The Future of Retail Over The Next Five Years, with Brit Nowacki Board of Directors, Portland Advertising Federation (PAF)

I had the pleasure of interviewing Brit Nowacki a Portland native with a decade of experience in the marketing and advertising industry. A marketing manager by trade with an agency background, Brit works for a marketing agency that supports retail goliaths such as Nike and The North Face. Brit holds a B.A. in advertising management and currently sits on the board of directors for the Portland Advertising Federation.

Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

My interest in retail marketing started at a young age. My father is an entrepreneur and he was struggling to get established while I was growing up. When his business was in danger of failing, a bold rebrand served as the catalyst for turning his company around and leading him into early retirement. Witnessing the power of effective, niche marketing at an early age planted a seed in me that has since blossomed into a love for all things in the marketing space.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

I work with a large photography studio where we shot product photography for retail brands and e-commerce sites. We’re always looking for ways to leverage commercial photography to assist our clients in increasing conversions on their product pages. While brainstorming with the studio director on this topic we thought, wouldn’t it be cool if users could go to retail websites, enter their size, and then all of the product images would adjust to display a model wearing their same size? To test this concept, we recruited models with dress sizes ranging from 0 to 14 and shot them all wearing the same little black dress. It’s exciting and empowering to celebrate women of all shapes and sizes in a fashion shoot.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

My first marketing job was for a start-up taxi cab service based out of Phoenix, AZ. I was managing a campaign that included door hangers we distributed to local residents with coupons promoting the new service. One of our taxi cab drivers was helping us distribute the flyers and he used tape to stick them to the front of people’s doors. He went to a new high-end apartment complex and taped a flyer to every unit in the building. Problem was, the building had just been painted so when residents took the flyers down, the tape peeled off the paint on the freshly painted doors. The apartment complex then sued the taxi cab company I was working for, which in turn decided to eliminate my position.

At first, I was up in arms about the injustice of this, I never told the taxi cab driver to tape the fliers to the doors. But that didn’t matter. What mattered is I was leading a campaign that resulted in a lawsuit and I had to face those consequences. As a leader, I am not only responsible for my own actions but for the actions of everyone on my team as well. You are only as good as the people you surround yourself with.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

We love a long lead time but our superpowers really shine during quick-turn projects. When Nike came to us in a crunch needing experiential marketing for the fast approaching CrossFit Games, we tuned an LA Mansion into a fully immersive branded experience in less than three weeks. Earlier this year, Champs Sports came to us needing influencer kits for a new Jordan shoe release with a similar timeframe. Not only were we able to design, produce, and deliver the influencer kits in a matter of weeks, we won an award from the American Marketing Association for “Best Public Outreach” for the campaign. We know how to hustle to hit deadlines without compromising the quality of our work.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

Celebrate your success! Since our work is project-based, and sometimes we have to work nights and weekends to hit client deadlines, it is important to take time to recoup and celebrate after the completion of a large project. Work-life balance is critical for avoiding burnout in this industry. So is fueling your passion. Not every project is going to ignite creative excitement in every employee. When this happens, we have to fuel that fire in other ways. Pro bono accounts and passion projects are great ways to keep creative juices flowing while working on a monotonous account to keep the lights on.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

Jennifer Sandberg, a seasoned c-level marketer is my current mentor. Jen is a graceful, polished leader who is admired by clients and colleagues alike. She’s an expert at relationship marketing and always sees the big picture. She doesn’t ever nickel and dime clients or micromanage employees. Not sweating the small stuff allows her to keep her eye on the prize and help her employees stay focused on what matters most.

Are you working on any exciting projects now?

Always! Right now we’re working on a big installation for the MeUndies brick and mortar store in LA. It’s exciting to help a retailer that has historically had exclusive online distribution translate their brand into a physical retail space. We’re also working on another influencer kit for Champs Sports. We do a lot of influencer kits these days, they’re all the rage.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

My industry is all about making connections, so much of my personal success is attributed to the people that helped along the way. I pay this forward by mentoring junior employees and leveraging my connections to assist my peers and colleagues when they are looking to make a career transition. Supporting children’s art programs and continually increasing our sustainable business practices are both causes I am personally passionate about.

Can you share 5 examples of how retail companies will be adjusting over the next five years to the new ways that consumers like to shop?

1. Consumers want convenience. e-Commerce experiences need to have as few clicks as possible to increase conversions and decrease cart abandonment. Features such as guest check-out, options to pay with Amazon or PayPal, and free shipping help as well. This may sound obvious, but a lot of major brands out there have retail sites with a terrible user experience, bad product photography, and they are missing out on a ton of revenue because of it. Don’t bother investing in flashy marketing trends to drive traffic to a bad website, it’s a complete waste of budget. These retailers would be much better off taking that money and investing it in user testing, photography, and improving the overall experience of their online stores.
2. Consumers want an experience. If a customer cares enough about their purchase to get in their car and drive to a brick and mortar store when they could have easily bought online, it’s the retailer’s responsibility to give them an experience that keeps them coming back for more. Simply having a physical store in a good location is no longer enough. This is why we are seeing the retail-tainment trend becoming so popular. Bonus for stores with installations that encourage consumers to generate content for social their channels (i.e. the Louis Vuitton dinosaur).
3. Don’t try to compete with Amazon. No single retail brand in the world can compete with the spending power of Amazon. So if your target market is on Amazon, bite the bullet, pay the piper, and get your brand an Amazon shop. Alternatively, retail brands can strategically position themselves against Amazon depending on their audience. For example, some consumers that value sustainability over convenience will not shop Amazon due to the amount of waste generated by their operations and shipping logistics.
4. Invest in technology. Continuously. This must be an ongoing strategy. Once something hits the mass market, it’s already trending towards irrelevant. The best brands will continue to entice consumers by staying ahead of this curve and using AR/VR/CGI to create immersive experiences both online and in-store. Automation technology can also be used to reduce labor costs and increase profit margins for retailers.
5. Remember the Golden Rule. Treat your customer service reps the same way you expect them to treat your customers. It doesn’t matter how cool your product is, how cutting-edge your e-comm is, or how immersive your store experience is if your customer service sucks. Train your front-line employees more than you think you need to, pay them above market value, and treat them with respect. As an industry leader, it’s important to keep your finger on the pulse and know what it trending. It’s equally important to stay grounded, take care of your people, and delight your customers.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I’d like to help fund art programs for schools. Without future artists, we will not have creatives to design apparel, or make our retail spaces visually appealing, or make our advertisements works of art. All businesses, especially retail brands, need quality design work and the next generation of designers are an endangered species due to school budget cuts.

I also love seeing major retail brands support the arts by partnering with local artists on projects. For example, Nike just opened an art gallery in Brooklyn where all the art is inspired by the new Air Max 270.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittanymunrobennett/

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!