Bombas and Soles4Souls on What Purpose Looks Like in Practice | Reimagining Retail

On today’s podcast, we discuss how Bombas has held onto its purpose as it has scaled, what separates partnerships that last from those that are simply campaigns, and the signals that tell Soles4Souls when a company is genuinely committed versus just checking a box.

Tune in for a conversation featuring Vice President of Content and host Suzy Davidkhanian, Buddy Teaster, President and CEO of Soles4Souls, and Kelly Cobb, VP of Impact at Bombas.

Subscribe to the “Reimagining Retail” podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, Stitcher, YouTube, Podbean or wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow us on Instagram.

Awin is the all-in-one platform for smarter partner marketing. With award-winning technology, expert support and a global network of 1 million partners, Awin helps brands discover, manage and scale high-performing partnerships that drive measurable growth. Learn more.

Episode Transcript:

Suzy Davidkhanian: [00:00:00] Today's episode is sponsored by Awin, the world's leading brands grow through partnership marketing with Awin's enterprise technology, AI-powered insights, and expert US regional support. With 30,000 advertisers, one million partners worldwide, and more than $20 billion in partner-driven revenue generated last year, Awin helps brands turn partnerships into growth.

Learn more at awin.com/us. Join me at eMarketer's Future of Digital Summit in New York on September 15th, our biggest event of the year. Hear exclusive research and executive insights on AI visibility, commerce media, streaming, and agentic commerce, and leave with a roadmap for what comes next. Click the registration link in the show notes for tickets Hi, everyone.

Today is Wednesday, August 12th. Welcome to EMARKETER's weekly retail show, Reimagining Retail, an EMARKETER podcast made possible by AWIN. This is the show where we talk about how retail collides with [00:01:00] every part of our lives, and I'm your host, Suzy Davidkhanian. On today's episode, we're talking about something almost every brand wants to get right, partnerships.

Whether it's a creator, a retailer, or a non-profit, the best partnerships don't just generate headlines, they strengthen the brand and create lasting value for everyone involved. But what separates the partnerships that last from the ones that feel like just another campaign? So today, we're gonna take a look at it from both sides of the table, and I'm so excited.

Joining me are Kelly Cobb, VP of Impact at Bombas. Hi, Kelly.

Kelly Cobb: Hello.

Suzy Davidkhanian: And Buddy Teaster, CEO of Soles4Souls. Hey, Buddy.

Buddy Teaster: Hey there. Good morning.

Suzy Davidkhanian: Before we even get started on the conversation, let's do just a quick speed intro in 30 seconds or less. Kelly and Buddy, tell us, what do you do in a sentence? Kelly, let's start with you.

Kelly Cobb: Okay. Good morning. My name is Kelly Cobb. I'm the VP of Impact at Bombas. I've had the pleasure of being at Bombas, leading our mission for just [00:02:00] about 10 years. I oversee the way that mission shows up across our brand, which includes our network of more than 4,000 nonprofit giving partners across the United States, and the ways that Bombas connects with its customers to power our mission on a daily basis.

Suzy Davidkhanian: I love that. And for those who don't know, Bombas has moved well beyond socks into underwear and other T-shirts and other categories. Buddy, what-

Kelly Cobb: T-shirts and underwear, yeah.

Suzy Davidkhanian: Buddy, what do you do?

Buddy Teaster: So Soles4Souls is about ending wasted potential. So we think about that in terms of stuff that shouldn't go into landfills, that has more life, but more importantly, about the potential of people.

That if they sometimes don't have the opportunity to show up in the right way, we don't get to benefit from all the things that they can do and know. So end wasted potential, and we do that by repurposing shoes and clothes to create opportunities for people all around the world.

Suzy Davidkhanian: I love that. All around the world.

It's so important. Uh, you guys, [00:03:00] what's your favorite, you pick one each, book, podcast, TV show, movie?

Buddy Teaster: So the podcast that I probably most reliably go to is called The Rest is History, which w- they just did a long series on the Odyssey, so that was super helpful. Um, they are two British guys, fantastically clever, funny, knowledgeable.

I don't miss an episode.

Suzy Davidkhanian: That's awesome. Kelly, what about you?

Kelly Cobb: This is timely. I just reread for the second time what is definitely one of my favorite books, Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. Buddy knows.

Buddy Teaster: Yeah.

Kelly Cobb: Uh, it follows the story of the great and late Paul Farmer, who's a humanitarian and a doctor who believes in bringing radical compassion to populations that often don't receive it, and, um, he's just pioneered an incredible way of caring for people.

