Founder Fireside: Feras and Eric of New Standard

There used to be another name for email marketing - spam.

In the early days of the internet, inboxes were filled with dumb jokes, scammy messages from the Prince of Nigeria, and requests to forward a message in order to avoid bad luck.

Retention marketing has come a long way since then. Any ambitious DTC brand must integrate email and SMS into their core marketing processes in order to have a hope at growing quickly (and profitably). 

There is, however, a divide between doing email marketing and doing email marketing well. Far more attention is paid to acquisition and media buying by most brands and agencies, leaving retention relatively under-appreciated or under-leveraged by a lot of CMOs. 

We recently sat down with Feras Khouri and Eric Rausch, founders of retention marketing agency New Standard which is already working with some of the biggest brands in e-commerce. 

We talked about their journey as founders, the importance of retention, and what brands need to know to do in order to optimize their email marketing. 

DTC Times: Let's kick things off by talking about how New Standard came to be. What led you both to start this agency, and how did you meet?

Feras Khouri: “It all started about five years ago when I founded a jewelry brand. 

That was my first step into e-commerce. I had an engineering background, so I didn't know much about pricing, distribution, or margins. But I dove headfirst into the jewelry space, learned everything I could, and scaled the business from zero to eight figures in just three years. 

I also learned that selling jewelry to men was tough, and getting them to buy again was even harder. That's where I began to understand retention. Retention became an obsession because I realized that if I couldn't get customers to come back, the business wouldn't be sustainable. 

I hired and fired several agencies to help with email and SMS marketing, but none of them seemed to really get it. They were all executing the basics without a real strategy, and that wasn't enough. Eventually, I realized that there was a huge gap in the market for an agency that truly understood the nuances of retention and could provide a strategic approach. 

Eric Rausch: “I've been in the brand and agency space for over 12 years, working with brands from startups to Fortune 500 companies. My journey started at the Chicago Tribune and LA Times, where I worked on their digital footprint as they transitioned into the digital age. From there, I moved to Digitas, which is part of the Publicis Groupe, where I worked on major campaigns for brands like Sprint, Dunkin' Donuts, and Audible.

Feras and I both went to Arizona State University at the same time, but we didn't actually meet back then. We had a lot of mutual friends, but it wasn't until a trip to Breckenridge—sitting in a hot tub, freezing our butts off—that we connected over our shared views on e-commerce and marketing. 

We started talking about the state of the industry, the challenges we were seeing, and the opportunities to do things better. We realized that our skills were very complementary—Feras had the brand owner experience, while I brought the agency and strategic campaign expertise.”

Finding traction 

DTC Times: When you launched New Standard, what was the initial approach, and how did you pivot to where you are now?

Feras: “We started about a year and a half ago with a proof of concept. 

Initially, we partnered with another company to offer both content and retention services. The idea was that Eric and I would focus on e-commerce and retention while our partner handled content. 

In those early days, we were working with smaller clients, trying to prove that our approach could work. We started with one client paying us $2,500 a month, and we were basically doing everything we could for them—email, SMS, strategy, execution, you name it. It was a grind, but we started to see results.

The more we worked with these clients, the more it became clear that what they really needed wasn't just execution—they needed a strategic partner who could help them think through their entire retention strategy.”

DTC Times: Was there a point where you realized retention wasn't getting as much attention as acquisition?

Eric: “1000 percent. We realized that retention wasn't getting the same level of rigor as acquisition. 

On the acquisition side, brands have analysts, reporting tools, and a whole infrastructure to optimize and measure performance.

But on the retention side, it was often just a junior designer or marketer sending out emails without any real strategy. We knew we could do better, and that's what we set out to do.”

DTC Times: So what did you do differently to bridge that gap?

Eric: “We started to position ourselves as more than just an execution agency. 

We were strategic partners. We worked with brands to understand their customer journey, their pain points, and their opportunities for growth. 

We started getting into meetings with larger brands, and it became clear that even these big names were missing the mark when it came to retention. They might have been doing great on acquisition, but they weren't thinking about how to keep those customers engaged and loyal. 

