In the rapidly evolving world of direct-to-consumer commerce, where brands are competing aggressively for attention and profitability, performance marketing alone is no longer enough.
According to Chetan B. Lohar, Founder and Growth Strategist at Spense Marketing Co, many brands fail not because of poor products, but because they misunderstand how growth actually works in modern digital marketing.
Over the past four years, Lohar has quietly built a performance-driven marketing firm focused on helping D2C brands scale sustainably. Through his agency, he has worked with 65+ brands and contributed to over ₹82 crore in revenue, positioning himself as one of the emerging voices in India’s new generation of D2C growth strategists.
From Entrepreneurial Experiments to Building a Marketing Engine
Lohar’s journey into the D2C ecosystem did not begin with an agency.
Before launching Spense Marketing, he experimented with several online ventures, including Amazon affiliate marketing, print-on-demand products, dropshipping, and his own clothing brand.
Each of these businesses exposed him to a different part of the digital commerce ecosystem.
“I was learning marketing from the ground up,” Lohar explains. “When you run your own products, you understand how every part of the funnel affects revenue.”
One of his ventures, a clothing brand called Hanger, saw strong traction before he eventually had to close it due to personal circumstances. Despite the setback, the experience gave him deep insight into the operational and marketing challenges that D2C founders face.
It was this experience that led him to launch Spense Marketing Co.
Why Most D2C Brands Fail With Paid Ads
When Lohar first started his agency, the focus was purely on paid advertising.
But early client campaigns revealed a recurring problem.
“Clients expected ads alone to drive results,” he says. “But ads are only one part of the system.”
Through trial, analysis, and repeated experimentation, Lohar realized that paid traffic cannot compensate for weaknesses elsewhere in the funnel.
According to him, successful D2C growth depends on a combination of four critical elements:
- High-performing creatives that generate interest
• Optimized product and landing pages that convert traffic
• Paid advertising that attracts the right audience
• Retention marketing that drives repeat purchases
This insight eventually led to the development of Spense Marketing’s proprietary framework.
The SM Velocity Engine
To solve the scaling challenges faced by D2C brands, Lohar introduced what he calls the SM Velocity Engine.
The framework combines multiple growth drivers into one unified system:
- Paid advertising
• Conversion rate optimization (CRO)
• User-generated content (UGC)
• AI-driven creative testing
• Retention and lifecycle marketing
Instead of relying solely on ad targeting, the engine focuses on improving every step of the customer journey.
“Our goal is not just to increase ROAS,” Lohar explains. “We focus on improving the entire funnel.”
That includes metrics such as: - Click-through rate (CTR)
• Cost per click (CPC)
• Conversion rate
• Average order value (AOV)
• Repeat purchase rate
“Even a 20% improvement at each stage compounds into massive revenue growth,” he says.
Scaling D2C Brands With a Focused Client Model
Unlike many large marketing agencies that manage dozens or even hundreds of clients simultaneously, Spense Marketing operates with a deliberately limited model.
The company works with only 15 brands at a time.
The reasoning is simple.
“Many agencies take too many clients and end up giving very little attention to each one,” Lohar explains. “We prefer to stay small and focused so we can actually help brands grow.”
This hands-on approach has already produced strong results for several brands.
One example is the D2C brand Weaving Mystery, which Spense Marketing helped scale from ₹1 lakh per month to ₹1 lakh per day in revenue.
The Strategy Behind Consistent Scaling
According to Lohar, the key to scaling a brand consistently lies in identifying winning product angles before aggressively increasing ad spend.
His team begins by validating product-market fit through creative testing and audience response.
Once the winning angles are identified, they move to optimize the brand’s website experience and conversion flow before scaling advertising.
“That’s what creates stable growth,” Lohar says. “Otherwise brands burn money on ads without fixing the fundamentals.”
A Bigger Vision for Indian D2C Brands
While Spense Marketing continues to grow, Lohar’s ambitions extend beyond agency services.
His long-term vision includes helping Indian brands build stronger global presence.
“I want to help 100 D2C brands cross ₹1 crore in monthly revenue in the coming years,” he says.
Alongside this mission, Lohar is also working toward launching his own international D2C brand.
His broader goal is to contribute to the global recognition of Indian consumer brands.
“India has incredible founders and products,” he says. “The next step is helping them build brands that compete globally.”
Looking Ahead
As the D2C landscape becomes more competitive and performance marketing evolves, founders who understand the entire growth system—not just advertising—are becoming increasingly valuable.
Entrepreneurs like Chetan B. Lohar represent a new generation of operators who combine hands-on business experience with modern digital growth strategies.
Through Spense Marketing Co and the SM Velocity Engine framework, Lohar is positioning himself at the intersection of performance marketing, creative strategy, and D2C brand scaling.
With a growing portfolio of client success stories and a vision to help Indian brands expand globally, his journey in the D2C ecosystem is only just beginning.
Website: https://spensemarketing.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chetanlohar/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ady_chetan/