So it's, it's one that I feel like I could read every couple of years just to be [00:04:00] reminded of the importance of the amazing work that so many people are doing around the globe, uh, many of whom were inspired by Paul Farmer.

Buddy Teaster: Yeah. We've done some work at his hospital in Haiti.

Kelly Cobb: Incredible. Wow. Yeah,

Buddy Teaster: yeah.

Kelly Cobb: Wow.

Buddy Teaster: N- not with him, but at the hospital, yeah.

Kelly Cobb: Yeah.

Suzy Davidkhanian: I didn't know the book. Now I have a new podcast and a book to add to my list. Thank you, guys. Yeah. I don't know that everybody knows that Buddy is a, is it mountaineer, hiker, mountain climber? Uh, hiker.

Buddy Teaster: Hiker. Yeah, mountaineer's not true. Hiker is true. Not the

Suzy Davidkhanian: right word.

Buddy Teaster: Right.

Suzy Davidkhanian: Okay, so we often hear brands talk about why partnerships matter to them, but we much less often hear about how those partnerships are evaluated, how they're built, how they're maintained from both perspectives. So today we're gonna use the longstanding relationship between Bombas and Soles4Souls as a case study to explore what makes partnerships enduring, how can you scale purpose alongside business growth, 'cause that's also critical, and the lessons any organization can take away when building [00:05:00] relationships that are meant to last.

But before we get into the meat of it, I just want you guys to tell me, you think about this every day, all day, and as you're thinking about impact in partnerships, is there a recent campaign or partnership where you thought, "Wow, they really got that right"? Buddy, let's start with you.

Buddy Teaster: Yeah. I will ... So we have lots of amazing partnerships, and I should state at the top one of which is with Bombas.

I mean, it is ... Like, I always talk about that partnership because of its depth and its long-term impact that it's had. And so Kelly can talk more about that, so I, I won't steal the Bombas story, but that's one that I always go to. Outside of that I'll s- I'll share two quickly that aren't in the footwear or apparel space.

One's with Voya Financial, and that doesn't seem like an obvious one, but they send their team members to travel with us. Mm. They collect shoes, they- Find all these ways to weave what Soles4Souls is about to understand the impact, and it's an, [00:06:00] a financial services company. So there are lots of ways to do it, and we've been doing this for almost 10 years with them.

So hundreds of their employees have traveled with us and experienced it. They've collected tens of thousands of pairs of shoes, and their volunteer culture and Soles4Souls' mission combine really beautifully. And then in Canada, we work with a company called BioPed. It's a little bit of a different, uh, model than we have in the US, but it's, uh, franchisees.

And the CEO, Pete Scully, has correlated pretty strongly that the companies that collect shoes and lean into this mission part perform better financially. So he talks about it to his franchisees as a business benefit, not just a social benefit. And again, that partnership goes back even longer. So those are two maybe unexpected examples of how a footwear apparel not-for-profit can partner with companies not in that business.

Suzy Davidkhanian: Cool. Uh, Buddy, do you spend... I'm sure you spend time thinking about outside of your world. Like, I was thinking Home Depot [00:07:00] does stuff with Habitat for Humanity, I think. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Or Kroger is trying to do Feed Families and Feed America. Mm-hmm. And, like, the list of these types of partnerships goes on and on, and some of them are very old, you know?

Uh- Yeah ... is there one that's kinda new that you pay atten- that you're like, "Oh, wow. That's a- that was great"? Or Kelly, maybe I'll start with you.

Kelly Cobb: Yeah, I mean, I love the theme, Buddy, of the sort of unexpected partnerships. Uh, and one is, is one that I learned about fairly recently, which is, uh, Paul Hastings law firm, global law firm.

Um, I learned that they are doing this really impactful thing with physical space, with office space, where they make office space available to nonprofits to embed them in their corporate space in a way that probably isn't as common as it might be, could be, should be. Yeah. And what's so amazing about that is that, one, it, it solves a [00:08:00] material need by providing space for convenings or, uh, to work out of, and then also it brings the work of the nonprofit directly to the other individuals in the Paul Hastings office.

So they're building real relationships. They're getting to learn about the work that's being done. And through that, the relationship becomes completely authentic. And the engagement that evolves from that, the desire to support, the desire to get more involved, uh, is done in such a holistic way that it's, it's really quite beautiful, and I think something that maybe isn't top of mind when corporations are thinking about how to engage- Yeah

with nonprofit partners. But really, really inspiring.

Buddy Teaster: Yeah.

