Beyond The Shelf

We’re closing out 2024 with a bang!  This week’s guest is Dawn Powell, Manager of Ecommerce at Kids2.  Kids2 is a leading manufacturer of products and solutions for early stage parents.  Baby Einstein, Brightstarts and SwaddleMe are but a few of brands under the Kids2 umbrella that are household names for parents.Recently, Dawn has spearheaded the successful automation of Kids2’s sell sheet processes, which she estimates has saved up to 50,000 hours of manual labor among her team.  She’s achieved this by working closely with partners like It’sRapid and Salsify.  Details of these partnerships, such as Kids2’s use cases for sell sheets (5:39), why they chose to work with It’sRapid (7:44), how Dawn was able to secure buy-in across the organization (10:27), and how It’sRapid is implemented across the Kids2 portfolio (15:40) are all discussed here.Connect with Dawn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawnppowell/ Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing sales@itsrapid.io with code "BEYOND2024"Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/ Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

Dave catches up with Jennifer Angelus, Director, Digital Shelf + Capabilities at Danone.  Jennifer has been with Danone for nearly a decade across a multitude of roles, including Brand Strategy, Trade Marketing and Category Insights, before shifting to the Digital Shelf side of the business in 2021, where she leads her “E-MAZING” team of ecommerce experts. Topics discussed include: Jennifer’s advice for other leaders looking to change from one specialty to another (5:46), the role that content plays in a digital strategy (11:27), balancing strategy between innovation and evergreen products (13:50), the importance of forming meaningful connections with your team (17:29) and an overview of the Danone portfolio (19:22).Connect with Jennifer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferangelus/ Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing sales@itsrapid.io with code "BEYOND2024"Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/ Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

Dave’s guest this week is Piyush Chaudhari, Chief Executive Officer at Salsify.  Piyush joined Salsify this past June after an illustrious career in leadership at prestigious firms including SRS & Co, where was CEO, and IRI, where he was President, Americas and Global Strategy.    Piyush shares the three things changing the retail landscape today (8:02), his experience at Salsify so far (10:03), an overview of the Salsify/It’sRapid partnership (14:42), his POV on retail media (19:58), thoughts on how the new administration will impact Saas and Tech, and how AI will impact content creation (26:22). Connect with Piyush: https://www.linkedin.com/in/piyush-chaudhari-62b29a13/ Follow Salsify: https://www.linkedin.com/company/salsify Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing sales@itsrapid.io with code "BEYOND2024"Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/ Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

Dave speaks with Gireesh Sahukar, Vice President - Digital at Dawn Foods Global, a global leader in manufacturing and distributing finished baked goods and ingredients.  Gireesh is a founding member of Dawn’s Digital Innovation Hub, transforming the business’s digital strategy and capabilities.  Gireesh shares what it’s like to wear many hats in a startup environment (5:32), an overview of Dawn Foods (9:14), the company processes that used to be manual but are now self-service (15:28), the insights they wouldn’t be able to uncover without a tech stack (22:28), and why crop yields are so important to their bottom line (27:26)Connect with Gireesh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sahukar/ Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing sales@itsrapid.io with code "BEYOND2024"Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/ Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

Beyond the Shelf proudly introduces the first episode in our “Client Spotlight” series.  In these episodes, we’ll speak with prominent ItsRapid clients about our partnerships - what are their needs, how can ItsRapid fill in the gaps, and what are their specific use cases?  These conversations will peel back the curtain for our listeners, and give you more detail into what a partnership with ItsRapid could mean for your business.This week, Dave speaks with The Wine Group’s Andrew Groom and Jack Slattery.  Andrew serves as TWG’s Sr. Director of Digital Marketing and Ecommerce, while Andrew is Director, Ecommerce and Digital Marketing.They share an overview of the wine ecommerce market (3:45) and The Wine Group’s success in the space (11:23), before diving deep into their partnership with ItsRapid: specific use cases (19:02), ease of adoption (22:45) the wins they’ve already had and how they plan to utilize ItsRapid moving forward (27:41). Connect with Andrew: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewgroom/ Connect with Jack: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackslattery1/Follow The Wine Group: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thewinegroup Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing sales@itsrapid.io with code "BEYOND2024"Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/ Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

