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WINTER 2022

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Today

The Secret of Zara’s Success

The Team

Editor Editor

Jay Reddy

James Pringle

The Team

Gavin Jamie

The fireplaces are alive and cracking, there is a certin sharpness in the lazy breez, and tiny crystals are glimmering as they float upon nothingness of theofenvironment and landupon in the palmwith of your hand, dissolving uponWonderland! palm your hand, dissolving contact a cradle of heatit’s a Winter contact with a cradle of heat- it’s a Winter Wonderland!

Fiona James Kate Hooper Eva Morris

Jim Cooper If you are a beach babe, then we understand that this might not be your favorite time of the year.Jay Reddy Martin IfBut you a beachyou babe, we not understand this when mightitnot be to your letare us reassure thatthen you will be short ofthat choices comes seasonal fashion James Edwin Pringle favorite time of the year. But let us reassure you that you will not be short because winter is all about those layers! Roger Moses

Gavin Jamie

of choices when it comes to seasonal fashion because winter is all about those layers!

and get to mixing and matching to create the perfect look for the chilly weather as you pose like

Nancy Louis Fiona James

Kate Hooper

an angel standing at the of a upper mountain snow. that has been sitting in You can finally take outfeet every andofjacket Eva Morris your closet all past year and get to mixing and matching to create the This year, the runway has been bold, brave, and beautiful, with parkas and padded jackets perfect look for the chilly weather as you pose like an angel standing at the Jim Cooper making appearances, feet of afrequent mountain of snow. and we must say that we are quite impressed with their versatility. Checks and plaid will be major players this season as well, especially larger and wider patterns for the sakethe of introducing element textureand andbeautiful, intrigue. Layering up, as always, This year, runway hasanbeen bold,ofbrave, with parkas and remains a popularjackets and never dyingfrequent winter trend; stock up onand those and that jackets. padded making appearances, wehoodies must say weAlso, don’t

Edwin Martin Roger Moses Nancy Louis

are quite impressed with their versatility. Checks and plaid will be major players season well, especially larger andpink wider patterns for the you wantthis to sit under as your blanket in a chunky, light sweater, watching a new episode of sake of introducing an element of texture and intrigue. Layering up, as Riverdale! always, remains a popular and never dying winter trend; stock up on those hoodies and jackets. Also, don’t be afraid to rock bright colors and statement fabrics this winter, but it is also perfectly fine if you want to sit under light blanket sundresses springlight coming in sweater, pretty soon. Happy layering! your in with a chunky, pink watching a new episode of Riverdale! Katie Noakes

Editor-in-chief,

So step out of your comfort zone to make some bold fashion choices to Brands Today Address start off your new year with us and enjoy the cold as it gradually tapers off Address Global Global BrandsBrands Publications from sweater weather and transistions into light sundresses with spring coming in pretty soon. Happy layering! Publications Limited.Limited.

Katie Noakes Editor-in-chief, Brands Today

Unit 4 Vista Unit 4Place Vista Place Coy Pond CoyBusiness Pond Business PK Ingworth PK Ingworth Road Road Poole, Poole, Dorset Dorset Kingdom United United Kingdom BH12 1JY BH12 1JY [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] [email protected]

Contents FEATURES

REGULARS

06 The Secret of Zara’s Success

25 Marketing After the Pandemic

13 Clothing Brands For Kids

35 DAZN’s global strategies toward a post-pandemic recovery

29 The Future of Retail

41 Netflix Is a Joke Announces 2022 53 Innovating in a crisis and the impact on brand growth

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The Secret of Zara’s Success A Culture of Customer Co-creation Zara is one of the world’s most successful fashion retail brands – if not the most successful one. With its dramatic introduction of the concept of “fast fashion” retail since it was founded in 1975 in Spain, Zara aspires to create responsible passion for fashion amongst a broad spectrum of consumers, spread across different cultures and age groups. There are many factors that have contributed to the success of Zara but one of its key strengths, which has played a strong role in it becoming a global fashion powerhouse as it is today, is its ability to put customers first. Zara is obsessed with its customers, and they have defined the company and the brand’s culture right from the very beginning. The Zara brand offers men and women’s clothing, children’s clothing (Zara Kids), shoes and accessories. The sub-brand Zara TRF offers trendier and sometimes edgier items to younger women and teenagers. The Zara brand story Zara was founded by Amancio Ortega and Rosalía Mera in 1975 as a family business in downtown Galicia in the northern part of Spain. Its first store featured low-priced lookalike products of popular, higher-end clothing and fashion. Amancio Ortega named Zara as such because his preferred name Zorba was already taken. In the next 8 years, Zara’s approach towards fashion and its business model gradually generated traction with the Spanish consumer. This led to the opening of 9 new stores in the biggest cities of Spain. In 1985, Inditex was incorporated as a holding company, which laid the foundations for a distribution system capable of reacting to shifting market trends extremely quickly. Ortega created a new design, manufacturing, and distribution process that could reduce lead times and react to new trends in a quicker way, which he called “instant fashion”. This was driven by heavy investments in information technology and utilising groups instead of individual designers for the critical “design” element. In the next decade, Zara began aggressively expanding into global markets, which included Portugal, New York (USA), Paris (France), Mexico, Greece, Belgium, Sweden, Malta, Cyprus, Norway and Israel. Today, there is hardly a developed country without a Zara store. Zara now has 2,264 stores strategically located in leading cities across 96 countries. It is no surprise that Zara, which started off as a small store in Spain, is now the world’s largest fast fashion retailer and is the flagship brand of Inditex. Its founder, Amancio Ortega, is the sixth richest man in the world according to Forbes magazine. Today, Inditex is the world’s largest fashion group with more than 174,000 employees operating more than 7,400 stores in 202 markets worldwide including 49 online markets. The revenues of Inditex was USD 23.4 billion in 2019. The other fashion brands in the Inditex portfolio are: Zara Home: Home goods and decoration objects founded in 2003. Operating in 183 markets, 70 of them with stores. Pull & Bear: Casual laid-back clothing and accessories for the young founded in 1991. Operates in 185 markets, 75 of them with stores. Massimo Dutti: High end clothing and accessories for cosmopolitan men and women acquired in 1995. Operates 186 markets, 74 of them with stores. Bershka: Blends urban styles and modern fashion for young women and men founded in 1998. Operates in 185 markets, 74 of them with stores. Stradivarius: Casual and feminine clothes for young women acquired in 1999. Operates 180 markets, 67 of them with stores. Oysho: Lingerie, casual outerwear, lounge wear and original accessories founded in 2001. Operating in 176 markets, 58 of them with stores. Uterqüe: High-quality fashion accessories at attractive prices founded in 2008. Operating in 158 markets, 17 of them with stores. Apart from fashion brands, Amancio Ortega has also set up a global real estate investment fund, Pontegadea Inversiones, which

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manages corporate offices across 9 countries including United States (Seattle), Britain (London), France (Paris), Canada, Italy, South Korea. These corporate properties house large companies including Facebook, Amazon and Apple, and prestigious luxury and retail brands. The Zara brand strategy In 2019, Zara was ranked 29th on global brand consultancy Interbrand’s list of best global brands. Its core values are found in four simple terms: beauty, clarity, functionality and sustainability. The secret to Zara’s success has largely being driven by its ability to keep up with rapidly changing fashion trends and showcase it in its collections with very little delay. From the very beginning, Zara found a significant gap in the market that few clothing brands had effectively addressed. This was to keep pace with latest fashion trends, but offer clothing collections that are a combination of high quality and yet, are affordable. The brand keeps a close watch on how fashion is changing and evolving every day across the world. Based on latest styles and trends, it creates new designs and puts them into stores in a week or two. In stark comparison, most other fashion brands would take close to six months to get new designs and collections into the market. It is through this strategic ability of introducing new collections based on latest trends in a rapid manner that enabled Zara to beat other competitors. It quickly became the people’s favourite brand, especially with those who want to keep up with fashion trends. Founder Amancio Ortega is famously known for his views on clothes as a perishable commodity. According to him, people should love to use and wear clothes for a short while and then they should throw them away, just like yogurt, bread or fish, rather than store them in cupboards. The media often quotes that the brand produces “freshly baked clothes”, which survive fashion trends for less than a month or two. Zara concentrates on three areas to effectively “bake” its fresh fashions: Shorter lead times (and more fashionable clothes): Shorter lead times allow Zara to ensure that its stores stock clothes that customers want at that time (e.g. specific spring/ summer or autumn/ winter collections, recent trend that is catching up, sudden popularity of an item worn by a celebrity/ socialite/ actor/ actress, latest collection of a top designer etc.). While many retailers try to forecast what customers might buy months in the future, Zara moves in step with its customers and offers them what they want to buy at a given point in time.

thereby reducing delivery costs. Another secret of Zara’s success is that the brand trains and empowers its store employees and managers to be particularly sensitive to customer needs and wants, and how customers enact them on the shop floors. Zara empowers its sales associates and store managers to be at the forefront of customer research – they intently listen and note down customer comments, ideas for cuts, fabrics or a new line, and keenly observe new styles that its customers are wearing that have the potential to be converted into unique Zara styles. In comparison, traditional daily sales reports can hardly provide such a dynamic updated picture of the market. The Zara empire is built on two basic rules: “to give customers what they want”, and “get it to them faster than anyone else”. Due to Zara’s competitive customer research capabilities, its product offerings across its stores globally reflect unique customer needs and wants in terms of physical, climate or cultural differences. It offers smaller sizes in Japan, special women’s clothes in Arab countries, and clothes of different seasonality in South America. These differences in product offerings across countries are greatly facilitated by the frequent interactions between Zara’s local store managers and its creative team. Lower quantities (through scarce supply): By reducing the quantity manufactured for a particular style, Zara not only reduces its exposure to any single product but also creates artificial scarcity. Similar to the principle that applies to all fashion items (and more specifically luxury), the lesser the availability, the more desirable an object becomes. Another benefit of producing lower quantities is that if a style does not generate traction and suffers from poor sales, there is not a high volume to be disposed of. Zara only has two time-bound sales a year rather than constant markdowns, and it discounts a very small proportion of its products, approximately half compared to its competitors, which is a very impressive feat. More styles: Rather than producing more quantities per style, Zara produces more styles, roughly 12,000 a year. Even if a style sells out very quickly, there are new styles waiting to take up the space. This means more choices and higher chance of getting it right with the consumer. Zara only allows its designs to remain on the shop floor for three to four weeks. This practice pushes consumers to keep visiting the brand’s stores because if they were just a week late, all the clothes of a particular style or trend would be gone and replaced with a new trend. At the same time, this constant refreshing of the lines and styles carried by its stores also entices customers to visit its shops more frequently.

In the fashion world, a trend starts small, but develops fast. Zara employees are trained to listen, watch and be attentive to even the smallest seismographic signals from their customers, which can be an initial sign that a new trend is taking shape. Zara knows that the quicker it can respond, the more likely it is to succeed in supplying the right fashion merchandise at the right time across its global retail chain. Zara has set up sophisticated technology driven systems, which enable information to travel quickly from the stores back to its headquarters in Arteixo in Spain, enabling decision makers to act fast and respond effectively to a developing trend. Its design teams regularly visit university campuses; nightclubs and other venues to observe what young fashion leaders are wearing. In its headquarters, the design team uses flat-screen monitors linked by webcam to offices in Shanghai, Tokyo and New York (the leading cities for fashion trends), which act as trend spotters. The ‘Trends’ team never goes to fashion shows but tracks bloggers and listens closely to the brand’s customers. The fact that Zara’s designers and customers are inextricably linked is a crucial part of the brand strategy. Specialist teams receive constant feedback on the decisions its customers are making at every Zara store, which continuously inspires the Zara creative team.

In the following sections, the key components of Zara’s winning formula in the fashion retailing industry are illustrated. Customer co-creation: Zara’s principal designer is the customer Zara’s unrelenting focus on the customer is at the core of the brand’s success and the heights it has achieved today. There was a fascinating story around how Zara co-creates its products leveraging its customers’ input. In 2015, a lady named Miko walked into a Zara store in Tokyo and asked the store assistant for a pink scarf, but the store did not have any pink scarves. The same happened almost simultaneously for Michelle in Toronto, Elaine in San Francisco, and Giselle in Frankfurt, who all walked into Zara stores and asked for pink scarves. They all left the stores without any scarves – an experience many other Zara fans encountered globally in different Zara stores over the next few days. 7 days later, more than 2,000 Zara stores globally started selling pink scarves. 500,000 pink scarves were dispatched – to be exact. They sold out in 3 days. How did such lightning fast stocking of pink scarves happen? Customer insights are the holy grail of modern business, and the more companies know about their customers, the better they can innovate and compete. But it can prove challenging to have the right insights, at the right time, and have access to them consistently over time. One of the secrets to Zara’s success includes using Radio Frequency Identification Technology (RFID) in its stores. The brand uses cutting-edge systems to track the location of garments instantly and makes those most in demand rapidly available to customers. Additionally, it helps to reduce inventory costs, provides greater flexibility to launch new designs, and allows fulfillment of online orders with stock from stores nearest to the delivery location

Zara’s super-efficient supply chain Zara’s highly responsive, vertically integrated supply chain enables the export of garments 24 hours, 365 days of the year, resulting in the shipping of new products to stores twice a week. After products are designed, they take around 10 to 15 days to reach the stores. All clothing items are processed through the distribution center in Spain, where new items are inspected, sorted, tagged, and loaded into trucks. In most cases, clothing items are delivered to stores within 48 hours. This vertical integration allows Zara to retain control over areas like dyeing and processing and have fabricprocessing capacity available on-demand to provide the correct fabrics for new styles according to customer preferences. It also eliminates the need for warehouses and helps reduce the impact

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ideas, opinions and taste for fashion. In reality, Zara is also helping in giving birth to new trends through its stores or even helping in extending the longevity of some seasonal styles by offering affordable lines. Sustainability at the core of Zara’s operations Sustainability has been a hot topic in business for the last decade and is now quickly becoming a must-have hygiene factor for companies that want to resonate with and win the loyalty of its global customers. For Inditex, this means having a commitment to people and the environment. Commitment to people: Inditex ensures that its employees have a shared vision of value built on sustainability through professional development, equality and diversity and volunteering. It also ensures that its suppliers have fundamental rights at work and by initiating continuous improvement programs for them. Inditex also spends over USD 50 million annually on social and community programmes and initiatives. For example, its “for&from” programme which started in 2002 has enabled the social integration of people with physical and mental disabilities, by providing over 200 stable employment opportunities across 15 stores. of demand fluctuations. Zara produces over 450 million items and launches around 12,000 new designs annually, so the efficiency of the supply chain is critical to ensure that this constant refreshment of store level collections goes off smoothly and efficiently. Here are some of the characteristics of Zara’s supply chain that highlight the reasons behind its success: Frequency of customer insights collection: Trend information flows daily into a database at head office, which is used by designers to create new lines and modify existing ones. Standardization of product information: Zara warehouses have standardised product information with common definitions, allowing quick and accurate preparation of designs with clear manufacturing instructions. Product information and inventory management: By effectively managing thousands of fabric, trim and design specifications and their physical inventory, Zara is capable of designing a garment with available stock of required raw materials. Procurement strategy: Around two-thirds of fabrics are undyed and are purchased before designs are finalized so as to obtain savings through demand aggregation. Manufacturing approach: Zara uses a “make and buy” approach – it produces the more fashionable and riskier items (which need testing and piloting) in Spain, and outsources production of more standard designs with more predictable demand to Morocco, Turkey and Asia to reduce production cost. The more fashionable and riskier items (which are around half of its merchandise) are manufactured at a dozen company-owned factories in Spain (Galicia), northern Portugal and Turkey. Clothes with longer shelf life (i.e. the one with more predictable demand patterns), such as basic T-shirts, are outsourced to low cost suppliers, mainly in Asia. Even when manufacturing in Europe, Zara manages to keep its costs down by outsourcing the assembly workshops and leveraging the informal economy of mothers and grandmothers. Distribution management: Zara’s state-of-the-art distribution facility functions with minimal human intervention. Optical reading devices sort out and distribute more than 60,000 items of clothing an hour. In addition to these supply chain efficiencies, Zara can also modify existing items in as little as two weeks. Shortening the product life cycle means greater success in meeting consumer preferences. If a design does not sell well within a week, it is withdrawn from shops, further orders are canceled and a new design is pursued. Zara closely monitors changes in customer preferences towards fashion. It has a range of basic designs that are carried over from year to year, but some in-vogue, high fashion, inspired by latest trends items can stay on the shelves for less than four weeks, which encourages Zara fans to make repeat visits. An average high-street store in Spain expects customers to visit thrice a year, but for Zara, the expectation is that customers should visit around 17 times in a year. This expectation for such a high frequency of repeat visits is evidence of Zara’s confidence that it is keeping on top of changing consumer needs and preferences and is helping them shape their

Commitment to environment: Being in a business where it taps on natural resources to create its products, Inditex makes efforts to ensure that the environmental impact of its business complies with UNSDGs (United Nations Sustainable Developmental Goals). Inditex has pledged to only sell sustainable clothes by 2025 and that all cotton, linen and polyester sold will be organic, sustainable or recycled. The company also runs Join Life, a scheme which helps consumers identify clothes made with more environmentally friendly materials like organic cotton and recycled polyester. Additionally, Inditex takes wide-ranging measures to protect biodiversity, reduce its consumption of water, energy and other resources, avoid waste, and combat climate change. For example, it has outlined a Global Water Management Strategy, specifically committing to zero discharge of hazardous chemicals. It has also been expanding its waste reduction programme through which customers can drop off their used clothing, footwear and accessories at collection points in 2,299 stores in 46 markets today. Zara’s culture: The word “impossible” does not exist Zara has a very entrepreneurial culture, and employs lots of young talent who quickly climb through the ranks of the company. Zara promotes approximately two-thirds of its store managers from within and generally experiences low turnover. The brand has no fear in giving responsibility to young people and the culture encourages risk-taking (as long as learning happens) and fast implementation (the mantra of fashion). Top management gives its store managers full liberty and control over their store’s operations and performance with clearly set cost, profit and growth targets with a fixed and variable compensation scheme. The variable component amounts to up to half of the total compensation – making store level employees heavily incentivedriven. In addition, once an employee is selected for promotion, his or her store develops a comprehensive training program for that individual with the human resources department, which is followed up by periodic supplemental training – reflecting Zara’s commitment to talent development. The organizational structure is also flat with only a few managerial layers. Customers are the most important source of information for Zara, but like any other fashion brand, Zara also employs trend analysts, customer insights experts, and retains some of the best talents in the fashion world. The creative team of Zara comprises of over 200 professionals. They all embody and enact the corporate philosophy that the word “impossible” does not exist in Zara. For example, while many companies struggle with long lead times in discussions and decision making, Zara gets around this challenge by getting various business functions to sit together at the headquarters and also by encouraging a culture (through structures and processes) where people continuously talk to each other. The sales and marketing teams who receive trend feedback talk regularly with designers and merchandisers. It is important that there is constant two-way communication so that sales and marketing teams can talk about new lines to customers and designers / merchandisers have