Suzy Davidkhanian: Awesome. Well then, let's talk about even more inspiring, I think, is the Bombas Souls for Souls story. So tell me, how did the relationship first start? How did you realize that this was gonna be something? It wasn't a one and done. It's been many years that you guys have been working together, [00:09:00] and there's an evolution.

Tell us more about how it started.

Buddy Teaster: I'd love to hear Kelly's perspective. Um, this is the first time we've met, so- Yeah ... this, I'm, I'm, like, on the edge of my seat kind of to find out how- ... how she tells the story.

Kelly Cobb: Sure. Yeah. Uh, so- Bombas was started in 2013 with a mission to donate socks for every pair purchased.

Uh, like, like Susie said, that's evolved now over time to also include underwear and T-shirts as well. But at the very beginning, you know, we were founded on our mission, but realized we weren't sure exactly- ... how we would go about distributing, at the time, thousands of pairs of socks, now tens of millions of pairs of socks per year, uh, to a network of giving partners.

We call giving partners the wonderful organizations that meet the needs of people experiencing housing insecurity and homelessness across the US and in Canada. Um, and so at the beginning, we, we started [00:10:00] with a handful of partners. We're based in New York City, so a number of them were based there, building relationships.

Um, we started with direct outreach to organizations that we learned about, really admired the work that they were doing, with an ask. Would they, would they be willing to receive the socks that we wanted to donate? No catch, you know. No strings attached. Um, which in the early days was sort of like, huh, you know, people weren't, weren't sure what, what was going on.

But as we, you know, became more of a household name over time and organizations are talking with one another, it became a bit easier to engage with o- great organizations that we wanted to partner with. Um, and so when we learned about Soles4Souls, you know, it was, you know, socks and shoes and, um, we absolutely loved their mission and their, the way of reaching folks in their community.

So, um, it felt like, uh, a, a partnership that felt perfectly aligned. Um, and [00:11:00] so that's where it started in about 2018. Mm-hmm. Um, and together we've been able to distribute, I think, in the, the, the low millions-

Suzy Davidkhanian: Yeah ...

Kelly Cobb: of pairs of socks to, to the folks that you support on a daily basis, which is pretty amazing.

I mean, we couldn't do what we do, of course, without the wonderful giving partners that we have, like Soles4Souls.

Buddy Teaster: Another thing that happened, Susie, and thankfully we had the two years of partnership starting in 2018, but we launched this program in 2020 called For Every Kid, where we're providing new branded sneakers to kids experiencing homelessness, mostly in our public schools.

And so we were, we are still very energized by that, but it became very quickly apparent that if we could combine that with socks, that would, the kids would benefit tremendously. I mean, I had an experience not too long ago where the kid got the shoes and was way more excited about the socks and said, "Now I don't have to share [00:12:00] socks with my sister."

Kelly Cobb: Hmm.

Buddy Teaster: And you just think, holy cow, like what... So Bombas lives and breathes that, but when we were able to connect those things and explain what we're doing, uh, to Bombas, that's when they were able to dial it up. Because we served 250,000 kids this year just through that program, and without Bombas there's no way that would've been possible.

So when we had a clearer connection to their mission, they stepped forward very quickly. So that, that was a... Like I said, we had two years to get started, but it was really terrific to see how those meshed.

Suzy Davidkhanian: Yeah, there, it sounds like there was really an evolution and a turning point. Uh, I've been to one of those distribution events up in the Bronx area, and it really is phenomenal the way that the sh- shoes are paired with the socks, and people get so excited- Yeah

about the branded socks, too. Yeah. It's amazing to see, and it really does show this idea around it's you're building a relationship versus a one-off campaign. Mm-hmm. I don't think most people realize the pairing- Yeah ... and how it comes together.

Kelly Cobb: Yeah, exactly, and that's really [00:13:00] what it's all about. I, I think that's such a good point to emphasize, because it's that bi-directional relationship that's so important.

It's not just, um, you know, what we can give to a particular organization, or what an organization needs, or what a corporate donor can provide. It's, you know, what we're offering is only as useful as the needs and the, the, the, the specificity with which- Mm-hmm ... you're answering to a need. Um, providing a high-quality product, ensuring that you're offering, in this example, a range of styles and sizes that actually meet the needs of the person receiving it.

Yeah. It's so important that it's not just like, "Well, this is what we have to give," you know? Yeah. Like, take it or leave it- Yeah ... kind of thing. And I think everything that we've done is so directly influenced by our, the feedback from our partners, the needs that the partners describe to us so that we can always be evolving, um, to meet that partnership.

[00:14:00] And, and we're so grateful to be learning from Soles4Souls and our network of partners all the time.

