The Calm Before the Brandstorm: Malena Martin on the DTC Sleep Revolution

In a landscape shaped by AI breakthroughs, shifting user behavior, and new rules for digital growth, marketing leaders are being forced to rewrite the playbook in real time. 

We sat down with one of Latin America’s most forward-thinking CMOs. Meet Malena Martín—a marketing and growth leader with over a decade of experience scaling high-impact startups across Latin America. Today, she’s the CMO at Calm, an Argentine DTC brand that’s redefining sleep with premium-quality mattresses, pillows, and bedding—delivered fast, trialed at home, and backed by standout customer experience. Calm isn’t just selling better sleep—it’s building a brand around thoughtful, tech-enabled simplicity. Previously, Malena held leadership roles at Flybondi (Argentina’s first low-cost airline), and currently teaches eCommerce at CEMA University while mentoring entrepreneurs across the region.

In this interview, Malena shares her take on what makes startup environments so dynamic, why conversational positioning is the future of brand building, and how LATAM’s DTC landscape is evolving.

Inside LATAM Startups: Why CMO Malena Martín Loves Building from Scratch

You’ve led marketing teams at multiple startups. What do you enjoy most about that environment?

What I enjoy most is the opportunity to build from scratch. In a startup, you get to witness how an idea becomes something tangible—something that impacts thousands of people. And that doesn’t happen just because you have a big budget or a perfect playbook. It happens when you have a committed team, the courage to make bold decisions, and the discipline to listen—really listen—to your customers and the market.

I love being close to the product, close to the user, and close to the data. I’m motivated by what’s still unresolved.

There’s also a unique kind of energy in startups—you can shift the direction of the brand in weeks, not years. 

How Conversational Branding Is Replacing Touchpoints in the AI Era

We’re living through a fundamental shift in how the internet works and how people make decisions online. What will separate the brands that thrive from the ones that fall behind?

The winning brands will be the ones that understand it’s no longer just about communicating—it’s about becoming part of a user’s decision-making process long before they’re ready to buy.

The old model of "touchpoints" is fading. Today, it all begins with a conversation—with a friend, with a community, or even with an LLM. The new brand positioning isn’t just visual or performance-based—it’s conversational.

The brands that thrive will be the ones designed to be talked about, searched for, and recommended—not just clicked on.

And most importantly, they’ll be the ones that embrace change and make it work for them. Thanks to AI, you can now create content, experiences, and even products at a speed we couldn’t imagine five years ago. But if you’re still thinking with a 2019 mindset, no tool is going to save you.

What Sets Latin America’s DTC Brands Apart? Lessons from Calm

You’re currently CMO at Calm, one of the country’s most successful DTC startups. How do you see the landscape for DTC brands in Latin America?

LATAM is fertile ground for DTC—but it plays by its own rules. You can’t just copy what worked in the U.S. or Europe and expect the same results.

The DTC brands that truly grow are the ones that recognize direct selling isn’t just about having a website—it’s about crafting an end-to-end experience. One where the user feels heard, responded to, and supported at every step.

At Calm, we realized early on that the experience is the product. Delivery, post-sale service, unboxing, return policies—all of those details matter just as much as the mattress design itself.

Today, the real differentiator in DTC isn’t product customization—it’s relationship personalization. It’s about what the brand chooses to say, how it behaves, and how it makes people feel.

What’s the Best Growth Channel for DTC Brands Today? Hint: It’s Not TikTok

What’s your favorite growth channel right now?

Tough question—I believe more in systems than in isolated channels. But if I had to choose one, I’d say Google. All of it: Search, Shopping, Performance Max.

Why? Because that’s where user intent is already there. If you know how to read that intent, Google gives you a roadmap to design better products, sharper messages, and more relevant experiences.

That said, I also have a soft spot for channels that don’t scale as easily: a well-written email, a meaningful influencer collab, a thoughtful WhatsApp voice note. In a world drowning in content, the handcrafted still moves people.

Why Human Connection Still Wins in an AI-Powered Future

One prediction before we go?

Everything old that works tends to come back. So even though we’re in a very powerful AI moment, human connection, real experiences, and emotional proximity will still matter—a lot.

Bonus prediction: SEO won’t be for Google anymore. It’ll be for LLMs. Brands will need to understand how AI models are trained, how sources are cited, and how to create content that influences automated responses.

Whoever figures that out now will win the new version of “position zero” when someone asks ChatGPT or any other assistant, What’s the best brand for X?

Future-proof your brand in the age of LLMs and constant reinvention

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