid with their brand-side perspectives on this.
My single biggest takeaway: whether you're a multi-channel heritage brand or a lean Amazon-native founder, friction usually starts when there isn’t a clear agreement on three basic questions:
Who recommends?
Who decides?
Who executes?
If the brand doesn't share enough commercial context, the agency can't advise properly. If the agency tries to own channel pricing in a vacuum, the brand's wider retail margins suffer.
Where do you draw the line in your business?