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a strong visibility of customers’ needs and preferences enacted at a store level. The production scheduling is also closely coordinated so that there is no time wasted on approvals. The design team structure is very flat and focuses on careful interpretation of catwalk trends that are suitable for the mass market – the Zara customer. The design and product development teams, who are based in Spain, work closely to produce 1,000 new styles every month. Besides being customer centric, another important reason why Zara’s employee strategy is so successful is the fact that it empowers its staff to make decisions based on data. Zara has no chief designer. All its designers are given unparalleled independence in approving products and campaigns, based on daily data feeds indicating which styles are popular. Due to the unwavering focus on the customer, the entire business model is designed in such a way that the pattern of needs for the finished goods dictate the terms of the production process to follow, instead of having the raw materials determine the nature of the production process – something that is very rare in multinational companies of similar scale. In sum, the entire brand culture is extremely customer-centric, which has been and continues to be a significant contributor to Zara’s success. Zara’s future brand and business challenges Charting a new digital strategy in the COVID-19 crisis: With its primarily offline shopping experience, Zara has been hard hit by global store closures amid the COVID-19 crisis in 2020, with sales falling 44% year-on-year in Q1 2020 and the company reporting a net loss of USD 482 million. Inditex has announced that it will be closing between 1,000 to 1,200 stores worldwide, focusing on smaller ones in Asia and Europe. While online sales have been encouraging – Zara’s online sales for Q1 2020 grew 50% – it is not enough to mitigate the damage. Amancio Ortega plans to spend USD 1.1 billion scaling up its digital strategy and online capabilities by 2022 and a further USD 2 billion in stores to improve integration between online and offline for faster deliveries and real-time tracking of products. Its goal is for online sales to constitute at least 25% of total sales. To achieve this goal, Zara will need to think of new ways to engage its customers digitally, not just through its online store, but through online communities and social media. Mobile commerce: Zara woke up late to the potential of mobile commerce and needs to catch up fast with competitors. Different forms of market analysis strongly point towards a scenario wherein spends on mobile commerce will overtake desktop based ecommerce by 2021. On an average, most brands currently get about 15-20% of their website traffic via mobile devices and this is growing rapidly. With the deluge of investments planned in the mobile commerce space and Zara’s competitors already having an advantage on the mobile front, Zara needs to quickly make mobile shopping not only an effortless experience but also a delightful one. Price is not an advantage anymore: Offering the latest fashion lines at affordable prices continues to be a strategic advantage for Zara, but cannot continue to be the only one. Across the world, and closer to home in Europe, competitors are cutting prices and refining their business models to cut the competitive advantage that Zara has. Swedish fast fashion retailer H&M, which is placed #30 just behind Zara on Interbrand’s list, launched an online store in Spain in 2014 to take own Zara in its home turf. Again in its home market, it now faces increasing competition from brands like Mango, which cut prices and started focusing on fashion segments in which Zara enjoyed

popularity. In addition to H&M and Mango, other competitors like Gap and Topshop are all fighting for a share of the fast fashion retail market pie. Also with the rise of e- and m-commerce, the number of indirect competitors has mushroomed. We now have online fashion aggregators that bring in multiple brands under one single online platform and cut through borders and price segments. Some examples of such aggregators who are doing well include Lyst, Farfetch, Spring and Yoox Net-a-Porter. For Zara to effectively compete and maintain its strategic advantage, the focus needs to shift away from price but towards quality. Even today the Zara brand enjoys high levels of appeal, which is evident by the serpentine queues outside its stores when it launches in new markets. There is a need for Zara to start investing in building a strong brand positioning and aggressively communicate it. Additionally, Zara needs to adopt, imbibe and leverage social media and digital platforms in its advertising and communication strategies deeper going forward. Need for marketing strategy to evolve: As discussed above, Zara does not engage in advertising and instead uses its store locations as a marketing strategy. However, brand communication is crucial in attracting new customers to the brand to support its growth. Without advertisements, Zara relies heavily on word of mouth or social media. This causes the perception of potential customers towards Zara to be heavily shaped by family and friends, which may not be accurate. In addition, Zara’s social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube exists merely as a feed for updates rather than a platform that consumers can interact with. Its videos on YouTube are also seeing very low viewership in comparison with its follower count, which is not ideal as videos are a powerful medium for brands in the fashion industry. This is a gap that Zara needs to plug immediately as the reach and impact of social media marketing gets stronger. As Zara’s target customer segments start using more social and digital platforms for communication and for sharing their lives, it is important for Zara to have a strong presence on such platforms. Conclusion: Take Zara’s cue and listen to your customers The Zara brand was born with a keen eye on its customer – its ability to understand, predict and deliver on its customers’ preferences for trendy fashion at affordable prices. In addition to its effective supply chain, the brand’s ability to have its customers co-create designs is unique and provides it with a competitive advantage. Most fashion trends often start unexpectedly, originate from uncommon places and grow out of nowhere. With reference to the pink scarf trend mentioned above, it could have been that Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson had worn a pink scarf to a charity gala the evening before in Los Angeles, or golf star Michelle Wie had showcased a pink scarf at a celebrity tournament in Asia. The fact that Zara was able to quickly jump on to this trend and provide hundreds of customers with the pink scarves they desperately wanted to buy. In a world swamped with Big Data, and yet more collected at an even more rapid pace than before, brands still need to be careful and observant. Big Data does not provide answers to all business challenges, and it may be too hyped to be considered as the Holy Grail. One of the secrets behind Zara’s global success is the culture and the respect for the fact that no one is a better, authentic trendsetter than the customer himself or herself – and this philosophy needs to be continually reflected in all its business strategies going forward. So, why not consult your customers for a start? Zara always does.

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Clothing Brands For Kids

Fast fashion offers cheap clothing made in ways that may not be healthy for you or the environment. Considering how sensitive the skin of young children is, don’t you think ethical and sustainable kids' clothing is better? Not just for the planet but your children as well. Sustainable clothing uses eco-friendly materials so your kids can grow up without leaving a huge carbon footprint. Whereas ethical clothing also works to eradicate human rights violations in the garment supply chain. It ensures that workers and farmers earn at the very least a living wage. And more importantly, you can be sure that your children are not wearing clothes made by exploiting other young children in low-cost countries. The kids’ apparel industry was estimated to be worth $252.2 billion in 20201. With a growth rate of 3.7% CAGR, the industry will reach $325.9 billion by 2027. With its growth, the industry has the potential to contribute significantly to fast fashion’s negative impact on the environment. The statistics for environmental pollution caused by fast fashion are high and it may be on the rise. So when it comes to clothing the kids, the best choice for them and the environment is to switch to eco-friendly sustainable kids clothing. Benefits of sustainable clothing for kids Affiliate Disclosure: TRVST is a participant in various affiliate programs, including Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and its international variants. As such, we may earn an advertising fee from qualifying purchases at no cost to you. Durability Sustainable kid’s clothes are made with materials and processes that ensure they last longer and maintain quality. This means that they are more viable as future donations to a thrift store, an excellent place for pre-loved kid’s clothes, or as hand-me-downs. And also kids play a lot which means their clothes need to be washed more often. Sustainable clothing’s durability means that it will withstand the strain of wear and wash without losing all the attributes that made you buy it in the first place. Less waste Kids grow so fast, they outgrow clothing quickly, even before the item has reached its end of use stage. Therefore, sustainable clothing is a great way to reduce the waste that will inevitably arise. For clothing that you don't want to recycle or donate, like underwear, it is better to purchase biodegradable clothing. This way, your children's clothing waste will decompose and enrich the soil rather than pollute the oceans and rivers. Safer There are about 8,000 synthetic fibers used in the fast fashion industry; they make some of them with chemicals that can harm the skin2. The skin of little children is usually more sensitive than that of adults, so it is safe to assume that such kids’ clothes would affect

them more easily than adults. Chemical residue on clothing can cause skin irritation and allergies. They make ethical clothing for children with fewer chemicals, less toxic or hypoallergenic fibers. Earth and people-friendly By wearing sustainable clothing, your kids get to help protect the earth and garment workers. This is because ethical clothing is more environmentally and socially sustainable compared to fast fashion3. Ethically made clothing uses fewer pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, toxic dyes, and chemicals. So they do not pollute the environment a lot and sometimes not at all. Also, some sustainable clothing brands making kids’ clothes use production methods that save water and energy. These methods include the closed-loop system and green energy sourcing. The garment workers who make ethical children's clothing are paid fair wages for their labor. They also work in a safe environment that does not put their life or health at risk. There are several sustainable kids’ clothing brands. A few dedicate themselves only to kids’ clothes or baby clothing but most brands design for the entire family. This article picks out 12 ethical brands that are true to sustainable fashion. 12 best sustainable & ethical clothing brands for kids Below are some clothing brands from around the world that make sustainable clothing with lines for kids, children, and young adults. We have provided key information you will need to get familiar with the brands and see if their level of sustainability suits you and your kids. The information provides you with the following attributes of the brands:

