Discounts for people who would buy anyway
An existing customer uses the first-purchase coupon, and ROAS takes credit for a sale you already had.
How to avoid waste
on Black Friday
(And the rest of the year)
Discounts, coupons, free shipping, samples, and paid media all cost money when you acquire a customer. In 19 lessons, Antoine Curti shows you what adds to your margin and when a high ROAS hides a loss.
- Choose the right metric for Black Friday success
- Allocate your budget across the levers of CAC Engineering
- Find and cut waste in paid media
- 4 years
- at Google, working with major advertisers
- 15+ years
- in paid media and business
- 19 lessons
- on business and media, plus bonuses
Testimonials
What Antoine’s students say
Feedback from participants in the Media and Finance Masterclass.
“I found it extremely clear, with language that was easy to understand.”
“Congratulations on the material, and thanks for putting so much effort into a session tailored to us. It was really valuable!”
“It was incredible! A look at so many layers of business and a conversation we’re not having right now. It was great!”
“I really enjoyed the course. Antoine teaches clearly, holds your attention, and makes a complex subject easier to understand.”
“Real client examples (income statements) and a comparison of attribution models.”
“Thank you for such complete, clear training. Three hours went by without me getting tired because everything was interesting and new.”
Experience
From major advertisers to growing brands
This method came from working with brands that invest heavily in media and have to explain every real to their finance team.
At Google · 4 years
At nowle
The problem
Record revenue.
Margin gone.
It happens every year. November ends with record revenue and a healthy-looking ROAS on the dashboard. In December, finance asks where the money went. In January, cash flow tells the story.
Where money leaks on Black Friday
Spending on people who are already customers
Remarketing and branded search terms take credit for sales that would have happened without an ad.
Kits that clear inventory without bringing customers back
The order is bigger, but the customer buys once and disappears until the next Black Friday.
Optimizing campaigns for clicks and carts
The algorithm delivers exactly what you asked for: cheap traffic that doesn’t buy.
ROAS targets in place of margin targets
You hit the platform’s target and lose money in the same month.
None of these mistakes show up in your ads manager.
All of them show up in your income statement.
A sample from the course
ROAS rose 20%.
Margin fell 24%.
Same product, R$200 order. Only campaign B offered a R$30 coupon for the first purchase.
Campaign A
No coupon
- Margin per new customer
- R$24.00
- ROAS
- 2.0
Campaign B
R$30 coupon
- Margin per new customer
- R$18.30
- ROAS
- 2.4
Campaign B earned R$5.70 less margin per new customer than campaign A.
For every 10 new customers, 4 existing customers also used the coupon. At R$25.50 per use after tax, that cut the initial R$28.50 margin by R$10.20 per new customer.
Who it’s for
For people who decide where the money goes
E-commerce owners
Ask your team or agency the right questions, with your margin figures in hand.
Marketing leaders
Make the case for your budget in the language finance speaks: margin, cash flow, and payback.
Paid media specialists
Move beyond day-to-day execution and think about media like a business partner.
This course is for you if:
- Your team or agency still uses ROAS as its main metric.
- Your business isn’t growing and you need a broader view through CAC Engineering.
- You want to make sure your paid media budget isn’t going to waste.
- Your campaign setup seems to lack a strategy.
This course is not for you if:
- You’re looking for a step-by-step guide to Google Ads or Meta Ads.
- You want a ready-made formula to double Black Friday revenue.
- You only track revenue and don’t want to look at margin.
The method
CAC Engineering
Paid media is one way to pay for a new customer.
Discounts, free shipping, and samples also cost money when you acquire a customer. These costs come out of revenue and never appear in your ads manager. CAC Engineering puts them into one calculation so you can compare each lever by the margin it generates.
6 offer levers beyond paid media
Price
A price change affects the margin on every order, including orders from existing customers.
Discounts
A discount costs you when you make a sale, including sales that would have happened without it.
Coupons
The easiest incentive for existing customers to use unintentionally.
Cashback
It rewards the next purchase, though it may do little to attract a new customer.
Free shipping
A subsidy that affects conversion and average order value.
Samples and gifts
You cover product and shipping costs to create a first experience.
+ Paid media
The only acquisition cost that appears in the ads manager, and the one that usually gets optimized.
The course framework in 3 steps
- 01
Define success
Total contribution margin, new customers at break-even, new customers with payback, or revenue, turnover, and stock.
- 02
Choose your model
The right choice depends on your financial model, your business challenge, and the challenge for each SKU.
- 03
Allocate capital across the levers
Adjust offers and media to your model so every real goes where it generates the most margin.
What’s inside
See exactly what you’ll learn
There are 19 lessons in four blocks: Business, Media, Bonuses, and Wrap-up. Swipe or use the arrows to browse each lesson.
01Business
4 ways to define Black Friday success
Four ways to measure success: total contribution margin, new customers at break-even, new customers with payback, or revenue, turnover, and inventory.
02Business
How to choose your Black Friday goal
How your financial model, business challenge, and SKU-level challenge determine which goal makes sense.
