Creativity-Led, Data-Informed, & Consumer-Inspired

Kailey Raymond: When you're taking a risk, timing is everything. For instance, it wouldn't be prudent to try out a brand new retail strategy on Black Friday. It's better to fail fast and cheap when it isn't the busiest shopping day of the year. And when that big day rolls around, those calculated risks have paid off. Your team is aligned internally, you know the risk is worth taking, and you have the opportunity to spark a connection with your audience that you didn't have before. In today's episode, I sit down with Elizabeth Preis of Anthropologie to discuss crafting concise stories through data, designing impactful, creative experiences, and taking risks at the right time. Well, Elizabeth, thank you so much for being here. I'm really excited for our conversation today. We have Elizabeth Preis here, the CMO of Anthropologie. Also has tons of experience across retail for quite a long time. Estee Lauder, J. Crew, Saks Fifth Avenue, to name a few. But Elizabeth, I want you to introduce yourself in your own words. Tell me a little bit about what you do at Anthropologie.

Elizabeth Preis: Sure. My career journey, as you described, has been fantastic on many levels. Probably far more exciting than I would have thought I would have when I was growing up. And it's been long and wonderful and not always very linear. I've consistently prioritized along the way, though, the customer and their experience. And over time, I've been able to do that both in store and online. Now, I've had the privilege of working with some great brands you described across luxury, across specialty, across stores, across online. It's been fantastic. And all those different chapters have taught me different things along the way. Ultimately, though, the most important thing it's taught me is that my job every day is to build brand love. That's what I think about every single day that I come to work, I wake up and I think about how do I build more brand love?

Elizabeth Preis: Both against the customers we know, we track and we look at data against them, etc, but also those customers who may not even know us yet and certainly may not have experienced us yet. So that is my mantra to myself. How do I build brand love every day? And then how do I inspire my team to build that brand love with their customers? And when I say customers, I also think about building brand love internally with our own employees. I think that's also very, very important. One of the things we think about is how do I make sure that we have an environment that is inviting, inclusive and inspiring both for our customers and our associates? And I think once you do that and you do that in a very real way that everyone can get behind, that's when the magic starts to happen. So that's what we do. We're all about trying to find customers to love us, trying to find customers we can love back. And then those who already are part of our community, making sure that they feel every bit rewarded and thanked for being part of our community.

Kailey Raymond: That's so great. I love the idea. You're kind of centering it on this idea of brand love. And I think that centers on knowing who your customer is, giving back to them just as much as they're giving to you. I know that you've been in, you know, across retail and in kind of different sections of it for quite a long time. And I'd love to learn from you a little bit about some of the trends that you're currently seeing as it relates to customer experience. It seems like brand love is kind of this unifying thread throughout your entire career, which is amazing. What are you seeing come and go in particular right now in 2023?

Elizabeth Preis: Oh, that's a great question. I think there's a couple of key trends I'm seeing. One is the concept of personalization and the concept of personalization being there's very much the tactical part of that, which is often data driven and algorithm led and all those types of personalization. But there's also what we try to do at Anthropologie is taking that personalization that can be sometimes in many cases personal, but also a personal at the same time and turn it into more personal connections. So it's taking sort of a personalization that is tech enabled, if you will. And then we want to take that and look at it more as a personal connection that is often more emotionally led, if you will. So that's something that we're working on.

Kailey Raymond: And how do you do that?

Elizabeth Preis: Well, you know, here's where the value of being an omnichannel retailer is really actually very special. Because, yes, we have lots of data. We are a very sizable business. We have a very sizable online business. And all that allows us to track many, many, many data points across customers and across sessions and across transactions. What that allows us to do is to provide a better and more inspiring experience. But where it really gets to be the magic again is if we can actually take that data and translate it into a memorable emotional experience. So, for example, we might have data that shows items that pair well with other items. Our stylists can take that data in our stores, and they can use that data when they're showing customers how to style something, how to put something together.