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1. Oobi Targeted at: kids Product range: clothing Ethical practices and values: organic materials, non-toxic dye, transparency Clothing size range: S-XL (0-12 years old) Store location and shipping: based in Australia and ships worldwide Award-winning sustainable kids clothing brand, Oobi, has been around for 20 years. This brand makes getting high-quality outfits for your boys and girls a fun experience. With whimsical handprinted designs and organic cotton fabrics, Oobi ensures that you can buy great-looking clothes that are ethical and durable. They’ve got swimwear, hats, gender-neutral pieces, dresses, playsuits, socks, and tights. They also offer a mother and child matching line for mothers who love to match outfits with their daughters. They use low-impact lead-free dyes in their printing and use both organic and conventional cotton. To reduce packaging waste, they use minimalistic packaging without paper receipts. The brand works with Sedex approved factories in India, China, and Bangladesh. A Sedex approval means that the supplier meets the criteria for ethical business practices. For every new-in or full-priced item sold, Oobi donates a toy or garment to an Australian child in need. 2. Jackalo Targeted at: Women and children Product range: clothing Ethical practices and values: recycled materials, fair trade, sustainability, eco-friendly Clothing size range: US 4-14 Store location and shipping: Based in the US and offers worldwide shipping Sustainable kids clothes that can withstand the energetic playfulness of growing kids without wear or tear is what Jackalo offers. They design stylish kids’ clothes like cargo pants, shorts, overalls, sailor pants, and jackets with organic cotton. The brand ensures they source their 100% certified organic cotton from sustainable farms. They work with factories in Portugal and Netherlands that use energy-efficient methods, produce minimal waste, and have a low impact on the environment. They also recycle fabric pieces generated from production processes. Jackalo measures its environmental impact as having cut out 5,938 km of driving emissions and saving 240,419 days of drinking water. The brand operates on a code of conduct that upholds worker’s rights to fair wages and safety. Jackalo will take back the clothes your kids have outgrown for recycling and give you a $15 discount on your next purchase. 3. Boody Targeted at: Men, women, and babies Product range: clothing Ethical practices and values: bamboo fiber, Oeko-Tex approved, member of 1% For The Planet, Ecocert approved, PETA Vegan approved, WRAP certified, eco-friendly packaging. Clothing size range: 3-18 Store location and shipping: Australia Boody offers high-quality baby tees, onesies, bodysuits, beanies, socks, and pull-on pants from soft and breathable bamboo fabric. Their organic baby clothes are mixed with 5% elastane to make them stretch. Their Oeko-Tex certificate is proof that their clothes are free of harmful chemicals like pesticides. They use bamboo fiber for its sustainability, anti-bacterial, thermo-regulating, and hypoallergenic quality. Their bamboo is harvested sustainably from FSC-certified farms in china. Their fiber production process is a closed-loop system that produces zero waste and conserves resources. They make their packaging with recycled material and print on it with vegetable-based ink. Boody sells a South African handmade bracelet for charity and donates all the profits to the Goodbye Malaria and the Relate Organization. They also support non-profits in Australia like Greening Australia, Thread Together, and Propeller Projects.

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4. Pact Targeted at: men, women, and children Product range: Clothing Ethical practices and values: fair trade, GOTS organic cotton, non-toxic dye, recycled materials Clothing size range: 12-24M/ 2-5T/ 8-12 Store location and shipping: ships only to Canada Pact is one of the most popular sustainable clothing brands today. Their eco-friendly kids’ clothing includes bodysuits, pants, onesies, hoodies, tees, polos, dresses, pajamas, socks, and underwear for babies and kids up to 12 years old. Easily one of the best sustainable kids clothing manufacturers, they make their lines with 100% organic fabrics, Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified cotton and non-toxic chemical dyes. To ensure that the workers who make their clothing earn a living wage, they work with fair trade certified factories in the USA. To reduce packaging waste, they package their products in compostable materials made out of recyclables. They also offer carbon offset shipping to help you cover your shipping carbon footprint. Pact operates a program that allows customers to donate old clothes to the needy.

5. Hanna Andersson Targeted at: children Product range: clothing Ethical practices and values: durability, eco-friendly materials, GOTS certified, Oeko-Tex standard 100 Clothing size range: 18-24M/ 2-12 Store location and shipping: based in the US and offers international shipping The Hanna Andersson brand provides high-quality, ethical fashion pieces for kids from the age of 0 to 14. They offer a wide range of sustainable clothing, and a lot of their designs feature superhero characters loved by kids. The brand has a collection of matching pajamas for the entire family. The brand uses natural, sustainable materials like organic cotton, and almost all of its products are Oeko-Tex certified. Hanna Andersson’s clothing has gained a reputation for durability and quality. They make clothes from organic fibers that last long enough to be handed down more than once. The brand was established in 1983 in Portland and is one of the earliest brands to foray into sustainable children’s clothing. Their production partners pay fair wages, avoid child labor, and treat workers with respect.

6. Little Emperor Targeted at: children Product range: clothing Ethical practices and values: Sedex-approved production, locally manufactured, member of 1% For The Planet, Clothing size range: 2-8 years old Store location and shipping: Based in Australia and ships internationally Little Emperor designs unique and durable clothing for kids aged 2-8 with the help of the founder’s eight-year-old daughter. Their pieces feature fun animal prints. The brand offers affordable pieces that you don't have to break the bank to purchase. The brand partners with OCC Apparel, Australia, and Net paradigm India PVT Ltd, a factory audited by Sedex. These partners have transparent production processes that make it easy to ensure that every worker is paid their due wages and enjoys a safe working environment. Little Emperor uses organic cotton for its kids’ clothes which is better for the environment than conventional cotton. They use minimalistic packaging with compostable materials. The brand supports environmental non-profits that protect the oceans and marine life through the 1% for the planet platform.

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The National Bank of Bahrain Enriching the lives of generations Licensed by CBB as a conventional Retail Bank.

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7. Winter Water Factory Targeted at: men, women, and children Product range: clothing and accessories Ethical practices and values: locally manufactured, 100% organic cotton Clothing size range: 0M-18M/ 2T-4T/ 6-8 Store location and shipping: based in the USA and ships internationally This brand stocks an extensive collection of baby and kid’s sustainable clothing designed with beautiful prints. The prints are mainly inspired by nature and everyday life. The clothing is made from organic cotton. The clothing brand manufactures its clothes in Brooklyn, USA, which helps support the local economy. Local manufacturing also means that the company can oversee workers’ welfare directly, ensuring they have the best working conditions.

8. Faire Child Targeted at: children Product range: clothing Ethical practices and values: recycled plastic, Bluesign certified, Oeko-Tex standard 100, Global Recycled Standard, locally manufactured, low impact dyes Clothing size range: 1-12 Store location and shipping: based in Canada and ships worldwide This company is a clothing brand that makes sustainable outerwear for all seasons. The minimalist designs are manufactured in Canada and have no animal products in them. They use materials like recycled PET plastic bottles and their innovative Sympatex membrane. This brand does not use any harmful chemicals in its production, and its recycling process is eco-friendly. The brand has Oeko-Tex and GRS certifications to that effect. Also, the brand’s Bluesign certification assures that they value the safety of everyone along their supply chain. These include their employees and consumers who wear their clothes. It also attests to their use of eco-friendly materials and methods.

9. Little Green Radicals Targeted at: children Product range: clothing and cosmetics Ethical practices and values: 100% organic clothing, fair trade cotton, GOTS certified, Soil association organic, Clothing size range: 0M-5 years Store location and shipping: based in the UK and offers international shipping Little Green Radicals went into business in 2005 to produce quality eco-friendly kids clothing that will survive wriggly newborns, excitable toddlers, and adventurous children. Their ethical baby clothes designs feature flowers and animal prints boys and girls will love. Their products are made from organic cotton with GOTS certification and have nickel-free poppers. The brand’s products are produced in India, and they assure customers that farmers and workers are well paid. Little Green Radicals teamed up with Superloopers in 2019 to give pre-loved clothes a new home. Last year they partnered with Thelittlehoop to rent out clothes to kids that their parents can send back once they outgrow them.

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10. Colored Organics Targeted at: children Product range: clothing and toys Ethical practices and values: GOTS certified organic cotton, non-toxic dye Clothing size range: 0-24M/ 2-4T/ 6 Store location and shipping: based in the US and ships worldwide You can shop sustainable kids’ clothing for boys and girls aged 0-6 from colored organics. They have a collection of organic baby clothes, including sleepers, bodysuits, joggers, and tees for your little one. They also offer leggings, socks, dresses, overalls, hoodies, and pants for toddlers. Perfect as an eco-friendly kids gift or for your own kids. The brand makes organic clothing using fair trade organic cotton that has GOTS certification. The sustainable materials they use are free from toxic chemical dyes. They use eco-friendly AZO or water-based dyes instead. For every month of the year, colored organics works with a different organization to give back to society.

11. Warp+Weft Targeted at: men, women, and children Product range: clothing Ethical practices and values: recycled materials, eco-friendly production Clothing size range: ages 2-14 Store location and shipping: New York, USA, international shipping is not available An ethical fashion brand that makes its jeans from scratch offers premium quality at a fastfashion price. They operate a vertical production system that cuts out third parties and nonvital markups and results in lower prices. The brand complies with the International Social and Environmental & Quality Standards. They source their fibers locally, making about 20% of their clothing from recycled denim, recycled plastic bottles, and cotton. Warp+weft uses production methods that conserve water and use clean energy. Clothing from this brand is not treated with bleaching chemicals, and instead, the brand uses Dry Ozone technology. The brand values transparency and is open about all the details of its production process. The family-owned brand assures consumers of its commitment to providing good working conditions and paying fair wages.

12. The Good Tee Targeted at: men, women and children Product range: clothing and accessories Ethical practices and values: transparency, fair trade cotton, B Corporation, low-impact dyes, GOTS certified organic cotton. Clothing size range: 2T-6 Store location and shipping: based in Canada and offers international shipping A brand with the goal of humanizing fashion, the good tee brand has cute organic cotton t-shirts and onesies for your kids aged 0-14 years. The brand’s organic cotton clothes meet GOTS requirements. They treat their clothes with enzyme, bio-wash, and pre-shrinking to make them softer and shrink resistant. All their products, including the kids’ collection, are 100% traceable. This means consumers can access information about the brand’s processes from sourcing to sales. As a B Corporation, the brand meets the highest standards of verified social and environmental responsibility. The good tee is passionate about changing the negative impacts of fast fashion on farmer and garment factory employees in low-cost countries.

