Why Kardashians are afraid of bots — Once upon a time, the most liked photo on Instagram was the picture of an egg named Eugene. With more than 56 million likes and 4.8 million followers, Eugene represented a mystery. The mystery of who created it and why has been since solved. …

How to use merchandising to build a brand — A winning product strategy takes into account brand and business objectives, target audiences and an integrated marketing and merchandising approach. Product strategy is closely linked to a company’s competitive strategy as it powers the market segment and growth model that a brand pursues. Here is how brand and business objects…

Seriousness is the new provincialism — At the couture week, Daniel Roseberry, creative director of Maison Schiaparelli and l’homme du jour, shared that in his designs he wanted to avoid that “dreary self-seriousness.” Same. There is little worse that a fashion brand taking itself literally. Earnestness in following traditional luxury codes veers dangerously in the bourgeois…

How brands can capitalize on the emerging ownership scenarios — We are in the new age of ownership. Web3, rental services, group buying and secondary marketplaces are all creating alternatives to the individual ownership. …

Charting growth strategy for each of the 3 menswear categories — In the first part of the Menswear OS analysis, I looked into three models (the Dream, the Trend, and the Lifestyle) pursued by menswear brands. In this follow-up, I look into the specific growth trajectories of these three models and the corresponding value architectures. …

Three scenarios — If the recent menswear S23 fashion week is any indication, looks clustered in three categories. These three categories have different value propositions, communication styles and prices. The three categories are the Dream, the Trend, and the Lifestyle.

How to achieve scale amid fragmented consumer communities — The only thing humans have in common is our uniqueness. This belief led marketers to overemphasize consumer psychographics. For example, my sister-in-law lives in an affluent suburb of Chicago. She owns a piece of Away luggage and gets newsletters from Everlane. On the surface, she is a HENRY, but in…

Businesses fail when they solve the wrong problem — On June 9th, amid its falling market cap, StitchFix laid off 15% of its salaried workforce, or about 330 people. While there are macroeconomic forces at play, such as inflation and consumers’ cuts in spending, StitchFix value promise missed the consumer mark. Simply, it has never been clear who is…

Personal branding requires you to take risks — and to develop a thick skin. — Ten years ago, one of then-leading advertising bloggers called me a “lady douchenozzle.” I am still not sure what that means, but I’m certain it is not a compliment. It’s one of a number of insults I’ve weathered in my 16 years of working first as a strategist in the…