Fractional CMO for Ecommerce and CPG Brands
Senior growth leadership for small CPG, ecommerce and consumer brands, from a founder who has sold two companies
At a glance: Provider: Dalai Group. Offer: Fractional Growth Leadership for CPG and ecommerce brands. Led by: Pilar Lazzati, 4X founder with two exits. Audience: small CPG, ecommerce, direct-to-consumer and other consumer brands.
A fractional CMO for a CPG or ecommerce brand is a senior marketing and revenue leader who works with your company part time, owning brand, demand and the numbers behind them. Dalai Group's Fractional Growth Leadership gives small CPG, ecommerce and direct-to-consumer brands a four-time founder in charge of strategy, channels and your team's priorities, without a full-time CMO hire.
Sales are flat, or costs keep climbing
Consumer founders usually come to us with a business problem, not a marketing one. Sales have stalled. Ad costs are up and the return is down. One retailer or one channel carries too much of the revenue. The brand is loved by customers and still unknown to most buyers. Those are leadership problems, and they are fixed from the top, with one plan and one person accountable for it.
What a fractional CMO does for a consumer brand
- Sets one revenue goal and a plan to reach it across brand, performance, email, retail and marketplaces
- Decides where the next dollar of marketing goes, and what to stop paying for
- Owns positioning, product pages and the offer, so more of your traffic buys
- Builds repeat purchase and retention, since the second order is where margin is made
- Builds search and organic demand that keeps working when you pause paid spend
- Leads your team, freelancers and agencies against numbers, not activity
- Reports in plain language: revenue, margin, customer acquisition cost and repeat rate
- Brings in AI and automation where they save real work, such as follow-up, reporting and content operations
Who this page serves
- CPG brands in food, beverage, household, beauty and personal care, sold through retailers and online
- Ecommerce and direct-to-consumer brands that sell on their own site and on marketplaces
- Consumer products companies that sell through both retail and online
- Retail, hospitality and travel brands
- Consumer brands owned by private equity firms
Companies are typically small, roughly 10 to 200 people.
What CPG and ecommerce brands need that other industries do not
- Seasonality. Plans are built around peaks, launches and quiet months, not a flat calendar.
- Channel mix. Your own site, retailers and marketplaces each have their own economics and rules.
- Retail relationships. Retail buyers, distributors and shelf placement shape what marketing can do.
- Margin, not just revenue. Growth that loses money on every order is not growth.
- Repeat customers. Email, loyalty and subscription tools are part of the marketing plan.
- Search and organic. Brands that rank for what buyers ask earn traffic without paying for each click.
- Reviews and proof. Buyers trust other buyers, so the plan includes how you earn and show them.
Proof from her own client work: for McCormick, she evaluated the issues holding back its Hispanic recipe website, McCormick Recipes, and built a new editorial calendar to grow the brand's traffic. She has also worked with eBay, Nestlé, Adidas and Marriott.
Private equity and consumer portfolio companies
Private equity firms bring in a fractional CMO to lift a portfolio company's revenue ahead of a raise, a hold-period target or an exit. The work is scoped to the value-creation plan: a 30-day revenue and go-to-market review, fixes that show up in numbers an operating partner tracks, and reporting built for a board.
How an engagement works
01Fit conversation, 20 minutes, free
02Revenue Audit, paid, fixed scope, with a ranked list of fixes
03AI Revenue System Sprint, if you want a specific system built
04Fractional Growth Leadership, ongoing, scoped to your needs
No price is shown on this page.
Fractional CMO vs agency vs full-time CMO for CPG and ecommerce brands
| Fractional CMO | Agency | Full-time CMO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | Senior leadership and a plan | Execution of channels | A dedicated executive on payroll |
| Best when | You need leadership now and cannot yet justify a full-time seat | You have a strategy and need hands | You have scale, a team and a long runway |
| Cost | Scoped to need | Retainer plus media | Salary, benefits and equity |
| Risk | Short commitment | Retainer | Salary, equity and severance |
Why Pilar
Pilar Lazzati is a 4X founder with two exits. She co-built MailCreations and sold it to Livedoor, a public company, for more than $6 million. She grew 1001 Consejos from under $1,000 to 20 million visitors a month with no ads, pure SEO. She ran Dalai Group for 21 years serving global consumer goods and consumer brands as well as clients across media, financial services, technology and health, and has led HubSpot and Salesforce migrations. Her consumer brand work includes McCormick, eBay, Nestlé, Adidas and Marriott. For the last three years she has built AI revenue systems and agents: pipeline follow-up, editorial and HR engines, an AI Chief of Staff, an AI CMO, an AI marketing brain and a GTM engine.
Questions founders ask
What does a fractional CMO do for a CPG brand?
Owns marketing strategy and the revenue plan part time: brand, retail and online channels, retention and reporting, with accountability for results.
What does a fractional CMO do for an ecommerce brand?
Sets one revenue goal and the plan to reach it: where the next dollar of marketing goes, how the site converts, how customers come back, and how the team is led.
Is this for CPG brands that sell through retailers?
Yes. The plan covers retail and online together, since the two affect each other.
Is this for direct-to-consumer brands?
Yes. It fits direct-to-consumer, ecommerce and marketplace brands led by a founder.
Can you work with our existing team and agencies?
Yes. That is the usual setup. A fractional CMO decides what work is worth doing and directs the people who do it.
How many hours a week?
It depends on need. Engagements are scoped to the problem, not sold as a fixed package.
What does it cost?
It is scoped to your needs. For market context, see our fractional CMO cost guide.
Where do we start?
Most engagements begin with the Revenue Audit, so you know the first fix before you commit to ongoing leadership.