Elizabeth Preis: So the data is informing us, but it's not necessarily leading us. And I think that's one of the big distinctions that I'm very proud that Anthropologie is focused on. We talk a lot about being creativity-inspired, creativity-led rather, and then we're data-informed, and then we're ultimately customer-inspired. So we let that creativity lead our business, not data-led. That's, I think, much more of a tech-thought mentality, but we are creativity-led, and we're data-informed, and the information that we get from data can help drive our creativity and drive our strategies. But it doesn't set our strategy. The data alone does not set our strategy. And I think the reason behind that is data is almost by definition historical.

Elizabeth Preis: Yes, it can be predictive, and yes, you can do modeling, but all of that is based on what happened. And if you're truly about exciting a customer, if you're truly about inspiring a customer, if you're truly about giving her or him a reason to try something new, by definition, it may not be anything they've ever seen before. And the data, therefore, is not going to give you that same level of insight. And I think as we have become much more of a fashion leader, and we are really challenging ourselves to be more of a fashion authority and leading with our fashion authority, we need to be taking those steps to actually be showing them what they want, as opposed to regurgitating what has historically been popular last season, last year, etc.

Kailey Raymond: That is so great. And I think that what you're hitting on right now is a massive lesson for, in particular, B2B marketers, because over here, everything starts with, oh, what's that incremental difference? And of course, you're looking at these trends and data and insights and dashboards all day, too. But the idea that predictive analytics in many ways can't be predictive because it's based on historical data and that you're the one that's innovating and you're the one that's setting the trend, I think is really interesting and inspiring. And so you're the ones that are creating those unforgettable experiences.

Elizabeth Preis: Well, it's also just a lot more fun. We all want to be excited when we open up our closet when we walk into our home, we all want to have that, oh, my God, I never would have thought of this. Oh, I've never seen that before. And if that is what we're going ourselves to do to really be the point of inspiration for our customers, then we have to step out. And that means we're taking some risks. That means that the merchants are taking risks sometimes. That means that we're taking risks sometimes in our marketing. But the reality is, is that if you don't take those risks, then you're never going to truly excite, inspire, surprise, and ultimately be that source of that first stop for customers to go visit.

Kailey Raymond: In your experience, what's the right time to take that risk?

Elizabeth Preis: We talk about risks a lot. We talk about risks and having the confidence and having an infrastructure in place to take some risks. We talk a lot about fail fast, fail cheap. We want to make sure that when we're taking a risk, it's in a modified and moderated way. For example, I talk to my team about if we want to try any kind of promotional lever, any new promotional idea, that Black Friday weekend would not be the right time to try that new idea. So it's thinking through if we want to try something new, when would be a smart time to try it? When would be a relatively low risk time to try it to see if it works? And then most importantly, make sure you don't take risks in a vacuum.

Elizabeth Preis: Make sure that you have your alignment internally, your partners within the marketing team, your partners in the merchandising and planning teams, so that there's transparency and there's an understanding of what that risk looks like. And then let's make sure we also feel good about it. Because moving things forward by a lot oftentimes means making some little steps along the way. And if you have that comfort level in what risks you need to take, what you need to know, it's really answering the question, what do you need to know for you to have the confidence to move forward with this? And if you can find out in a small risk environment and get a really good learning, it gives you the confidence. Nothing's ever 100%, but it gives you the confidence that you can actually move on to the next step.

Kailey Raymond: I think that's great is thinking about how everything is progress and incremental and any tiny, even if it's tiny risks that you're taking, it's a risk that you're learning something from and kind of moving forward and making that step progress forward. It's a lot like how we think about customer data maturity here at Segment is the first entryway into personalization probably isn't real time, omnichannel, all this, right? It's probably like you're sending the color of a particular item, because you know that they like the color blue or they purchased something in blue before. Let's see if that works. You know? So it's like these small changes.

Elizabeth Preis: That's exactly right. I think back to risks for a second. I think it's also how we as leaders frame risk. I think you can look at risk as a loss or what we try to do is look at risk as a lesson learned. So if you if you look at risk as a path to stretch yourself and learn a new lesson and learn something that could actually be truly monumental in your opportunity for growth, then that is absolutely positively an investment. It's not a loss, it's an investment. And you're exactly right. We talk about our new customers, we're all about bringing in new customers to the brand. How do we get that customer to make even a second purchase? Let's not talk about getting them into top decile, rolling them into our top, top tier. Let's just start small and get them to a second purchase.