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160 and winning awards, we’re mutually chuffed Celebrating 160 years, we’re a mutual that’s been around for a long time. Plus, we know a thing or two about saving and investing. But most importantly, we’re proud to serve our customers and their families. Our aim - to help everyone invest toward the future they want, by providing straightforward products for every budget. We’re customer friendly, and our mobile app makes managing accounts easy. And did we mention, we’re chuffed to add to our growing awards cabinet? Because we really are - thank you to our customers and colleagues.

Marketing After the Pandemic It’s safe to say that 2020 was a year like no other and that 2021 will certainly not revert back to the old normal. So, as marketers think about building brands during this year and beyond, what should we take away from the pandemic? What can we do to help companies grow faster? And how is marketing being redefined in the age of Covid-19? Asking and answering these questions is critical to marketing success in the months and years ahead. Over last several months I’ve been comparing what I’ve learned from two decades working in media and marketing with what we’ve all learned during this single year of epic change. In particular, I’ve identified 10 ways in which the pandemic challenged critical truths about marketing and gave us a new set of rules moving forward. 1. Old truth: Marketing begins with knowing your customer. New truth: Marketing begins with knowing your customer segment. The Covid-19 crisis has reinforced what we already know: that brands must communicate in very local and precise terms, targeting specific consumers based on their circumstances and what is most relevant to them. That means truly understanding the situation on the ground, country by country, state by state, zip code by zip code. For some businesses, such as banks, restaurants, or retailers, it may even mean tailoring communications store by store. Beyond geography, we have learned marketing messages need to be personally relevant, aligned to an individual’s situation and values, as opposed to demographics, such as age and gender. Creating a personal, human connection within any commercial message requires defining consumer segments that describe people according to multiple dimensions that influence their purchasing behavior — from their psychographics to attitudinal characteristics.

"But who is liable if the vehicle causes an accident in automated mode and the owner, who is also the driver of the vehicle, is injured?" The EY Future Consumer Index, which has conducted five waves of research with 14,500 individuals in 20 countries since the start of the pandemic, has identified five different cohorts of consumers: Affordability first (32% of consumers): Living within their means and budget, focusing less on brands and more on product functionality. Health first (25%): Protecting their health and that of their family, choosing products they trust to be safe and minimizing risks in the way that they shop. Planet first (16%): Trying to minimize their impact on environment and buying brands that reflect their beliefs. Society first (15%): Working together for the greater good, buying from organizations they find to be honest and transparent. Experience first (12%): Living in the moment to make the most of life, often making them open to new products, brands, and experiences. Utilizing customer segmentation and personas can bring deeper insights to media strategies and creative marketing approaches. Better still, these insights can be carried through to inform the full customer journey. 2. Old truth: You are competing with your competitors. New truth: You are competing with the last best experience your customer had. Consumer expectations were already on the rise before Covid-19. Gen Z grew up with technology seamlessly integrated into their lives. Directto-consumer companies (like Glossier or Parachute) were already conditioning us to expect a level of hyper-personalization since they were particularly adept with our personal data. But when the coronavirus hit, digital transformation accelerated overnight. This, in turn, sent consumer expectations skyrocketing in terms of what companies could do for them with a more digital experience. The customer expects so much more than just a seamless digital transaction, as Carla Hassan, chief marketing officer of Citi, explained to me earlier this summer. Now that companies have their personal data, they want anticipatory, personalized experiences across the entire customer journey. Companies should follow three strategies to ensure their experiences deliver their customers’ rising expectations: Make brand scores a key KPI for the full customer-facing organization, ideally using real-time analytics as opposed to a snapshot looking backwards from a point in time. Build the right data and technology foundation to support important use cases throughout the customer journey. Align individual and collective goals across the customer journey so any disconnects between functional silos like marketing, sales, and customer service are invisible to your end consumer.

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3. Old truth: Customers hope you have what they want. New truth: Customers expect you to have exactly what they want. If the bar just keeps rising, we must aspire to new values around customer experiences — in both a B2C and B2B context. Consumers today expect that any experience will be frictionless, anticipatory, relevant, and connected. In other words, they are concerned only with getting what they want, when they want it. And they insist nothing gets in their way.

(with the consumer’s consent, of course), is the driving force for initiatives like coupons, personalization, or email marketing.

rep or chatbot that was not operating with the same information as a retail location — and vice versa.

However, that same first-party data can help generate greater efficiency in media, particularly digital media and other addressable formats allowing companies to target on a one-to-one basis. With third-party data declining in value as key browsers usher in rule changes by January 2022, marketers are getting way better at engineering the

We must remember that marketing is often just the beginning of a relationship with the customer. For example, in a B2C context, we go through a journey of engaging them, converting them to a sale directly or indirectly, and then hopefully retaining them so they become advocates and potentially open to upsells and cross-sells. Marketing must be

online “dates” that they want to go on, learning the new ways they need to harness the power of their own data, and developing new strategies to partner with publishers. Even as the targeting (or dating) strategies shift with the new rules of the game, it will be important for companies to leave space for both brand and performance marketing given that bottom funnel strategies drive top funnel goals and vice versa. Simply put: They work better together.

viewed in the context of the full end-to-end journey and, where possible, work to connect the dots.

Creating these experiences requires companies to place data and technology at the core of their organization. This likely means building some degree of machine learning and/or artificial intelligence into the mix. Why? Because data enables us to create more relevant experiences across one or more dimensions of the four Cs: Content (that can be provided in experiences like emails or mobile apps); Commerce (such as physical retail, e-commerce, or a hybrid experience); Community (such as convening B2B buyers at a virtual trade show or hosting a webinar on home repair for consumers); and Convenience (like offering consumers coupons or benefits from a loyalty program). Today, most of the 4Cs are delivered in “onesize-fits-all” approaches, but as consumers increasingly demand greater personalization, companies will need to use more data and intelligence to sharpen their decision-making and drive greater relevance in their customer interactions to build stronger human connections to their brands. 4. Old truth: Courting customers is just like dating. New truth: Courting customers is just like online dating. For a long time, marketing was largely about buying mass reach or targeted reach at the best rates in media and hoping to convert it. So, basically, it was like going to as many parties or bars as you could in the hope you would find that special someone. It was a world of spontaneity, serendipity, and frankly, a lot of face-to-face encounters. Enter online dating and swiping through apps. Now, finding your perfect match may be less about chance and more about data and algorithms. In marketing terms, we have seen a shift from brand marketing to build reach to performance marketing to generate leads. The pandemic’s acceleration of digital channels only exacerbated that trend. However, while performance marketing enjoys a strong and important position in the mix, leading CMOs recognize that it is a fine balance of brand and performance marketing that delivers the best results, and they must fight hard against a bias toward that which is most easily quantified. Many are bringing their customer relationship management (CRM) team closer than ever to their media teams to see the full continuum more easily and realize efficiencies. CRM, which is powered principally by first-party data, or customer data that the company owns

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5. Old truth: Customers must sit at the heart of your marketing strategy. New truth: Customers must sit at the heart of your customer journey. The concept of customer-centricity is not news. However, the functional silos that interact with customers are often disconnected because of politics, org charts, technologies, or geography. The question is: How can we conceal these internal disconnects from the customer, who assumes that the whole company knows them holistically? We have all called customer service and spoken to a call center

It is not realistic to believe that the operating model for all customer-facing functions can or should report to the same place. The notion that reorganization solves all is a common misconception. It is far more important to look thoughtfully at the operating model and consider the processes, technologies, talent, data models, and KPIs to find the right ways to align objectively around the customers’ needs — then drive change accordingly. 6. Old truth: Relationships matter. New truth: Relationships are everything. It goes without saying that it is vital to build relationships with customers founded on trust. Advertising, for example, makes a brand promise, and it then falls to the product, service, and customer experience to deliver on that promise. But Covid-19 has placed a new emphasis on relationships, particularly in B2B sales. Faced

with a virtual sales environment, teams with existing relationships have been able to maintain revenue momentum, capitalizing on the strength of their prior bonds. In contrast, prospecting for new customers has required an evolved set of skills focused on selling solutions, not products. In both cases, trust and integrity are fundamental to driving market momentum. For sales and marketing leaders in B2B organizations, this has necessitated a serious

approach. We have heard for years that technological development benefits from agile cycles instead of sequential or linear “waterfall” approaches. Covid-19 created an irreversible trend for marketing to embrace a similarly nimble mentality. As the crisis has unfolded, a company could quickly find its message was wrong or its supply chain not in a position to deliver, immediately creating an advertising and/or public relations crisis.

category, became willing to consider a white label product, let alone switch name brands. That dynamic coupled with growing consumer awareness and activism precipitated during the social unrest of 2020 should make brands very focused on the values they express. In fact, key themes from EY research show that while quality, convenience, and price still very much matter to consumer choice, factors like sustainability, trust, ethical sourcing, and social responsibility are increasingly important to how consumers select their products and services. Marketing has an opportunity to educate the broader C-suite (and even the board) on the importance of brand values when it comes to differentiating in a post-pandemic marketplace where brand preferences have been upended. 9. Old truth: You need the right tech stack to drive modern marketing success. New truth: You need the right balance of factors (including your tech stack) to drive modern marketing success. As an abundance of advertising and marketing technologies proliferate, it has been easy to focus on the proverbial “tech stack” as an end-all game changer for marketing. However, having a Ferrari that you can only drive 40 miles per hour is not much use. For your technology architecture to drive results, it must therefore be matched with sufficient scale in data to fuel its success, the right use cases to drive results, and the right approach to human enablement. This latter requirement is perhaps the most important. Human enablement involves understanding how data and technologies will be used across the organization, making sure that people have the right skills to employ it effectively and that the right measurement approach is in place to motivate innovation and success. Without technology, data, human enablement and use cases in fine balance, the desired return on investment for marketing technology will not be realized. 10. Old truth: Marketing is important for growth.

recasting of talent to identify people best suited to driving relationships in this new world of online interactions — a world that relies less on charm (and even an expense account) and more on insights and solutions. Trust will be built by and rewarded to those that listen to customer needs and then craft solutions to meet those needs. In a B2C context, trust also plays a tremendous role. It is foundational to the value exchange between a company and a consumer. As companies rely increasingly on personal data that they obtain with consent from consumers, they must not only comply with the regulations on consumer privacy and ensure that data is secure, but they also have the opportunity to consider building even more loyalty and differentiation by designing more transparent interfaces for privacy controls. Consumers can make better choices if they know what they are agreeing to share with companies, and the clarity will foster deeper trust. 7. Old truth: Agility is a technology process. New truth: Agility is a modern marketing

Imagine a commercial showing people clustered together not demonstrating social distancing, for example. Suddenly, longlead time creative processes and annual budget cycles felt anachronistic while all the traditional approval dynamics became constraining. The fortunate outcome of the crisis was to create a mindset of marketing agility that is likely to be permanent. This includes continuous consumer listening and demand sensing, not only for the benefit of marketing but for the full company to capture the zeitgeist of consumer sentiment. Meanwhile, operationally, it also means faster decision cycles and more flexibility across key areas like creative, budgeting, and media. 8. Old truth: Your brand should stand behind great products. New truth: Your brand should stand behind great values. The pandemic truly challenged brand loyalty. The EY Future Consumer Index found that up to 61% of consumers, depending on the

New truth: Marketing is at the center of the growth agenda for the full C-suite. Unquestionably, there was a time when marketing was a cost center within companies for which the principal accountability was to maximize return on investment. In tough periods when topline results were compromised, it was often one of the first areas to get cut. However, during the pandemic, marketing has been elevated within the C-suite as a driver of digital transformation, a key leader of the customer journey, and the voice of the consumer — all of which are of paramount importance to other functional leaders. Without understanding the zeitgeist of the marketplace, in good times and bad, the C-suite cannot adjust to the threats and opportunities at hand and successfully navigate the future. Covid-19 has created a leadership culture of immediate collaboration focused on the urgent need for resilience. Marketing now has the opportunity to seize an ongoing central role in that dialogue, thereby driving the organization’s broader growth and innovation agenda.

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Corporate Na�onal Na�onal Only One Awarded in Sustainability Recogni�on Recogni�on the Insurance Industry Asia Responsible Na�onal Brand Na�onal Brand Enterprise Awards 8 Awards fromYushan Award Yushan Award The Asset

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BLENDING THE BEST OF ONLINE AND OFFLINE

THE FUTURE OF RETAIL As canapés are nibbled and the last glimmers of another bright Amsterdam evening are soaked up by the invited guests, glasses clink together in celebration at the opening party of the new BOSS store on the city’s famous shopping street, P.C. Hoofstraat. With its welcoming interior that’s easy on the eye, this next-generation store has customer engagement in its DNA. After openings in Dubai, Birmingham and Singapore, Amsterdam is one of many stores that present the future of retail with a concept that blends the best of physical flagship experience with the benefits of the web. The result: A new digitally enhanced store that offers customer new ways of engaging with the brand – be it BOSS or HUGO.

BRINGING THE LATEST CAMPAIGNS TO LIFE – KLICK IT, HAVE IT, LOVE IT Always on the look-out for innovation, HUGO BOSS piloted the new interior concept in 2017 and launched it in 2018, incorporating digital experience platforms to transform in-store shopping. These aren’t just on-trend tools, but the building blocks around which the whole retail experience is built. Today we want the choice given online, with the personal touch of a store experience; to browse on a screen, but sample in a shop; to order online, but collect in person. As the shopper enters the new wave of BOSS and HUGO stores, he or she is offered an experience that goes beyond the merchandise; put at ease with a warm welcome, complimentary coffee and a seat on a comfy sofa. There, it is easy to browse the latest collections not only in person, but also digitally.

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MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL A shoppable kiosk on the wall acts as a showcase for current campaign videos and fashion shows, giving the BOSS man and BOSS woman inspiration to build a head-to-toe key look. With a simple touch, the digital kiosk displays an interactive screen through which the customer accesses the latest styles both in-store and online. With the company of a helpful assistant, the shopper can try on a pair of authentic jeans, but click the screen to find different colors, washes and sizing options. The kiosk doubles as a full-length mirror, giving an array of possibilities to create an ensemble, and to find inspiration for accessories, shoes and outerwear.

BLENDING THE BEST OF ONLINE AND OFFLINE What’s more, the light-filled store is designed with digital tables for browsing the collections at leisure. The customer orders and pays at the counter, choosing delivery either to store or their address. The sales assistant can build a profile of the customer and offer the perfect product, even if it is not available immediately in store.

HUGO SETS THE STAGE FOR SOCIAL MEDIA Meanwhile, the fashion-forward fans and followers of the HUGO brand are driven by their connection to social media, inspired by the latest campaigns through online communities. HUGO customers are style individualists with a fashion-savvy attitude that directs them towards the progressive designs and cool looks the brand is known for.

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These networking pros and fashionistas are drawn to the social media wall at the heart of new HUGO stores; here, live Instagram updates are streamed amidst fashion shows of newly dropped collections. Surrounded by progressive interior design with accents of signature HUGO red, shoppers find the cosy lounge area, with an array of international style magazines. Offered a complimentary drink from the in-store bar, they can flick through the lookbooks and follow brand-related content on the screen for inspiration, before heading for the shoppable kiosk. Here, they can create their own statement look with the technology, or choose the services of an assistant who knows the HUGO brand inside-out and points out the latest collection styles. In this way, digital and physical experiences come together effortlessly.

THE FUTURE: MERGING CONTENT AND COMMERCE Back in the Amsterdam store the party draws to a close and guests slowly filter out to the sound of the last beats from the DJ. What they have shared this evening is the opening of a modern space that not only showcases the newest designs but tells the brand’s story, fusing online possibilities with the benefits of personal, in-store service. This is the future of retail, where commerce and content come together in a seamless shopping experience.

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DAZN’s global strategies toward a post-pandemic recovery DAZN Ltd.'s aggressive and expensive bid to tackle the global streaming sports market has seen paid subscribers and revenues soar since launch. However, profits remain an elusive goal for the group. The U.K.-based firm launched its DAZN streaming service in Europe and Japan in 2016 and added markets including Canada, the U.S. and Brazil between 2017 and 2019, before rolling out globally in late 2020. Soccer rights are DAZN's primary draw in its core European and Asia-Pacific markets, but the service also streams a variety of other sports such as boxing, combat sports, basketball, baseball and motorsports in select regions. DAZN is majority controlled and primarily funded by Access Industries (uk) Ltd., a privately held conglomerate owned by billionaire Len Blavatnik. Kagan estimates that DAZN finished 2020 with an estimated 7.6 million paid subscribers, down slightly from 7.8 million as of yearend 2019. The service had strong momentum heading into the year, but the pandemic wreaked havoc on the sporting world as most leagues and contests were paused in March and April 2020. While some sports would resume action in late summer/early fall, churn for most sports-focused streamers was likely sizable during the first half.

Gains during 2019 were primarily powered by debuts in Spain and Brazil during the year and launches in Italy and the U.S. in the second half of 2018. DAZN announced in December 2020 that it was expanding globally to more than 200 countries and territories, although subscriber growth from that initiative could be limited. DAZN's international offering in markets outside its traditional service areas is typically priced at £1.99 per month or less and primarily consists of live boxing matches and small niche sports, paired with archived content and original programming.

Financial data for 2020 has not yet been provided by DAZN Group, but reported financials through 2019 illustrate challenges faced by streaming sports services looking to aggregate popular, premium contests into a single service. Global demand clearly exists, but the high cost of sports rights that reached $1.65 billion in 2019 presents a soaring hurdle, especially in markets such as the U.S., where big broadcasters and media firms have locked up the most popular linear and streaming sports rights in long-term deals. DAZN's revenues soared in 2019 for its core over-the-top offering across all regions, but its reported group loss across continuing operations ballooned as well and neared a $2 billion shortfall for the year. The company also saw growth in the year across its three primary business lines: over-the-top, media that comprise advertising and sponsorships, and ventures that primarily sublicenses rights it holds. OTT revenues accounted for more than two-thirds of total group revenues. Revenues likely took a hit during 2020, but the company did launch several initiatives aimed at right-sizing operations, including exiting some rights deals and scaling back operations in Brazil and the U.S. in a bid to focus on core markets.