We brought that strategic perspective, and that's what helped us grow.” 

DTC Times: What have been the biggest levers for growth, and what landmines have you encountered along the way?

Eric: “The biggest lever for us has been building genuine partnerships—connections that aren't solely about 'what can you do for me?' 

We've made an effort to meet people, learn what they're up to, and offer help without expecting anything in return. That kind of openness has led to big wins, including getting a big-name client that helped us establish credibility.”

Feras: “One of the biggest lessons we learned is that people are both the most rewarding and the most challenging part of the business. 

Hiring the right team has been crucial. In the beginning, we tried hiring a junior person to help with some of the smaller accounts, but we quickly realized that wasn't our model. We needed experienced, top-tier talent to deliver the kind of strategic value we promise our clients. It was a costly mistake, but it taught us that we have to either go all in on providing high-quality service or not at all.”

Retention Advice for Brands

DTC Times: Let's switch gears and talk about what you've learned in retention and email marketing. What can DTC brands learn from your experiences?

Eric: “The number one thing is understanding the customer journey—moving from prospect to first-time buyer, to repeat buyer, and ultimately to brand evangelist. 

You need to know what message your customer needs to hear at each stage and make sure your messaging supports that journey. It's not just about selling a product; it's about nurturing a relationship. You want your customer to feel connected to your brand, to understand your values, and to see themselves as part of your story.

Segmentation is also key. 

A lot of brands aren't using the insights from campaign segmentation to improve their automated flows. Segmentation isn't just about targeting engaged or non-engaged users—it’s about understanding the nuances of your customer base and delivering messages that are relevant to each specific segment. By leveraging advanced segmentation, you can speak more directly to customers’ needs, whether they’re repeat buyers, one-time purchasers, or even those who abandoned carts. 

The more personalized the experience, the more impactful your campaigns will be.”

DTC Times: What about testing? How should brands approach that?

Eric: “Testing is critical—but not just testing for the sake of it. 

You need to test with a strategic goal that can be applied across channels. Too many brands do basic testing without thinking about how the insights can inform other areas of their marketing. For example, if a particular subject line works well in an email campaign, think about how you can take that message and apply it to your paid social ads or SMS campaigns. 

Testing should be about creating a feedback loop that makes your entire marketing strategy stronger.”

Feras: “Brands might say they're optimizing for email revenue, but they aren't clear on whether they're focused on repeat purchase rate, customer lifetime value (CLV), or something else. 

It's crucial to have a clear understanding of your key performance indicators (KPIs) and optimize for those metrics specifically. Knowing your KPIs will help you make decisions that actually move the needle.

Another thing we see is that brands often underestimate the importance of aligning their retention efforts with acquisition. Retention doesn't happen in a vacuum. If your paid media is attracting the wrong type of customer, retention is going to be a lot harder. 

That's why it's important to have that full-funnel view—from the initial ad that brought the customer in, to the post-purchase experience that keeps them coming back. The entire journey should feel cohesive, and the messaging should reinforce why the customer chose you in the first place.”

DTC Times: Why do you think established brands often struggle with retention?

Eric: “Because of misaligned incentives and the internal dynamics of their teams. 

When you're working on the brand side, especially in large organizations, there's often a lot of bureaucracy and a focus on short-term wins. The internal teams are usually incentivized based on metrics like immediate sales growth or the number of campaigns executed, rather than the long-term health of the customer relationship. This misalignment means that retention efforts don't always get the attention or the resources they need.

On the brand side, full-time employees aren't typically rewarded based on retention performance metrics like customer lifetime value or repeat purchase rates. They're more focused on keeping things running smoothly and not necessarily pushing the envelope on strategy.  

Agencies, on the other hand, have a different incentive structure—we're incentivized to deliver measurable results for our clients because our contracts depend on it. That means we're always looking for ways to improve, optimize, and make a real impact.”

DTC Times: Great insights. It sounds like you're approaching retention with a much broader perspective, which is exactly what brands need today. Thanks so much for sharing your story and advice.

Follow Feras on X here or Linkedin here. 

Follow Eric on X here or Linkedin here. 

Check out New Standard here.