Elizabeth Preis: And what do those triggers look like? How do we want to make sure that we are getting more of our first time purchasers to a second purchase? And it's exactly as you said, Kailey, it's about what are those personalized moments? How do we personalize that experience? And a very simple, simple but real situation is a customer who comes in in apparel, their second purchase is more likely to be in apparel. So that's a good learning. Like, don't try to sell them a couch. If they've come in to buy a dress, probably best not to use a $4,000 sofa as their second purchase concept. If that's how they choose, that's fantastic. But that is a very simple description of how we think about it and the incremental steps that can lead to real monumental benefit.

Kailey Raymond: What's interesting too, is I think that what you just described there is exactly where you can and should use data, which is, yeah, we have all of this information that's telling us that repeat customers that are coming in the second purchase that they have is very similar to the first one. Great. Let's make sure that our marketing mimics that. But in terms of the actual styles that you want, the trends that you're trying to create, those are the innovations, I think, in retail in particular, that you are on the bleeding edge of.

Elizabeth Preis: Exactly, exactly.

Kailey Raymond: So we talked about personalization, we talked about how Anthropologie is creativity led, data informed, consumer inspired. I'm wondering, as it relates to those consumers, are there any new behaviors that you've seen in the last couple of years, especially?

Elizabeth Preis: Oh, gosh, I feel like it's ever evolving. And that's actually what makes it really fun. I think we as consumers, not just as marketers, but we as consumers, how we actually discover new brands has completely changed, and how much more informed we are about brands before we make a purchase. So for example, you know, 20 years ago, you might have discovered a new brand by literally walking down the street and seeing a new store and going into the store. And then 10 years ago, you might have heard about this brand, and you might have gone onto their website. And now I think more and more before you even have thought of the brand yourself, you're being pushed messages from a brand that you may never have seen. You may never have seen a storefront, you may have never seen a website, but all of a sudden it's showing up in your feed.

Elizabeth Preis: So I think that that evolution between physical to digital and now to social has been a huge change in how you actually find people, find customers, potential customers who can connect with your brand. So that has changed a lot. And then we as marketers, it's gotten far more complex. If you think about it, just because there's different channels where you could actually "intercept a customer," doesn't mean that you use the same content and all those channels. What that customer is expecting on TikTok is very different from Instagram is very different from Facebook is very different from store, and is very different from an online site. So your objective and your messaging, and the presentation of your product is very different. And I think that has been a major shift over the past few years.

Elizabeth Preis: And then the last thing I would say has been a big shift that I've seen, and I'm actually very proud of and very excited for is customers interest in the brand in its totality, and not just in the product they sell. So by that I mean, what does the brand stand for? Does the brand have a value or a purpose that underscores what they do every day? You know, if I look at Anthropologie, we've always been, as I mentioned before, led by creativity, that's not words that we just say, that's truly how we believe, and how we live every day. If you come to our home office in Philadelphia, it is truly a mecca of creativity, you have to come down, we'll treat you to a wonderful day to see the home office. It is truly this old warehouse in the Navy Yards on the water in Philadelphia. There's truly a ship like out our back door. And just being around a different point of view is actually always very inspiring to me.

Elizabeth Preis: And then you come into the store, and it's truly this world of creativity. You have people on one part of the building who have their sewing machines out, and they're putting together some sampling ideas. You have a huge wall of every color of the rainbow that is inspiring our textiles and our sweater makers. And it's just so inspiring. And so every part of the organization is housed in our home office in this one building from the designers to the pattern makers to the analytics people to the creative team to the copy team to the PR, the entire team is housed together. And that's, in my opinion, a real, a real competitive advantage. I look at that as a competitive advantage. When you're really working, you're not just working together in the euphemistic sense, you truly are working side by side with one another. And there's real value to that. So when I go back to the purpose base that we're led with creativity, we are absolutely positively a creativity inspired and creativity led organization. But with that, we are also purpose driven. And we have a purpose behind us.

