What Just Happened

In this interview, Christine Russo speaks with Scott Case, the Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability at the National Retail Federation (NRF). They discuss the progress and challenges of sustainability in the retail industry. Scott acknowledges that while there has been significant progress, it is not happening fast enough. He highlights a generational shift in executive leadership, with new leaders recognizing the interconnectedness of sustainability issues and embracing organizational change to address them. The conversation delves into the complexity of sustainability challenges in retail, such as packaging, resource usage, oversupply, and materiality, among others. Scott emphasizes the need for collaboration and systemic thinking within retail organizations to integrate sustainability into their core operations. Instead of having separate sustainability departments, Scott advocates for embedding sustainability thinking in all aspects of the business, turning employees into sustainability contributors. He emphasizes that continual improvement and incorporating sustainability considerations are crucial for the future of retail.

Brian Hennessy, CEO of Talkoot, a process management system for retail and brand teams, discusses how AI has impacted Talkoot and the copywriting industry in general. He notes that while AI can be effective at repackaging existing language, it struggles to explain why consumers should buy trend-leading products and still requires human writers. Talkoot uses a specialized model based on high converting product copy and offers professional editing tools that allow customers to use AI while staying on brand. Additionally, the company offers a brand check tool that ensures content aligns with a brand's language. The article discusses the importance of regulatory and legal language in e-commerce and the need for brand language checkers to ensure that the language used is compliant with regulations and does not violate any platform policies. The article emphasizes the importance of building trust with customers through honest and transparent communication, and the need for brands to focus on delivering products that meet the needs of their customers rather than relying on loyalty programs or shortcuts. Hennessy notes that while some brands may not be ready to embrace this approach, it is becoming increasingly important for building lasting relationships with customers. He also discusses the importance of product storytelling and imagery in reducing customer confusion when shopping online. With the removal of many other frictions in e-commerce, companies are realizing the need to communicate correctly to build trust with their clients and create a long-term relationship that prevents returns. Brands are using AI to generate multiple versions of product descriptions to find the most effective wording, but the quality of the output tends to decline after three generations. Learn how the platform was developed to provide deep product stories using language that creates authority and trust. The tool is getting traction in the food and beverage industry, where changing content seasonally can increase sales, but using humans is too costly and time-consuming. AI can be used to change content quickly and rank higher in Amazon and Google search engines, ultimately driving traffic and sales. Companies can also use machine learning to adapt web content based on who is coming to their website.   www.talkoot.com

Deloitte believes that consumers and consumer companies are moving towards a more utopian future, despite the dystopian impacts that exist today. Consumers are demanding reliable, safe, convenient, sustainable, socially just, and personalized goods and services, and companies are responding by leveraging technology to build more powerful and relevant consumer connections while making commitments to a broader set of stakeholders. Together, they are "buying into better," which means fusing profit with purpose and addressing all of the things that are important, including impacts on the environment and society. Deloitte's approach to understanding the future of the consumer industry involved engaging individuals and having over a thousand conversations to identify the market shifts that will have consequences on businesses in the next five to ten years. Instead of taking a crystal ball approach, they focused on the next five to ten years and identified three primary business dimensions impacted by six forces with nine implications. Deloitte recognizes that human centricity is critically important, and that a lot of what's important to humans goes beyond the products and services provided. The impact that companies make on the environment and society is also important to consumers, who are looking to place their dollars where they can have an impact on change. The framework for thinking about the future across three business dimensions: markets, models, and mechanics has been developed. The six forces impacting markets, models, and mechanics are shifting and broadening consumer bases, diversifying life journeys, exponential technology and AI, everything-as-a-service climate change, and geopolitical turmoil. Models and mechanics serve the market by delivering the unique customer experience or the unique product. The three Msms have emerged as an easy way to engage client executives and identify opportunities. The implications of the three business dimensions, buried throughout the three dimensions, affect organizations. Mass-to-micro is an example of how the three Msms are related.   The report emphasizes the importance of organizations outsourcing parts of their business to increase efficiency and meet demand. It also highlights the need for long-term strategic plans as current business models may not work in the future. The six forces in the marketplace are rapidly changing and converging, creating new risks and opportunities for organizations. Digital goods and services are growing exponentially, and organizations must be mindful of these changes to take advantage of growth opportunities. The report suggests that organizations need to focus on the markets, models, and mechanics of their business to respond effectively to the changes in the marketplace. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJt2wp2C09Y&t=1s  

Lectra develops state-of-the-art solutions that combine software, equipment, services and data. Premium solutions and technologies for fashion, automotive & furniture markets worldwide.  Industry 4.0 - The 4th Revolution in Production. We also touch on near-shoring and on-shoring.  Lectra helps customers plan better so they're not producing. Product that won't sell and they have to destroy it or write it down.    Companies now are focused on not just a sustainable process, but producing a sustainable product to last. analyzing sales and understanding what the assortment is and making sure the right assortment is there and the pricing is in line with the competition.    Lectra helps clients and their sustainability ecosystem because clients are reducing material waste, reducing labor, and educing electrical footprint of production. Also, this allows for data to be passed with that value stream in an efficient way so there's less waste.

