In this episode of the Harvest Growth Podcast, Jon LaClare sits down with Jason Carman of Pop Darts and Pretty Dope Games to explore how an entertaining product became a viral social media success—and eventually a nationally televised sport on ESPN.
Jason shares the marketing lessons Pop Darts learned through years of testing hundreds of videos, live streams, sales channels, and promotional opportunities. He explains why brands must capture attention within the first few seconds of a video, entertain customers before selling to them, and continually test what works for their specific product instead of blindly copying another company’s strategy.
The conversation also dives into the challenges of measuring marketing performance across TikTok, Amazon, a direct-to-consumer website, retail, and television. Jason explains how Pop Darts combines attribution tools, Media Efficiency Ratio, sales data, and founder intuition to determine which marketing investments are actually growing the business.
Jason also shares practical ways his team uses AI to solve real operational problems, including connecting Notion, Klaviyo, and Claude to plan email campaigns based on upcoming promotions and product launches.
Beyond digital marketing, you’ll hear how Pop Darts transformed livestreaming success into televised tournaments, built a relationship with ESPN, and used entertainment-focused events to establish Pop Darts as more than a game. Jason also discusses the difficult realities of protecting a successful product from thousands of copycat sellers and why intellectual property enforcement must be taken seriously.
In today’s episode of the Harvest Growth Podcast, we cover:
● How to capture customer attention within the first three seconds of a video
● Why entertaining your audience should come before explaining your product
● How Pop Darts tests social media content and connects views to sales
● The difference between ROAS and Media Efficiency Ratio
● How founders can combine analytics with intuition when attribution is unclear
● A practical way to use AI for email marketing and campaign planning
● How livestreaming helped Pop Darts generate measurable sales growth
● How Pop Darts turned a consumer product into a sport broadcast on ESPN
● Why strong business relationships can unlock unexpected opportunities
● How successful product brands can protect themselves from copycats
● And so much more!
If you’re building a consumer product brand and want to learn how viral content, careful testing, AI, live video, strategic partnerships, and traditional television can work together, this episode offers valuable lessons from a company that successfully turned attention into long-term brand growth.
To learn more about Pop Darts, visit PopDartsGame.com or follow @PopDartsGame on social media.
Do you have a brand you’d like to launch or grow? Visit HarvestGrowth.com to book a free consultation and learn how our team can help you identify the right audience, messaging, offer, and marketing strategy before you invest heavily in media.