Elizabeth Preis: And because we are so creativity led, when we thought about what partner or what partners do we want to work with, that we could actually philanthropically support, we could actually work with them in bigger, broader ways, we went back to our core, and that was education and the arts. And we actually are very proudly supporters of education, the arts, and we donated about a million dollars over four years to directly support people who want to pursue art as a profession, want to pursue art in a bigger way and to take those skills and apply them to society. And through our commitment to that, it's not just the money. It's also that we have actually invested our people and our time. And we've paired people on our team who are experts in their field with artists who are coming up in their field, which I think is so special. And it goes back to the value of our organization. We value community, we value creativity, we value giving back, and we value education and the arts and all those things come together.

Kailey Raymond: We're talking about how challenging it is to make sure that you're building a customer experience in sync and how all of your leadership team coming together and your company even sitting in the same place is kind of driving a lot of that alignment. For a lot of companies, this is really challenging stuff. So I'm wondering, in Anthropologie, what's your biggest challenge on the journey to customer engagement?

Elizabeth Preis: Oh, gosh, that's such a great question. I think that our biggest challenge is how do we make sure that that love of the brand permeates every single point along the customer journey? We almost have this crazy luxury of having customers truly stumble over themselves to tell us how excited they are and what the experience of being in a store is like. So if I think about that wonderful experience, how can we take that same emotional connection people find with the brand when they come into the stores and how do we bring that over to the digital space? How can we have that same sense of discovery, that same sense of excitement permeate their experience online the way that they can experience it in store? And obviously it's very different. They can't feel the cashmere, they can't smell the candle, they can't touch the 14 carat on our demi-fine jewelry. They can't do those things in the same way in a digital sense as they can in a physical sense.

Elizabeth Preis: But what we can do is we can try to offer an experience that might not be the same, it might be different, but it's still wonderful and it's still experiential online. So for example, how can we take the experience of discovering something new and perhaps present it to you and share it with you via other customers who bought the same thing? So using ratings and reviews or using additional copy from our editorial team who can write beautiful copy about any specific product. How do we make sure that there's other ways to elevate that experience online that might be different from being in a store? It might not be nearly as sensorial as one might have in an in-store experience, but it's no less impactful and no less special. So those are the things we try to do. It obviously is a different medium. It's a different way that you can talk to a consumer, a different way that you can communicate, two-way communication with the customer. But we don't want the customer to feel any less special than if they found something in store versus found something online.

Kailey Raymond: I love that you're bringing up customer marketing. I used to work in customer and being able to like really share the delight that somebody can have in interacting with your brand. It's such a relatable way to make sure. It's human marketing. It's not B2B, it's not B2C. It's actually relating back to the human and the value that that person gets from interacting with your company. Powerful.

Elizabeth Preis: I agree. And I think if anything, what we've learned in the last several years is that that human connection is even more special than it ever has been. I had an old boss one day say to me, people don't work for companies, they work for people. And I look at that in the same way. Like we might work with merchandise every day. We might work with media platforms every day. We might work with new ways of formats in which we can reach the customer. But ultimately, we are people and we want to connect with other people. And how do we make both our customers feel engaged and excited to be part of our community? And frankly, how do we make sure that all of our own associates and employees feel equally as engaged and committed to being part of our community? Because that's also a very important part of what we stand for. Something that our marketing team put together this past spring for International Women's Day.

Elizabeth Preis: So one of the things that we said, let's celebrate the many women of Anthropologie. And we started a series of every single day for the month of March, we profiled another one of our members of our community. And we thought this would be a fun thing to do. We wanted to make sure we had all functions represented, a planner, a merchant, a marketing person. We wanted to make sure all functions were represented. We wanted to make sure all levels of the organization were represented. So we didn't have only senior people or only junior people. And I think what that did, which we weren't really expecting, but it was a wonderful outcome of this effort, was that the community got closer to one another. I mean, to see on a daily basis, our LinkedIn profile, another woman going live that day, and have the rest of our community join in and tell them how much they love working with that person was for me as exciting as having customers writing in saying, this is my favorite brand and I love the series. It was really satisfying to make this come alive.