Dave kicks off November with Claudia Virgilio, Global Vice President of Strategic Partnerships & Growth at Skai (formerly Kenshoo), a leading omnichannel platform for marketing intelligence and activation.  Claudia has been at Skai for over 15 years, initially heading up sales efforts to partner with clients including Expedia, Hilton, Walmart, Shutterfly, HP and more.  She also led the agency team globally, and was instrumental in developing Skai’s agency solutions and partnerships. You’ll learn what it’s like to partner with major retailers (4:09)  takeaways from Grocery Shop 2024 (7:22), Media Planning 101 from a paid perspective (10:16), why online brand discovery is so difficult (17:28), and what’s on the horizon for the space going forward (19:33). Connect with Claudia: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudiavirgilio/ Learn more about Skai: https://skai.io/ Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing sales@itsrapid.io with code "BEYOND2024"Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

Dave’s guest on today’s show is McKenzie Bauer, Co-Founder of Thread Wallets, an e-commerce company redefining everyday carry items. McKenzie and her team are on a mission to create products that not only look great, but also support their customer’s active lifestyles.  Join them as they dive into her journey in building a brand from scratch.  You’ll learn the origins of Thread Wallets (1:27), their early experiences with influencer marketing (6:49), what it’s like to build a business as a couple (13:36), the “palm up” marketing philosophy (20:52), and why free giveaways are key to building word of mouth (24:28). Connect with McKenzie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mckenzie-bauer-b436647a/  Learn more about Thread Wallets: https://www.threadwallets.com/ Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing sales@itsrapid.io with code "BEYOND2024"Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

We take a trip to the agency side of things this week, as Dave interviews Margaux Logan, SVP, Head of Omnichannel and Emerging Marketplaces at Publicis Commerce. Publicis Commerce is a “center of excellence” responsible for developing the commerce practices of client teams across the Publicis Groupe umbrella.  Prior to joining Publicis, Margaux held senior brand management and marketing positions at Unilever and Amazon. Margaux shares how her Theater degree helped to position her for a marketing career (4:43), reflections on her time at Unilever (7:16), an overview of Publicis Commerce (12:46), the major differences between RMNs (19:30), and why content is still king, especially with the ways AI can now inform and enhance it (23:51). Follow Publicis Commerce: https://www.linkedin.com/company/publiciscommerce/Connect with Margaux: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaux-logan/Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing sales@itsrapid.io with code "BEYOND2024"Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

It’s a DTC-themed week on the show, as Dave speaks with Matt Gehring.  Matt has held leading marketing positions at several DTC brands that have become household names, including Dutch, Hims, Rothy's and Everlane.Matt provides an overview of his career DTC experiences (2:10), shares some analytics rules of the road (7:19), highlights the importance of channel diversification (16:22), provides 3 key content creation tips (22:22), and shares the people who have influenced his professional life the most (29:31).Connect with Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gehring/Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing sales@itsrapid.io with code "BEYOND2024"Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

This week's guest is Michael Reda, VP of Omni-Channel Marketing & Insights at T. Marzetti Company. Michael has transformed the company's digital and eCommerce strategy since joining in 2021. His previous brand management experience includes Conagra and Kraft Heinz.Michael shares the things he can take risks on with smaller brands that aren't possible with larger ones (5:58), how analytics and creative are intertwined (12:27), the transformation of T. Marzetti's digital presence since 2021 (13:58), why retail media is an important part of their strategy (18:53), and what you need in order to switch from a few "great" pieces of creative to many "good" ones (26:04).Connect with Michael on LinkedIn; https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelreda/Take advantage of a special offer from It'sRapid and get a free image, video or banner ad by emailing sales@itsrapid.io with code "BEYOND2024"Learn more about ItsRapid: https://itsrapid.ai/Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker