The Modern Retail Podcast

Ro, a healthcare direct-to-consumer company that began with a product to treat erectile dysfunction, has a different set of marketing challenges to worry about compared to other DTC brands. Regulation in marketing pharmaceutical products differs from state to state. And because health remains a sensitive topic, establishing legitimacy remains a priority with prospective customers. Rob Schutz, CRO and co-founder at Ro, discussed using platforms for acquisition, TV advertising and more on this episode.

Late last year, Gap Inc. launched Hill City, an activewear line that is its version of Athleta, but for men. It's also the retail giant's new opportunity to keep growing in activewear. Eric Toda, head of marketing at Hill City, says the advantages of launching Hill City are to be seen for Gap but in the meantime, there’s a lot Hill City is learning from the retailer.

Born online, so-called DTC brands are growing up. Retailers that were once solely e-commerce are now turning to a more traditional playbook for growth. Rolling our physical retail stores is the first step in the way. Parachute, a digitally-born bed and bath brand, is on its way to launch 20 stores by 2020 and already has six stores in the U.S. On this episode, we chat with Parachute CMO Luke Droulez.

The road to in-house certainly isn’t smooth. As the industry gets more and more excited about brands building their internal agencies, a bit of a rude awakening came in December last year when Intel announced it would be shuttering its internal agency, Agency Inside. Teresa Herd, who led Agency Inside and is now the vp and global creative director at Intel, talks about building an in-house agency, how external agencies fit in and more on this week's episode of Making Marketing.

B-to-B marketing is not a bubble. The rise of influencers and direct-to-consumer businesses have presented marketers with new challenges with whom to market to and which tools and channels to use. Inside SAP, chief marketing officer Alicia Tillman is focused on extending the brand’s relevance from decision-maker to the everyday user.

Consolidation is the name of the game and one of the big players in the M&A space are consultancies. Karmarama CEO Ben Bilboul discusses the merits of being acquired by Accenture, why he is wary of holding companies and more.

On this episode of the Making Marketing by Digiday, we recap the big themes that emerged for marketers this year, from agency consolidation to marketing evolving as a driver of business.

For GoPro, it never considered itself as solely a camera maker. Rather, it was a media brand, according to  founder Nick Woodman. He discusses reshaping the brand over the years, how GoPro’s media team operates differently and more.

Big mergers resulting in new entities like Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R have set the tone for 2019: It’s going to be the year of consolidation. Anne Bologna, chief strategy officer at Hearst-owned agency iCrossing, says there is too much continued pressure on agencies — a talent war with the duopoly and continuing competition has made agencies lose their confidence, and forget their craft. Bologna discusses why consolidation is necessary, how agencies are trying to be everything for clients and more on this episode.

The big shift in this year has been in the marketers’ demands from an agency. It’s not just about the advertising anymore. Agencies are increasingly being called on to solve business problems -- and it's showing. Mike Sheldon, Chairman and CEO of Deutsch North America has witnessed exactly that in pitch meetings. Sheldon discusses learning new skills, the allure of consultancies and in-house agencies and more consolidation in 2019 on this episode.