Kailey Raymond: And you can, I get this sense anyways, that when you're sensing that companies, people like working at companies and there's a certain joy about it, that that joy is kind of brought over into the products as well, and that the customers can feel that. So getting it right internally and making sure that the culture is influencing a lot of what is actually happening in store in your case, I think is important. And it's something that consumers can feel, they understand what's happening internally. They can sense that joy or otherwise. So that's really awesome. It's a great campaign.

Elizabeth Preis: I hope so. I hope so. I do believe you're right. I do believe that consumers are very, very smart. As consumers, I think that we're all savvy consumers, savvy customers, and especially in the world of social media, you can tell right away if something is paid, sponsored, or authentic. And I think that the more that we truly can walk and talk our own values and what's special and how we think about that, and again, going back to respect of our fellow teammates and colleagues, that means a lot to me. And that means a lot to our organization in terms of our ability to progress and go forward. Now, we talk a lot also about how do we try to earn heart share?

Elizabeth Preis: A lot of people say, a marketer, how do I get wallet share? How do I get wardrobe share? For us, it's about how do I gain heart share? Because if I can actually infuse our brand into those magic moments of one's life, a magic moment like as special as a wedding, magic moment as special as a birthday party, special moment as special as an interview for a first job. I mean, all those moments are really, really important. And if we can actually be part of those moments in a positive way, there's that association of Anthropologie being part of my special moments of my life. And that goes back to the heart.

Kailey Raymond: Yeah, you can be with somebody at these unforgettable, big lifetime achievements. And I think that's something that's really incredibly unique and makes them feel really special. It makes them feel really seen. And it does feel authentic, if you can do it in the right way.

Kailey Raymond: I'm going to pivot back to data. We were talking at the beginning of the show of how you're data-informed. And we talked about a couple of different kind of use cases in which you might use data at Anthropologie. But I'm wondering a little bit more deeply, how does your data information data influence marketing at your company?

Elizabeth Preis: Oh, again, I feel very, very fortunate that we have so much very, very rich data. We have proprietary systems in place that can help us pinpoint a lot of data sets in a very fast way. Of all the companies I've worked for, this is by far the richest, fastest set of data I can get access to, which is fantastic as a marketer. I would say that we use data at a very simple level of just understanding our path of our customer. How do we get a customer to our brand? What are the products that they come to the brand interested in, candles, for example? What are the means in which they come to the brand? Which channels do they hear about us to come to the brand? How many times do we need to speak to them before they come to the brand? How much time lapses between their first purchase and second purchase typically? So that we can deliver that same happiness, hopefully, for a second purchase and a third purchase and a fourth purchase over time.

Elizabeth Preis: So that data, all those data sets and all those data points are very actionable elements that we can use and we do use in our marketing programming. I think the bigger challenge, frankly, for marketers today is not necessarily having access to data. The bigger challenge is understanding and reading the data. And then more importantly is synthesizing the data so that it becomes actionable for others. And I think that that is where the real value comes. It's almost like one can learn to read and write, but that doesn't mean they can write poetry. So it's like, if we're in the job of actually crafting the story and writing the poetry, then it's more than just knowing the words and the letters and how to put together a sentence. It's also making sure that in a short number of words, we're making the biggest impact. With the mounds and mounds of data sets that we have available, what are those barometers of success?

Elizabeth Preis: What are those key elements that we want to make sure that not just the marketing team is clear of, but actually the entire organization is clear of? For example, we are, as an entire organization, hyper-focused on customer accounts, like hyper-focused. So we are always watching how many customers do we have, up or down from last year, what's the rate of growth for our new customer versus our active customer retention versus our reactivated rate? All those numbers. And typically, that has always been a big area of my focus, but that's not been always an area of focus for an entire organization. And I think that's what sets our leadership team apart from the other leadership teams I've worked with in the past, which is that this information is a underlying principle and something that we are all committed to doing because that informs our strategies in terms of what products we outsize, what categories we go after. It is truly a leading indicator of your future business if you can be acquiring and developing and retaining more customers.

Kailey Raymond: So many insightful nuggets in that answer. The first is really, well, A, my question is, are candles really the gateway for Anthropologie customers?

Elizabeth Preis: Candles are a very important product category in our brand. Yes.

Kailey Raymond: I love that.