03Business
CAC Engineering
Six offer levers beyond paid media, and how to allocate capital across them to achieve your goal.
04Business
Make decisions by SKU or category
Why each product needs its own discount, shipping, and media decisions for Black Friday.
05Business
Post-purchase slump vs. discovery: favor combos over kits
When kits hurt repeat purchases and when a combo helps customers discover your brand.
06Business
Calculate the CAC of a free sample
Product, shipping, and conversion: what it really costs to acquire a customer through a sample.
07Business
Understand the price–volume curve
Elasticity in practice: when extra volume pays for a discount and when the discount erodes margin.
08Business
Choose the best entry product
How to choose the SKU that attracts customers most likely to buy again.
09Business
Stop coupon leakage
How to prevent coupons and discounts from rewarding people who would have bought anyway.
10Media
Build a daily media plan
How to allocate budget day by day during Black Friday week, beyond the monthly total.
11Media
Daily vs. monthly correlation
Why monthly reporting can hide media impact and daily reporting can reveal what is happening.
12Media
Spending on new vs. existing customers
How much of your budget goes to existing customers, and how to control it.
13Media
Audit what the algorithm is really doing
Simple tests to find out whether the platform drives new sales or simply takes credit for them.
14Media
Watch out for branded campaign metrics
Why branded campaigns can show high ROAS by capturing sales you would have made anyway.
15Media
The most common sources of waste
Campaign setup and optimization mistakes that burn budget, such as optimizing for traffic or carts.
16Media
Measurement and attribution
How to measure your real Black Friday results beyond the platform dashboard.
17Bonuses
Introduction to media and finance
A preview of the bonus on margin, cash flow, and payback, so you can talk to finance on equal terms.
18Bonuses
Introduction to the Merchant Center framework
A preview of the bonus on improving your product feed to compete in Google Shopping.
19
Wrap-up
A recap of the course decisions and the next steps for putting them into practice.
Meet your instructor
From Google to nowle: 15+ years making budget decisions
I spent four years at Google working with some of the biggest brands in Brazil and around the world, including Boticário, Ambev, Nestlé, Americanas, Renner, and Amazon. I saw firsthand how large companies make budget decisions and how even they can fall into the ROAS trap.
Today, as CEO of nowle, I apply that perspective with brands such as SuperCoffee, Aramis, MaisMu, NakedNuts, Guday, Athletica Nutrition, Nuture, InfinitePay, Gupy, and Mercado Bitcoin.
The frameworks, analyses, and costly mistakes in the course all come from that work. My goal is for you to finish the 19 lessons thinking about media like a business owner.
- 4 years
- at Google
- 15+ years
- of experience
- 19 lessons
- in the course
You can fix your campaigns today
Here’s an example: if you plan to invest R$50,000 in media this Black Friday and 10% goes to waste, that’s R$5,000 lost. The Essential plan costs R$287.
Essential
The full course to put the method into practice this Black Friday.
- Main course · 19 lessons
- 30-day guarantee
Not included:
- Media and Finance for Marketing Leaders course
- Bonus: Google Merchant Center framework
- Bonus: CAC Engineering cashback
Complete
Bring the method to your team, agency, and finance department.
- Main course · 19 lessons
- 30-day guarantee
- Media and Finance for Marketing Leaders courseContribution margin, cash flow, and payback to justify your budget.
- Bonus: Google Merchant Center frameworkReview feed titles, attributes, and images for Shopping.
- Bonus: CAC Engineering cashbackIf you later hire nowle for CAC Engineering, this plan’s price becomes project credit.
Exclusive Black Friday pricing is valid until November 30. Prices go up on December 1.
Guarantee
30 Days
Full refund upon request.
Black Friday offer ends in
Days Hours Min Sec
Black Friday offer endedFrequently asked questions
I’m new to Google Ads and Meta Ads. Will I understand the course?
Absolutely. You’ll learn to ask the right questions and give your team or agency clear direction. The course focuses on decisions and strategy. For step-by-step platform instructions, you’ll want a platform tutorial.
Is this another generic course made with AI?
No. The reasoning, frameworks, and analyses come from over 15 years working with brands including Boticário, SuperCoffee, Aramis, MaisMu, InfinitePay, Gupy, and Mercado Bitcoin.
I don’t work in e-commerce. Is it worth watching?
Yes, if you work in marketing and want to develop strategic and technical skills. Many concepts are fundamental to business and paid media in any industry.
What’s the difference between the Essential and Complete plans?
Both include the full course and the 30-day guarantee. Complete also includes Media and Finance for Marketing Leaders and two bonuses: a framework for improving products in Google Merchant Center and CAC Engineering cashback.
How long is this price available?
Until November 30. These prices are exclusive to Black Friday and go up afterward.
What if I don’t like it?
You have 30 days to request a refund.
Black Friday is coming either way.
You can still waste a lot less money.
Get Black Friday pricingFrom 10 payments of R$33.98 · 30-day guarantee · Valid until November 30