Weekly Call w/ Gilbert — 2025-11-19
Overview
Weekly sync between Mark Hope and Gilbert Barrongo covering Doodla Farms Amazon performance, Old World Popcorn pricing strategy, a margin improvement plan via bid reductions, and several critical Google Ads account issues.
Attendees: Gilbert Barrongo (gilbert.barrongo@asymmetric.pro), Mark Hope (mark.hope@asymmetric.pro)
Key Decisions
| Decision | Detail |
|---|---|
| Doodla Farms bid reduction | Reduce all Amazon ad bids by 2.5% (not 5%) and monitor ROAS for one week before reassessing |
| Old World Popcorn price | Hold at $29.99 — dropping below ~$20 would be unprofitable; not competitive but no viable alternative |
| Capital Bank | No action — client is canceling next month; YouTube campaign inefficiency is irrelevant |
| Asymmetric Marketing PPC | Campaign created but not yet activated; Mark not ready to launch |
Doodla Farms Performance
Revenue: November projected at $132k ($79k through Nov 18), up from $114k in October — +14% MoM growth.
Top-selling SKUs:
1. Yellow Cornmeal
2. White Popcorn
3. 5 lb Black Beans
4. Yellow Popcorn
5. 25 lb Black Beans
Inventory: New shipment in progress to prevent stockouts on top sellers.
Ads: Most campaigns performing well. Pink beans campaigns intentionally deprioritized due to low gross margin.
Old World Popcorn
November projection: ~$5,800 (down from $8,000 in October).
Root cause — pricing uncompetitiveness:
| Seller | Price/oz |
|---|---|
| Old World Popcorn | $0.31 |
| Amish | $0.19 |
| Anthony's | $0.18–$0.21 |
At $29.99 for 96 oz, Old World is priced significantly above the market. Dropping to $19.99 (~$0.21/oz) would match competitors but is not profitable.
Damaged bag issue: A new production run will use different packaging to address the damaged-bag problem that has affected reviews.
Decision: Hold price at $29.99 and monitor. No coupon currently active (insufficient review count).
Margin Improvement Plan
Current state: ~36% gross margin
Target: 40% within 1–2 weeks
Strategy: Reduce average ROAS from ~3.37 to ~3.0 by lowering Amazon ad bids.
Discussion:
- Mark suggested a 5% bid reduction to reach the target faster (10% reduction would mathematically move ROAS from 3.37 → 3.0)
- Gilbert pushed back, citing Amazon's sensitivity to large bid changes
- Agreed: 2.5% reduction across all campaigns, observe for one week, then reassess
"I think 2.5 is, let's take 2.5 first and then observe within a week." — Gilbert
Google Ads Issues
Advanced Health & Safety (AHS) — 🔴 Critical
- Issue: Conversion tracking is broken — counting page views as conversions
- Impact: Reporting thousands of conversions vs. the real ~17–18 leads
- Owner: Gilbert to follow up with Anup to audit and fix all conversion actions
- Context: Sebastian (also on the account) flagged this in a separate meeting the day prior
Reynolds Transfer — 🔴 Critical
- Campaign: "Madison Dane County Home"
- Issue: Over $1,500 spent with zero reported conversions
- Concern: Phone calls are likely the intended conversion type — tracking may be misconfigured
- Owner: Mark to investigate campaign goals and conversion setup, then advise Gilbert on budget/next steps
Capital Bank — ⚪ No Action
- YouTube campaigns showing high cost, low conversions
- Client canceling next month — no remediation needed
Asymmetric Marketing PPC — 🟡 Pending
- Campaign created by Mark but not yet active (error present)
- Mark not ready to launch; flagged as urgent in ClickUp but launch is intentionally deferred
Action Items
- [ ] Gilbert — Reduce Doodla Farms Amazon ad bids by 2.5% across all campaigns immediately after call; monitor ROAS; reassess in ~1 week
- [ ] Gilbert — Follow up with Anup to fix AHS conversion tracking (remove page view conversions, ensure only real leads are counted)
- [ ] Mark — Investigate Reynolds Transfer "Madison Dane County Home" campaign — verify conversion goals (phone calls), assess whether $1,500+ spend is producing real results, advise Gilbert on budget
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