– What Kevin O’Leary Wants Brands to Know
At Diray Media, we’ve always believed in the power of a great story—backed by data, delivered at scale, and driven by performance. Turns out, so does Kevin O’Leary.
At Shoptalk Spring in Las Vegas, the “Shark Tank” investor didn’t hold back on what separates brands that scale from those that stall. And if you’re thinking your product alone is enough to win over investors—think again.
O’Leary made it clear that too many founders pitch the same idea over and over without a distinct point of view. What today’s market demands is a standout story—one that cuts through the noise and connects with people in a meaningful way. [Source: Retail Dive]
But for O’Leary, storytelling isn’t just about being entertaining—it’s about performance. It’s about turning narrative into numbers.
“What they look at first is, has the company figured out a way to take their story [and] build a community? Because that’s really what works now in terms of consumer goods and services.” – Kevin O’Leary, via Retail Dive
That community starts with brand awareness. And awareness that converts starts with smart media strategy. O’Leary made it clear: if you’re spending $50K or more a month on advertising and not testing TV, you’re doing it wrong.
“Television, in many ways, is better than social media… You’re not competing with scrolling… This s— works.” – Kevin O’Leary
At Diray, we’ve seen it firsthand. The brands that break through—especially in today’s over-saturated DTC space—aren’t those throwing every dollar into digital. They’re the ones using television as part of a full-funnel strategy, leveraging total video to scale efficiently and sustainably.
And if you think your brand can’t afford TV, ask yourself: can you afford not to?
Rising customer acquisition costs (CAC) have left many brands spinning their wheels. O’Leary doesn’t mince words here either:
“If you buy into a company that hasn’t figured out CAC — they basically go bankrupt, advertising themselves into oblivion.” – Kevin O’Leary
Diray Media helps brands escape that spiral. We optimize your media spend across screens—linear and digital—so that your return on ad spend (ROAS) isn’t just a metric. It’s a mandate.
The bottom line? Beautiful creative means nothing if it doesn’t drive results. As O’Leary bluntly put it:
“‘Oh, we don’t worry about that — we’re brand building.’ That’s the code for ‘I don’t know what the beep I’m doing.’”
We couldn’t agree more.
Whether you’re a disruptor in wellness, home, food, toys, or tech—Diray Media helps you go to market with strategy, scale, and a story worth telling. And yes, we’ll even keep your CAC in check.
Let’s get your brand on TV—and get you results worth talking about.
.