Day 2 of the Marketing Summit Series covered everything under two themes: Marketing During Social Change and Mastering Lifecycle Marketing. We loved hearing all the insights and best practices our speakers shared throughout the day. If you weren’t able to attend or you were too busy watching to take notes, we’ve outlined the main takeaways from each session below.
P.S. There’s still time to register for the final day of the Marketing Summit Series on February 3rd: Sign up here.
Session: Managing Culture and Marketing in Times of Social Change
Speakers:
Guy Harkless, Senior Vice President and General Manager at Eastbay/Champs
Na’im McKee, VP, Marketing at AboveBoard
- Against the backdrop of lockdowns and sports teams not participating in person due to Covid, Eastbay leaned into the ecommerce and multichannel side, as well as shifting to marketing focus toward the new “home workout” customer.
- By committing $200M over the next 5 years to the Black community, Eastbay hopes to be deeply invested and understand how to use their operating model to be intentional about creating change, such as working with more Black-owned brands.
- Eastbay also worked to grow their female customer base and represent their product in a more inclusive way. They created an empowerment platform called Conquer and have worked with Helen Maroulis, the first woman to receive an Olympic gold medal in wrestling.
Session: Emotionally Connecting with Consumers in Difficult Times
Speakers:
Jake Weatherly, CEO & Co-Founder at SheerID
Taryn Rayment, CMO at FTD
- Connecting with consumers during Covid required understanding the shifts in consumer behavior. As FTD moved to be a more data-driven enterprise, their capability to test and adapt improved.
- Some trends they noticed were: an increase in self-consumption and decrease in gifting, as well as an increase in gifting for day-to-day occasions that people would usually be able to celebrate in person (e.g., baby showers) and a decrease in special occasions that were canceled due to Covid (e.g., funerals).
- Both businesses and consumers needed to feel confident that FTD’s ability to do things and deliver had not been impacted by Covid, so FTD increased transparency to provide reassurance.
Panel: How Brands are Taking a Stand on Social Issues
Speakers:
Matt Scanlan, CEO & Co-Founder at Naadam
Alex Waldman, Co-Founder & Creative Director at Universal Standard
Saskia van Gendt, Head of Sustainability at Rothy’s
- Social issues aren’t inherently “fun” to talk about, but it can at least be done in an authentic, caring way: incorporate your value system into your brand’s personality and don’t be afraid to express emotion in different ways, whether that’s showing enthusiasm or frustration about the social issue your brand tackles.
- While communicating your mission to consumers is important, ultimately, it’s the quality of the product that will drive conversion.
- Not all backlash should be ignored—with more mediums than ever where customers can engage and provide feedback, it is crucial to know when to listen and respond to community engagement.
- Brands looking to incorporate social issues in their business model should take immediate action, share that first step and be transparent during the process to show customers that the commitment is real.
Panel: From Like to Love: Creating a Deeper Connection with Customers
Speakers:
Julie Bornstein, CEO at The Yes
Claire Chambers, Chief Commercial Officer at Food52
Joon Silverstein, SVP, Global Digital, Customer Experience & NA Marketing at Coach
Dion Picco, Vice President, Products at Acquia
Scott Ableman, Chief Marketing Officer
- Rethink the role of stores and associates to better engage with customers where and how they want to engage. Brands are finding that people want (and need) to engage in new digital ways.
- Loyalty is created by ensuring your customers feel seen and understood by your brand.
- Mobile is a critical platform type for ecommerce that can also be used to help foster community and provide entertainment.
- Mistakes to avoid when engaging with customers:
- Don’t underestimate the digital maturity of your customers.
- Don’t fall into false narratives about the brand you want to be or customers you want to have.
- Don’t assume the ultimate goal of engagement is always conversion.
- Don’t treat new customers better than existing customers.
Session: The Untapped ROI of Caring Post Sale
Speakers:
Jeoffrey Jouannet, VP Care & Retention at Japhy
Ethan Bourland, Business Developer at Shipup
- Many customer service teams spend a significant amount of time answering shipping and “WISMO” questions. Shipup’s services help create your own tracking notifications, eliminating the number of delivery support tickets and improving the customer experience.
- Customer care should be a part of your business strategy—customers put their trust in you, so show up and be proactive about addressing their needs.
- With post-sale care, you can improve loyalty while simultaneously decreasing cost.
Session: Customer Experience: Balancing Details and The Big Picture
Speakers:
Thomas Davis, International Digital Operations Director at Cartier
Cathaleen Chen. Sr. Editorial Associate at The Business of Fashion
- For a traditional brick and mortar company like Cartier, the need to cross channels was not always relevant like it is today. But, having a division between online and in-person makes it difficult for customers to recreate those interactions and connections they make in person.
- They have been working to create a more seamless customer experience that flows well between online and in person, allowing customers to have better communication with the brand.
- Making online shopping as exciting as in-person shopping is difficult, but Cartier is adapting to make their website a tool and destination to get customers excited about their products. They are still working to find technologies and solutions that create the ideal engaging experience for their brand.
If you’re interested in learning more, you can watch the full videos on our YouTube Channel. Join us for the final day of the Marketing Summit Series on February 3rd!