Listen to Micky Larosse - Head of Content the Fabricant who oversees and creates the Fabricant brand narrative and storytelling and the philosophy. -The Fabricant spirit and attitude has always been to be a disruptor, but a disruptor with intention. - Their mission is always been at the forefront when they were founded in 2018, nothing like has existed and everything they stood for and still stand for was swimming against the tide of the traditional fashion industry. Just declaring that garments didn't need to be physical to exist four years ago when this conversation wasn't being had by anyone was quite a radical position to take.¬¬¬ And we've always stood by what we believed in which is a big, rich perspective of what they believe in. This idea of building an industry that's more sustainable, more democratic more equitable for everybody that participates. And really elevating creators in this space to give them power and make it a creator led industry. And hear about Wholeland - A new multi chapter digital fashion storytelling project, which builds on this huge story, which is based around the idea of embracing your shadows to become whole. So really digging deep into who we are via digital fashion and exploring who we can be via the virtual space. According to Larosse: Wholeland is about "using the digital world in ways that probably we wouldn't use in the physical world. Maybe things that we'd be shy of talking about or exploring or expressing in the physical world where creating this environment through Wholeland, where you can really kind of dig deep into who you are, maybe look around in the, the darker corners of your personality and really bring those into the lights. It's a world building project."

Corporate Entrepreneur with passion for Innovation, Ecommerce, Supply chains & Emerging technologies! Nabil leads the Global Ecommerce strategy & product development at DHL Supply Chain and also as VP DHL’s Customer Solutions & Innovation where he had the chance to lead the development of innovative logistics projects to support fortune 500 companies working and developing multiple growth initiative related to new technologies & trends such as: E-commerce, digitalization, big data, drones, autonomous vehicles, automation & robotics. Nabil is specialized in the field of E-commerce & Logistics. Prior to his current position, he served as Director Latin America & Asia Pacific overseeing teams across the regions and around the world, developing customer commercial strategies to grow their business in the region.

Listen to CEO Donny Ouyang talk about Blackcart - the Try Before You Buy Saas solution. Try Before You Buy is an effective tool in the toolbox of ecomm enablement technologies to drive AOV and drive down CAC. It also serves as a sustainability solution to reduce returns. Learn more here.

The struggle of B2B marketing to get respect, talent, awards is real but could it be old news?  With the first ever Cannes Lions Creative B2B Lions, supported by the B2B Institute, a LinkedIn Think Tank and strategic thought partner to Cannes Lions - B2B work is getting it's share of the spotlight and a seat at the table.  The mission? To change the tide of B2B marketing and nudge it closer to B2C marketing - not to duplicate it - but to be more creative, have more of a long-tail, to build a brand garnering loyalty and lean less toward strictly lead-gen and conversation. Ultimately, the goal is to move hearts and minds - to tap into emotion. My conversation with Paul Cash about his book (Humanizing B2B - read it!)  and his work at his agency Rooster Punk highlights his mission to evolve B2B marketing. Paul is evangelistic in his message and delivery. I dare you to not be inspired. My article for Forbes entitled: Is it Time For A Breakout for B2B Marketing documents the "Call To the Creatives" to try the B2B side at Cannes Lions. 

Diego Borgo takes us through what IS and IS NOT Metaverse and clarifies Culture and Community vs Commerce. Diego works with the likes of Salesforce - listen in to hear why a huge company like Salesforce (and Deloitte and Accenture) is NOT sitting on the sidelines and waiting for this evolution to play out. The risk of missing out is too great. Web 3.0 is a R/Evolution and understanding it is both complex and simple. Our minds are so wired (and mired) in commerce - it has been a struggle to see past that. This conversation, including case studies inthe CPG space, walks us through that. Also the threat to creativity (vs. Growth) comes up. This is a wide-reaching hot topic conversation in the B2B marketing space.  Stay tuned here for my interview with Paul Cash - Author of Humanizing B2B and CEO of Rooster Punk the 2021 Agency of the Year B2B. Video of Interview Here Diego Borgo Here Deloitte / Cannes Lions Report Here B2B Marketing Article Here

Brick and mortar CAN provide brands data too. How? Trevor Sumner and I discuss Interactive In-store content, data and decisions.  And in a time when cookies is expected to go away - this could be a silver bullet it drive sales. According to Sumner: Ironically the only place NOT to get the digital content, you need to make a product decision. is in store where 85% of purchase decisions are made you realize so much on the messaging outside of the store, you're still limited with what message you have at the shelf. And yet that's where the decisions made. And so we're opening up portals to interactivity, to education, to brand connect. Where it matters most at the most targeted audience at the furthest down to the funnel at the point of final product consideration. And I think that when we get to the point where we can look at the value of that media, you're gonna find that it's 10 times more valuable than Facebook or Google or any of those, because it's a targeted shopper they're in front of your product. They're 20 feet from the point of sale. And now you have a full arsenal to tell that message at a pace that's not pushed on the shopper in a way that's uncomfortable, but is a way that actually enhances the shopper experience. Listen to hear answers to my questions: - Is this just a reinvention of RFID? - Are Retail Media Networks viable for IN-Store - Can't we just use our phones or QR codes in-store? The answers will be very enlightening. I covered Retail Media Networks in my article here. It's great to discuss with Sumner who has his finger on the pulse. https://rethink.industries/article/cannes-lions-the-convergence-of-community-creativity-and-commerce/ www.perchinteractive.com