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Europe Initially launching in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in 2016, DAZN expanded to Italy and Spain between 2018 and 2019 and to the rest of the region in December 2020 as part of its global release. Business model/pricing The cost of a subscription varies by market depending on the available rights and the popularity of the service. In Italy, the monthly price will triple from €9.99 to €29.99 effective in July after the streamer acquired the exclusive rights to Serie A soccer. There is a promotional offer for current customers to commit to an annual contract at a monthly rate of €19.99. Both Germany and Austria share the same price structure with €14.99 for a monthly and €149.99 for a yearly subscription. In Switzerland, residents pay CHF12.9 per month or CHF129 for the full year. Spain has already seen a doubling in pricing since its launch two years ago. Currently, the monthly plan costs €9.99 with the annual at €99.99. Due to limited content, the service is priced at £1.99 a month in the U.K. and €1.99 a month in Ireland. Since its inception, DAZN has pursued partnerships with various telcos, offering combined billing and in some cases bundled plans. This strategy has helped the streamer extend its reach to more households and benefit from marketing synergies. Content In the U.K. and Ireland, DAZN is capitalizing on international boxing rights in order to strengthen its brand name among fight sports fans and pursue more mainstream rights in the future. Following the $2 billion U.S. deal from three years ago, DAZN partnered in June 2021 with Matchroom Boxing for the rights to stream a minimum of 16 fights a year for the next five years. The deal does not include matches of the British heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, who is signed to Sky exclusively for another year. In 2019, DAZN partnered with Discovery Inc. to make Eurosport 1 HD and Eurosport 2 HD available to its subscribers in Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain. A year later, the agreement was extended for another five years and now includes Switzerland. The summer 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo and the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games will also be available to DAZN's subscribers. In the DACH region — comprising Austria, Germany and Switzerland — DAZN established a strong following, having secured the rights to the German Bundesliga with 106 matches per season, Spanish La Liga, Serie A, Serie B, Ligue 1, MLS and the UFC. In Germany, DAZN signed an agreement with Comcast Corp.'s Sky for the distribution of two linear DAZN TV networks on Sky Q starting in the summer of 2021. The two channels have previously been available to Vodafone Group PLC's GigaTV subscribers since late 2020. According to Kagan estimates, DAZN had 1.45 million subscribers in Germany in 2019. In Italy, DAZN disrupted the sports broadcast market by acquiring the rights to the local Serie A matches for the following three seasons beginning 2021/2022. The deal will cost DAZN €840 million per season, giving subscribers access to 10 games per week, of which seven will be exclusive to the platform with the rest bought by Sky for a total of €262.5 million. In June 2020, DAZN rejected an offer from Sky for €500 million to add the sports app to its Sky Q boxes maintaining the exclusivity with Telecom Italia SpA. As of now, TIM is the sole distributor of DAZN, with a reach of 6.43 million residential internet homes. The app is available on its TIMVision set-top boxes in three ways: stand-alone, bundled with the TIMVision basic pack, with the additional option to include Sky's Now TV. In 2019, DAZN had an estimated 1.43 million customers in Italy. Asia-Pacific Japan was DAZN's only market in the Asia-Pacific region until the streamer's global expansion in late 2020. Business model/pricing In Japan, DAZN is charged at a monthly price of ¥1,750, excluding tax, on its own and partners' platforms. As the streamer has established its subscriber base in the market, it has cut some promotional offers, including the very successful NTT DOCOMO INC. deal of ¥980 per month, without tax. While docomo users who had subscribed to DAZN by September 2020 would continue to enjoy the discounted rate, new subscriptions would pay the list price. Other partners provide different promotions and trial periods, but most are only available to the premium tier customers, and none can be compared to the docomo deal. For example, KDDI Corp. offers their mobile customers of the unlimited 5G plan a three-month free trial and a minimal discount of 6% from the fourth month. Partnership is key to DAZN's expansion strategy in Japan. The streamer offers direct carrier billing through the major mobile and multichannel operators. Access to DAZN is built into the multichannel operators' set-top boxes. Apart from the incumbent telcos, DAZN entered into a partnership with Japan Cable and Telecommunications Association, or JCTA, to launch on over 50 cable MSOs by end of 2020.

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Content As the industry was hit hard in 2020 due to the outbreak of COVID-19, DAZN attempted to alleviate its heavy content costs. In August, the streamer announced extending their existing partnership with J.League for 2 more years, or 8 more seasons, until 2028, with the lengthened term based on a revenue-sharing model on top of a reduced license fee. Compared to a guaranteed license fee, the content provider would share the risks during bad times and growth during good times — a model that DAZN might continue to pursue going forward. In November, the streamer launched an original program branded "Yabecchi Stadium," which provides J.League-related news and insights. Through a collaboration with Yamaha, subscribers can send cheers and applause to the stadium and interact with other users through a remote cheering application, named Remote Cheerer powered by SoundUD. The application has been applied to "Yabecchi Stadium" and enables audiences to interact with others in a chatroom. In terms of licensed local competitions, DAZN added pre-season matches of the Nippon Professional Baseball, or NPB, league and the Asian Football Confederation, or AFC, Champions League in Japan in May 2020 and June 2021, respectively. Americas Business model/pricing Pricing in Canada has remained unchanged since DAZN launched there in 2017, with the service available for C$20 per month or C$150 a year for an annual plan. A 30-day free trial is also available for users in Canada. DAZN initially launched in the U.S. at $9.99 per month but quickly raised its price to $19.99 per month in early 2019, when it also introduced a $99.99 a year subscription option. DAZN's offering in Brazil has seen several iterations, launching at 37.90 Brazilian reais in May 2019, then reducing that price by nearly half to 19.90 reais in December. In late 2020, the Brazilian operations were restructured, with the service still accessible but only through DAZN's international subscription offering. Content Unlike in Europe and Japan where the company has actively partnered with telcos, DAZN has primarily gone it alone in the Americas. The service initially made waves with huge deals for exclusive boxing and combat sports rights in 2018-2019 but that momentum faded as Bellator MMA moved to Showtime and DAZN's much-hyped 11 fight, $365 million deal with Canelo Alvarez and Golden Boy Promotions fizzled out prematurely. Competing with giants such as AT&T Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Comcast, The Walt Disney Co., Fox Corp. and ViacomCBS Inc. for popular domestic and international sports rights in the U.S. is a daunting proposition. This is especially challenging as general entertainment subscription videoon-demand offerings, including Amazon Prime Video, Peacock and Paramount+, look to differentiate their services with more streaming sports and Disney shifts an increasing amount of programming to ESPN+. The NFL alone generated over $100 billion in commitments for long-term pacts running through 2033 with Amazon, ABC, ESPN, NBC, FOX and CBS. DAZN Canada has been the service's longest-running and most consistent offering in the Americas, offering subscribers access to top European soccer league action as well as NFL and MLB content. The service signed a five-year pact with the NFL in 2017 for the Canadian rights to NFL Sunday Ticket, NFL Game Pass and NFL RedZone. Additional international sports that DAZN has rights to stream in the country include boxing, tennis, basketball and rugby. DAZN's offerings in Brazil and the U.S. have been pared back significantly in 2020-2021 as the company exited numerous rights deals during the pandemic. Subscribers in the U.S. have access to boxing via Matchroom Boxing and Golden Boy Promotions, while those in Brazil can stream soccer, boxing, basketball, motorsports and other niche events including snooker and bowling.

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Netflix Is a Joke Announces 2022

THE EVENT WILL INCLUDE AN UNPRECEDENTED NUMBER OF LIVE SHOWS, FAN ACTIVATIONS AND SPECIAL EVENTS TICKETS ON SALE FOR GENERAL PUBLIC DECEMBER 10TH AT NETFLIXISAJOKEFEST.COM

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The festival will take place across over 25 venues including Dodger Stadium, Hollywood Bowl, The Greek Theatre, The Forum, Crypto.com Arena, formerly STAPLES Center, Hollywood Palladium, The Theatre at Ace Hotel, The Orpheum Theatre, The Wiltern, TCL Chinese 6 Theatres, YouTube Theater, The Comedy Store, The Dynasty Typewriter, The Fonda Theatre, The Laugh Factory, The Troubadour, The Improv and more. “It's absolutely thrilling for Netflix to be hosting a comedy festival of this magnitude in Los Angeles,'' said Robbie Praw, Director, Stand-up and Comedy Formats, Netflix. “We were so disappointed to postpone the event last spring and our line-up of comedians can't wait to bring much needed laughs to audiences in LA and around the world on Netflix. Netflix Is A Joke Festival is going to give comedy fans the opportunity to see the greats and discover new voices in one of the greatest cities in the world.” Tickets for all festival events will go on sale to the general public Friday, December 10th at www.NetflixIsAJokeFest.com. Pre-sales will be available beginning Tuesday, December 7th. Select shows will be recorded and available in their entirety at a later date on Netflix. Highlights will also be available on the Netflix Is A Joke SiriusXM channel and on its social platforms. Highlights from the 11-day festival include: Netflix Is A Joke: The Festival is celebrating the very best of comedy April 28-May 8, 2022. Produced by Netflix in association with Live Nation, the 11-day comedy fest in Los Angeles will feature over 130 artists including Ali Wong, Amy Poehler, Amy Schumer, Aziz Ansari, Bert Kreischer, Bill Burr, Chelsea Handler, Chris Rock, Conan O’Brien, Cristela Alonzo, Dave Chappelle, David Letterman, Deon Cole, Eddie Izzard, Ellen DeGeneres, Felipe Esparza, Fortune Feimster, Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias, Hasan Minhaj and Ronny Chieng, Iliza Shlesinger, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, Jerry Seinfeld, John Mulaney, Jonathan Van Ness, Ken Jeong, Kevin Hart, Kevin Smith, Larry David, Margaret Cho, Maya Rudolph and Gretchen Lieberum, Michael McIntyre, Mike Birbiglia, Mike Myers and David O. Russell, Nick Kroll, Nicole Byer, Patton Oswalt, Pete Davidson, Ray Romano, Sandra Bernhard, Seth Rogen, Theo Von, Tig Notaro, Tim Robinson, Tina Fey, Wanda Sykes and more.

