A Marketing Genius

Today, I am going on a little bit of a tangent, but it something I am so passionate about and have been for most of my life. 

Marketing.

In my last “real” job I was lucky enough to, as we called it, pontificate about marketing philosophies and ideas for hours with our marketing team.  And yes, this was before I had kids and my husband was in graduate school so he wasn’t home waiting for me as we debated marketing strategies. 

Anyway, back in college, at the amazing University of New Hampshire

where I met my husband and my Betties (more on them soon), I did a semester long project on a little company called…

Actually, I ended being accepted into their Management Internship program while still in school and then stayed on with them for a time after that. 

Now for you young folks out there, this was the early 90’s and the Gap was in its prime.  All of this was accomplished under the brilliant leadership of this man…

Mickey Drexler

Also known as my hero.

Well, the Gap is not at its prime anymore and mostly, in my opinion, because it lost the clear leadership and direction it had under Mr. Drexler.

Do you know where he is now?  A little company that has been doing quite well over the last few years.  He is their CEO.

Now, you can not give credit to the success of J.Crew without mentioning

Jenna Lyons, President and Creative Director

Yes, she is the woman who wears sequin pants and a boat shirt for daytime and looks fabulous doing it.  That is one I KNOW I could never pull off.

Together, they are a synergistic amazing team. 

Back in the early 90’s my Betties and I used to shop at the J.Crew outlet quite often.  There is one particular bright orange shirt that I wore quite often. 

I would show you a picture, but I think most of them would be the type of pictures you never put on the internet for fear they would never go away.  I will leave it at that.

My point being, they straggled for a while and now have completely redefined their brand and their style.  I believe if these two stay around they will continue to evolve that style while still staying consistent to their brand image.

So, why I am talking about this today?

I believe that many of out there are blogging because we enjoy it and it is an outlet.  Others are doing it because it is a component of their business. 

So, my thoughts for the day are have you taken the time to really figure what your brand is and are you staying true to it?

In the long run, this can make all of the difference in your brand.

Also, I talk about this today because sometime I just can’t stop talking about Mickey Drexler!  And that, my friends, exposes me as the marketing geek that I truly am!

If you are interested in learning more about this story, you can read this.

Have a great day!

Laura