Elizabeth Preis: It's not the only, of course, but it is a very important category for our brand.

Kailey Raymond: That is incredible. Also makes perfect sense. Whenever you walk into an Anthropologie, you are just overcome by this incredible smell that it's intoxicating. It brings you in. It makes perfect sense to me. That's great. You also were talking about a lot of the different ways that you're using data in terms of different pockets of the customer experience and focusing specifically on loyalty. And I'm wondering if you have any examples of programs or campaigns in particular that you would want to highlight that you do for a lot of those customers.

Elizabeth Preis: Oh, sure. So we have a program that's called AnthroPerks. And the program is a recognition program predominantly. What we've done in the past year or 18 months or so is really ensured that A, the program is understood both ideally by our customer, but also by our own internal associates. I think it's so easy to think that, oh, we've talked about that. I'm sure everyone remembers it. But the reality is there's turnover in every organization. There's turnover in a field. There's turnover at store level. So making sure that we keep that program top of mind for our stores and our store management teams is helpful. AnthroPerks is very simply a program that allows the customers, we talk about the A, Bs, and Cs. A, Bs, and Cs of AnthroPerks. A is for access. B is for benefit. And C is for convenience. And the A is about access, meaning you get early access to things.

Elizabeth Preis: You hear about it first. And throughout the year, we might have early access days. They get early access to shopping for sale or getting early access to a new delivery that's just launching. So that with things selling out as quickly as they do, knowing that I'm going to at least hear about it before everyone else will, will give me a better chance of making sure I can buy it before it's then gone. So access is important. We lead with the access. The B is for benefits, and that's often financial benefits. There's times during the year where, for example, your birthday, you might get a birthday benefit, a birthday bonus, which makes you feel special. And certainly customers like to sort of save up and buy themselves a little something during their birthday month. And then finally, it's the convenience part.

Elizabeth Preis: So the convenience is important because back to there's a data element to this. If all of my transactions are part of my profile, then it means that things like if I'm returning something, if I forgot my receipt, it's already in the system. They can look it up at point of sale. So that's something that might sound simple, but a lot of retailers don't always have systems that talk to one another. And our systems do. So we try to really think of being an omnichannel service provider, not just an omnichannel retailer. But if we are truly omnichannel service provider, it means that something that they bought online and they go into the store to return it, but they bought it as an AnthroPerks member. I forgot my receipt. No problem. We can look it up. And of course, we'll give you that return.

Elizabeth Preis: So that's that's the convenience part of it. Don't underestimate the customer wanting something special. And something special doesn't always have to be a discount. They want to feel special. They want to know that they are thought of as special. And that is is very compelling. And that is something that we as marketers should be aiming for. The easiest thing to do to drive your business is to give a promotion. That's the easiest thing you can do. And yes, it will definitely work. And yes, the customers will get accustomed to it. And there is a value proposition of giving them something that they feel special in and that they want to recognize that this is something that's super special for them and that it's being delivered and offered to them in a way that makes them feel valued and appreciated.

Kailey Raymond: I have a campaign idea for you, Elizabeth, and I'm sure you've been pitched this before. Birthdays, of course, always that, you know, retailers do this. What about half birthdays? Make it weird. Make it special.

Elizabeth Preis: That's very interesting.

Kailey Raymond: Not expected.

Elizabeth Preis: That's right. Little kids have half birthdays now. Why not big kids?

Kailey Raymond: Why not the big kids?

Elizabeth Preis: That's... Okay.

Kailey Raymond: Let's surprise and delight.

Elizabeth Preis: All right. Kailey, I'm liking this. I'm liking this.

Kailey Raymond: This is my interview, you know, this is my interview. Elizabeth, who's doing it right in terms of customer experience?

Elizabeth Preis: Oh, gosh. You know what? Such a great question. And I scratched my head on this because I don't know if anyone's doing it right on every level. You know, I think that in terms of transaction efficiency, a lot of the online players are doing it right. With the world of Shopify, you could just check out on so many different retailers and it's all inputted for you, pulls up your account information, everything's super streamlined and super easy. But that's not the only reason you make a purchase, you know, just to have convenience. I think in terms of experiential, like I was super excited to see everything that Tiffany did with their reopening.

