True Classic Wants to Be a 200+ Year Old Brand

Jun 6, 2025

In this engaging conversation, Bryan Cano, Head of Marketing at True Classic, shares insights on the brand's rapid rise to an $850M valuation. He emphasizes democratizing AI, empowering employees to innovate solutions organically. Bryan discusses building a century-long legacy by shifting from mere products to a cultural force that connects with communities. He highlights the importance of human empathy in brand strategy, revealing how emotional intelligence complements AI in driving authentic customer relationships. This blend of technology and storytelling aims to foster genuine connections and sustainable growth.

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ADVICE

Democratize AI Across Teams

Map AI usage to your org chart and think of AI agents as employees filling roles.
Empower teams to automate repetitive tasks using tools like Zapier, Slack bots, and AI models.

INSIGHT

AI Elevates Human Empathy

AI will not eliminate jobs but push humans to use their imagination more deeply.
This shift lets marketers focus on empathy and customer life stages instead of just data.

INSIGHT

Vision Over Tactics For Longevity

Brands rarely last 100+ years without a singular, guiding vision beyond revenue.
True longevity requires aligning all goals under a strong, lasting vision.

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Join us for a live session from The Whalies in LA with Bryan Cano, Head of Marketing at True Classic, on a recent meteoric rise to an $850M valuation. Bryan reveals how True Classic is democratizing AI adoption across their organization by turning every employee into a technology architect and maintaining human empathy that drives authentic brand connection. We explore how tactical innovation serves a grander vision: transforming from a men's apparel company into a cultural force that builds confidence and community for decades.

Maybe AI Can Make Us More Human

Key takeaways:

AI democratization beats top-down mandates: True Classic's most successful AI implementations emerged organically from employees identifying their own repetitive tasks, then building weekend solutions that eliminated Monday-morning drudgery
The three-pillar AI framework: An approach that includes Generative (content creation), Operational (workflow automation), and Insights (proactive business intelligence) provides a comprehensive structure for organizational AI adoption
Century-scale vision transcends tactics: Brands seeking longevity must graduate from channel arbitrage to culture creation. By moving beyond riding existing cultural waves to generating entirely new categories, they can win and keep customers for years
Empathy becomes a competitive advantage: As AI handles data analysis, human intuition and emotional intelligence become the irreplaceable differentiators in brand strategy and customer connection
[00:17:20] “AI isn’t going to eliminate our jobs. It’s going to push our brains to the absolute limits. We’ll have to use our imagination more than we ever have.” – Brian Lange
[00:17:49] “It’s going to make us more empathetic… As marketers, we’ve obsessed over the data. AI lets us return to thinking about the customer—their life stage, their needs, their emotions.” – Bryan Cano
[00:27:09] “Just how Apple made technology accessible, we want to do the same for style and confidence. We want it to be effortless.” – Bryan Cano

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