That's What I Call Marketing S4 Ep18: How The RealReal is Winning the Luxury Resale Game with Caroline Gardner
The RealReal has become the world’s largest authenticated luxury resale platform — with 38 million members, over 40 million items sold, and a brand people can’t stop talking about. But how did they get here? And why are they winning the luxury resale game while so many others fade out?
In this episode of That’s What I Call Marketing, Caroline shares the creative strategies, brand values, and bold moves that have propelled The RealReal to the top. From her start in luxury hospitality at Ritz-Carlton to leading marketing for one of fashion’s most disruptive players, she reveals what it takes to build trust, scale a community, and stand out in a crowded market.
Inside this episode:
💥Values as a competitive advantage – The gold standards from Ritz-Carlton that still shape Caroline’s leadership today.
💥Campaigns that cut through – If You Love Me, Let It Go and Ask Yourself What’s Real, and why the insights behind them matter.
💥Going where you’re invited – Why Substack became an unlikely but powerful growth channel.
💥Creators done differently – Letting influencers tell the story in their own way.
💥Authenticity in the age of counterfeits – How The RealReal tackles trust head-on in a market flooded with fakes.
💥 The future of resale – Growth, expansion, and why personal style beats algorithms.
Whether you work in marketing, luxury, or sustainability, this episode gives you a behind-the-scenes look at how a brand can win by being clear on its values, obsessive about experience, and bold in its creative choices.
📌 Subscribe for more conversations with marketing leaders.
2:12 – Caroline’s career path: from consulting to luxury hospitality
3:09 – Gold Standards: the Ritz-Carlton values that shaped her approach
4:36 – Bringing hospitality mindset into The RealReal’s DNA
5:20 – The RealReal’s mission: sustainability, access & personal style
6:20 – Building a member-first community in a resale marketplace
7:00 – Going where you’re invited: why The RealReal invested in Substack
8:05 – Meet “The Real Girl”: storytelling meets resale market insights
8:42 – Campaign spotlight: If You Love Me, Let It Go – giving customers permission to sell
10:37 – Tackling counterfeits with Ask Yourself What’s Real
12:52 – Inside the creative setup: in-house team & trusted agency partners
14:12 – Shifting from bottom-funnel to full-funnel marketing
15:06 – Creator partnerships: letting influencers tell the story their way
18:39 – Why trust matters more than follower count
20:09 – AI, search, and keeping cultural fluency at the core
22:56 – Why customer experience is still the ultimate growth driver
23:10 – Future of The RealReal: growth, stores & personal style journeys
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.