Kailey Raymond: Incredibly beautiful.

Elizabeth Preis: And they really made it incredibly beautiful, consistent. They made it a wow. And I think that is really special. And certainly LVMH knows how to do that very well. So I think there's experiential. I look at something like truly experiential that they did, which is inspiring. I look at a brand like Sephora. Like I think Sephora does things very well in terms of knowing who their consumer is, knowing what their transaction history, knowing the things that are going to work for them. I think they do a very nice job and they also bring you new and it's where you can go to find new brands and new excitement. But I don't think that there's any one play that is doing it all right in all ways. And I think frankly, that becomes the opportunity. I think that we do a lot of things right. I think that we make an experience that is a memorable experience for many people coming to the store, especially to the store.

Elizabeth Preis: It's fascinating. But oftentimes our most engaged, our most liked, our most commented on Instagram posts are those that feature the store windows. So it actually was thinking about data. It actually was. And that data allowed us to think about when we had our 30th anniversary last year of creating a book and writing a book. And that book actually was centered on the windows of Anthropologie. So that is a great example of using creativity coupled with data to help inform our strategy. And people just love our windows. And what's not known about our windows, but it goes back to our purpose, is that much of the items, many of the items in those windows are reused and recycled materials. So we try to really think very thoughtfully on, you know, how can we make these windows be a reflection not only of the beautiful themes of the season, but also a reflection of our values of trying to be good citizens of the world and good citizens of the earth.

Kailey Raymond: I love that. That is such an incredible example of looking at data and pairing it with a real physical print, like such a medium that is so tactile and creative. And you don't see it every day anymore. [laughter]

Elizabeth Preis: No. You don't. But it's the things that you remember. If I had one, I could have a thousand, a thousand customer comments saying, I remember my very first trip to Anthropologie. People remember that. And that for me as a marketer is overwhelming. I mean, one of the things that, as you mentioned, when you opened up, I've had the privilege of working with some amazing brands in my career, truly amazing brands. But when I took this job at Anthropologie and I finally got around updating my LinkedIn, which was literally like on the eve of COVID, the number of people who I do not know, random people writing and telling me that this is their favorite brand of all time was truly beyond exciting as a marketer.

Elizabeth Preis: It was also very humbling and it made me very nervous. Like I'm taking on the stewardship of this brand from a marketing perspective, and it's a pretty big deal. I mean, it's people's favorite brand. You don't want to mess with that. So I cannot be prouder of the team. I cannot be prouder of what we've accomplished in the last few years. I cannot be prouder of my leadership team in terms of not only what they accomplished, but how they work together with their own colleagues and across the organization, because it truly is the sum of the parts is nothing like what the outcome can be when everyone's working in unison.

Kailey Raymond: So right. Elizabeth, last question for you. What are the steps or recommendations that you might have for somebody that's looking to up-level their customer engagement tactics?

Elizabeth Preis: Oh, great question. I think first is sort of understanding what customers you want to go after specifically. I'm not talking about individually [0:36:42.1] ____ Jane Doe. I'm talking about where is the opportunity from a segment that is a focus? Is it to go after acquiring a new customer? Is it about that first time purchaser do a second purchase? Is it that top tier customer who isn't buying a whole category of business that they could that you offer? For example, like is it the apparel customer who's a top tier customer who's buying no home, let's say for example.

Elizabeth Preis: So it's being clear about which customers you want to go after and where the opportunity is. That is where data is very helpful because with that data, you understand more clearly what the size of that opportunity is. And then once you have that, then it's being super, super focused. You can't do all things really well all together at the same time. So it's being super focused on which are the groups you're going to go after and make sure that you can clearly articulate that to the rest of the organization, what the value of that is. Because once you understand that and you can communicate that and you can get everyone behind it, then it's amazing how quickly you start seeing progress.

Kailey Raymond: So many incredible nuggets of wisdom today, Elizabeth. I so appreciate your time. Such an iconic brand in Anthropologie and you leading the way. Thank you so much.

Elizabeth Preis: Thank you, Kailey. It's been a pleasure.

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