51: The Power of a Crystal Clear Positioning to Turnaround Your Brand

Retail is not exactly rich with turnaround stories these days but that's exactly what's happened at Pearle Vision. CMO Doug Zarkin provides a step-by-step review of how the brand has gone from stagnant to revitalized, indicated by same-store sales growth, new store openings and a jump in ranking from >100 to #24 among the best franchises to own. Through a number of small but ultimately significant changes like renaming customers to patients, employees to eye care professionals and stores to eye care centers, Pearle Vision has been able to shift the conversation from deals on glasses to professional eye care. Most significantly, Zarkin and company figured out that people who come in for eye exams are far more likely to buy glasses and become repeat customers than those that are just shopping for new glasses.  

Meet the Guest

Doug Zarkin is a senior-level, global strategic marketing executive with an impressive array of honors and recognition for his marketing and brand building successes in the retail arena at companies such as Avon, Limited Brands and Kellwood. In 2012, Doug joined Luxottica where he is currently responsible for the global strategic marketing, visual merchandising, product promotion and store design for Luxottica's global optical franchise business Pearle Vision.

Among other industry accolades, in 2015 and again in 2016 Doug and his team were recognized with a Silver Effie for marketing excellence in HealthCare Services Marketing for leading the brand revitalization work for Pearle Vision. When not at the office, Doug can be found on the tennis court or in the pool with his two kids.

What You’ll Learn

• How a willingness to learn and listen can allow your team to win.
• Why marketers should practice humility when facing their audience.
• Insightful perspectives on social media’s role in the brand-customer relationship.
• How your brand’s language can influence consumer perceptions. 

Quotes from Doug Zarkin

• Any marketer worth his salt knows that a positioning that doesn't make for great execution is just words on paper.
• To win, you must always be thinking about consumer perception because as smart as you are…you're never going to be as smart as your consumer.
• There is a positioning idea where you want to be aspirational. I don't think that's it. I think it's about a positioning ideal where you want to be inspirational.
• Trust is really built in a series of small moments.