DODGER STADIUM Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias (recorded) Making LA history, Gabe will be the first stand-up comedian to ever perform at Dodger Stadium. He will record his newest Netflix special in front of tens of thousands at his home team’s baseball park.

*Note: Select artists above may have show details to be confirmed at a later date. Check the website for details.

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THE GREEK THEATRE •

STAND OUT: An LGBTQ+ Celebration (recorded) will be an all-star night of entertainment with Bob the Drag Queen, Eddie Izzard, Fortune Feimster, Gina Yashere, Guy Branum, James Adomian, Joel Kim Booster, Judy Gold, Mae Martin, Margaret Cho, Marsha Warfield, Matteo Lane, Patti Harrison, River Butcher, Sam Jay, Sandra Bernhard, Scott Thompson, Solomon Georgio, Tig Notaro, Trixie Mattel, Wanda Sykes and more to be announced soon. Stand Out is produced by Page Hurwitz, Wanda Sykes (Push It Productions), Brian Graden and Dave Mace (Brian Graden Media).• Larry David In Conversation

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Bert Kreischer



CRYPTO.COM ARENA, FORMERLY STAPLES CENTER

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Kevin Hart HOLLYWOOD BOWL

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Dave Chappelle and Friends



THE FORUM

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Bill Burr: Slight Return

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John Mulaney: From Scratch YOUTUBE THEATER

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WELCOME TO AN ALL-INCLUSIVE PARADISE Escape to a tropical oasis filled with white sandy beaches, tranquil lagoons, and endless food and drinks (including beer and wine). Discover what it feels like to touch a dolphin. Watch stingrays glide beneath as you snorkel with thousands of tropical fish in The Grand Reef. Hand-feed exotic birds, then float away on the warm currents of the Wind-Away River. Availability is always limited, so reserve your spot today.

DiscoveryCove.com

Restrictions apply. Must be 21 years or older to enjoy alcoholic beverages. © 2021 SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Tina Fey and Amy Poehler In Conversation- See the Emmy Awardwinning pair in a freewheeling chat that only these two good friends and comedy veterans could have.

will curate and host unforgettable evenings featuring his friends and Netflix stars reading scripts from his favorite tv shows and films. All proceeds will go to HFC (Hilarity for Charity), whose mission is to care for families impacted by Alzheimer's disease, inspire the next generation of Alzheimer's advocates, and be leaders in brain health research and education.

THE FONDA THEATRE •

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That’s My Time With David Letterman (recorded) Legendary late night host David Letterman returns to his roots to showcase some of today's finest stand up comedians to perform and then join him for a one-of-a-kind interview.

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Aziz Ansari & Friends

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Iliza Shlesinger: Back In Action

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Pete Davidson and Best Friends (recorded) Pete Davidson and his best friends are doing stand-up comedy for you and your friends.

Jonathan Van Ness: Imaginary Living Room Olympian

• Patton Oswalt: Who's Ready to Laugh?

HOLLYWOOD PALLADIUM •

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THE HALL: Honoring The Greats of Stand-Up (recorded) Anchoring the closing night will be a night filled with today’s best in comedy paying homage to pioneers George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Joan Rivers and Robin Williams. The Hall and induction ceremony special were created by award-winning director/producer Marty Callner and producer Randall Gladstein. Callner will direct and executive produce through his Funny Business, Inc. shingle. Gladstein and award winning producer/manager, David Steinberg will also executive produce. The Hall will have a physical home in a newly designed wing of the National Comedy Center in Jamestown, New York.

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THE WILTERN •

Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

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Brian Regan

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Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend

• Chelsea Handler: Vaccinated and Horny

Princess featuring Maya Rudolph & Gretchen Lieberum: SNL vet Maya Rudolph and LA singer-songwriter Gretchen Lieberum are PRINCESS, a Prince cover band. The two have been singing together since college but it was only recently that the duo turned their mutual adoration for Prince into a musical project. Born out of their collective, life-long obsession with Prince, each performance is a love letter to the Artist himself. Don't Worry, They Won't Hurt U... They Only Want U 2 Have Some Fun.

WILSHIRE EBELL THEATRE •

Anthony Jeselnik & Enemies

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Ben Schwartz & Friends

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Michelle Wolf

THE PALACE THEATRE

Deon Cole

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Margaret Cho

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Jimmy Carr

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Theo Von: Return of the Rat

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Marlon Wayans

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Nate Bargatze: The Raincheck Tour

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Nicole Byer

ACE HOTEL Amy Schumer

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Fortune Feimster

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Vir Das

Netflix Is A Joke at The Palladium Hosted by Jane Fonda & Lily Tomlin (recorded) Comedy icons and Grace & Frankie stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin host an evening of top notch stand-up.

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Justin Willman: Magic For Humans In Person

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Mike Birbiglia Live!

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Nick Kroll: Middle Aged Boy Tour

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Taylor Tomlinson

Netflix Is A Joke at The Palladium Hosted by Amy Schumer (recorded) Powerhouse comedian Amy Schumer will host an epic night with some of today’s most talented comedians.

TCL CHINESE 6 THEATRES

Seth Rogen’s Table Reads: For four nights live from the Orpheum, Rogen

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Mike Myers and David O. Russell In Conversation

THE COMEDY STORE

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THE BELASCO

Wanda Sykes Live

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THE ORPHEUM THEATRE

throughout the festival, celebrating 50 years of the iconic Los Angeles comedy club. Full details to be announced soon.

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50th Anniversary of The Comedy Store: Netflix is a Joke in partnership with The Comedy Store, who first opened its doors in 1972, will be presenting a slate of programming

TROUBADOUR •

Craig Robinson & The Nasty Delicious

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Hasan hates Ronny-Ronny hates Hasan

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KEVOLUTION: An Evening with Kevin Smith: From almost dying of a massive heart attack to almost getting killed online over his “Masters of the Universe” cartoon, Kevin Smith is a survivor. In this followup to his last comedy special SILENT BUT DEADLY, the pop culture gadfly will pleasure you with his mouth, telling tales of his unexpected journey down the road to wellness

The latest information and complete schedule is available on www. NetflixIsAJokeFest.com.

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Innovating in a crisis and the impact on brand growth Brands that continued to innovate during the pandemic saw growth. Discover four ways brands have driven growth through successful innovation.

Many brands are struggling with the changing context. The rise in ecommerce, a fragmented media landscape, changing consumer tensions and an increasing demand for sustainable products are just a few of the challenges that brands are facing.

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The big question is: what did successful brands do, and what should they do now to continue to grow? We know from BrandZ data that companies that continued to innovate during the last recession were 9 times more likely to survive. Turn the clock forward to 2020 and the pattern is the same. Brands that continued to innovate during the pandemic continued to see growth. Many brands ‘won’ in 2020... but the real winners in share terms were the ones who had been innovating 2020 vs 2019 top share winners vs bottom share losers

Source: BG20 4 countries in Europe – Germany, Ireland, Spain, UK. Innovation = new brand/sub-brand, Renovation = new size/type/flavour. 2600 brands However, it appears that it is not enough to just innovate. Most innovations tend to fail: it seems that the sweet spot is making a small tweak or a more significant incremental move.

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Don’t get caught in the middle on new products – true innovation or minor renovations perform best

Source: Europanel and Professor J-B Steenkamp study – 104 new products France, 67 Germany, 56 Spain, 72 UK Innovations have to drive short-term sales, but not at the detriment of long-term brand power. So, what does it mean to innovate in a changing world? Innovation plays a central role for brand growth, and it is imperative in driving recovery. It provides the opportunity for a brand to be meaningfully different. And, if we unpack the BrandZ measure of ‘Perceived Innovation’, it also means taking a position of leadership, creativity, and disruption. Thus, Brand and Innovation development must be inextricably linked; there is a brand equity flow from Brand to Innovation and vice versa.

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Take for example Zoom, who made huge share gains, grew in measures of ‘meaningful’ and ‘different’, and continue to be seen as disruptive and creative. They have stayed very much true to their brand. One might suggest they were afforded a headwind by the need to work from home. By contrast, brands like Gordons gin in the UK have also continued to gain share, battling against the loss of the on-trade business, by focussing on the growing off-trade occasions with their flavoured gins, low alcohol and ready-to-drink formats. Both brands made meaningful and different moves through innovation. Another example is Walkers crisps, who had three innovations feature in the top 10 UK brand launches of 2020 based on sales and incrementality.

So how should brands go about innovating in a changing world? Firstly, they need to think about the changing context and doing what is right for the brand to drive short-term growth and long-term equity. They need to understand the impact each new innovation will have both on incremental sales, but also on brand equity, at each critical stage of innovation. Brands need to move with agility and consumer insight, releasing themselves from the traditional linear stage gate process to embrace creativity, take risks to drive leadership, and look for opportunities to disrupt. To do this, they must rethink the innovation process and mindset, moving beyond traditional stage gate thinking to a learn, test, and learn approach. They must embrace brand thinking across the innovation journey, focussing on understanding the context and increasingly testing and learning in focus of specific consumer contexts. Brands, therefore, must go on a learning journey, identifying a meaningfully different opportunity, and developing and testing it with their target audiences – with short-term growth and long-term equity in mind. They must think about effective execution in this changing media landscape and then stay close to the innovation in market – and pivot against the ever-changing contextual backdrop as needed.

What we’ve learnt about innovating in a crisis to help drive growth Understand the changing context and changing human needs, desires and tensions to identify a meaningful direction for your brand. Develop innovations that not only drive sales in the short term but build your longer-term brand equity (a watch out when moving at speed). Move from an obsession with testing to an obsession with learning. Use data, tools, technology and expertise to build a learning journey that is right for your brand. Get in touch to speak to one of our innovation experts to talk about how you can improve your innovation success.