Buddy Teaster: Yeah.

Suzy Davidkhanian: And there's a shared value. It's, it's an, you're not tacking on something, right? It, it makes sense, and so that also becomes memorable. One of the things I find fascinating is that Bombas, you know, it's not an old company, you know, it's still kind of- Mm

new, and you've grown exponentially, but you've still stood the ground on your mission and about giving back. How do you hold onto, how do you manage to scale both things at the same time? Because again, as you get bigger, now it's the opposite, right? More people are coming to you, Kelly, and saying, "Hey, we wanna partner with you."

So how do you, how do you take care... Like not take care, sorry, take that back. How do you... That seems like a hard, uh, thing to manage, scaling business and also the partnerships.

Kelly Cobb: Having been here for just about 10 years and the growth that we've seen over that time, um, I've been so close to it, [00:15:00] but I still pinch myself a little bit- Mm

because as a corporate entity, so much can change over time, and especially with scale, um, you know, there can be things that felt so important at the beginning that start to kind of fall away, or you decide, well, we could prioritize more profit if we didn't do our mission in the same way. And the fact that that has remained so foundational from day one as we've grown, um, is, is a super important thing, something that I feel very proud of on behalf of our company, um, that we have been, and I credit, uh, my incredible team, our giving team.

We're a relatively small team of four, uh, that oversees the distribution process and the management of our giving partner network, and it's, it's such a, a team that's so deeply focused on ensuring that we're maintaining the ideals that we had since day one. And certainly scale challenges the [00:16:00] ability to maintain quality at scale.

You know, you're, you're thinking about how can we- Ensure that we're still maintaining these deep relationships, and how are we having one-on-one conversations with as many partners as we can? How are we visiting as many organizations in person as we can so that we're really learning about the work that they're doing on the ground in different places?

And so we've had to ensure each year that we're, we're taking a close look at the things that really matter to us, the things that ensure that our, our mission is as authentic and as helpful as it can be. And that comes with things that are a little bit less fun to talk about, like- ... integrated systems and technology, and the things that make it a little bit more streamlined to manage a major distribution effort at scale.

But then we can't lose sight of the personal aspects of how are we engaging with, with our partners that are emailing us on a daily [00:17:00] basis? How can we make them feel like they're one of the only ones? Mm-hmm. And that's something truly that to be able to distribute what we do to a network of more than 4,000 organizations, the number of giving partners that do email us like what they're the only one makes us so-

happy because, you know, they- they've not lost sight, and we've clearly not lost sight of the fact that it can't just turn into a machine. It can't just be- Yeah ... you know, an operation that- that's lost that personal connection. So- It's a combination of things, and the last thing that I'll say is that continuous buy-in from the leadership level has just been so critical in ensuring that we're never compromising.

That mission is held at the forefront of every business decision that's made. It's always considered how, how the mission could be impacted a- as we're making product decisions, warehousing decisions, distribution decisions. All of those things are held at the same time as how that [00:18:00] impacts our partner network and our ability to fulfill our mission.

Suzy Davidkhanian: Well, it sounds like internal culture leadership continues to be at the forefront, the glue that's holding it all together, but that you haven't let go of this idea of a strong, consistent product. 'Cause we know a lot of consumers believe that value matters, but at the end of the day, they also want a brand that's consistently delivering, and it sounds like you've got it all sort of figured out, which is amazing.

Buddy, you-

Buddy Teaster: Susie, c- can I add one thing?

Suzy Davidkhanian: Yes, of

Buddy Teaster: course. You touched on something that I think is super important. We've had the chance over the years to work with a number of brands who do sort of a buy one, give one model, and our experience has been people deliver on that. Sometimes it is very transactional, like the bare minimum.

The product quality of the sock, and now underwear and T-shirts that were also a part of that, uh, distribution for Bombas now, the quality of the product is amazing. Like, this is not the bare minimum, check the box- Yeah ... you know, just clear the bar. It amazes me every time when we're able to [00:19:00] hand these kids or somebody who's been through a fire or a flood, like, high-quality stuff.

It is so consistent that there's no disconnect between what Bombas says and how they act, and that doesn't always happen. And I wanna share one more story 'cause I l- I love how this happened. The Bombas folks let us have a meeting at their headquarters. Super cool building, beautiful, terrific. As we were walking out the door, um, the receptionist said, "Hey, grab a pair of socks."

There was this basket by the front door. "Grab a pair, and when you find somebody who needs them, give them."

Suzy Davidkhanian: Aw.

Buddy Teaster: Like, they don't have to do that. Nobody's seeing that, right? There's no, there's no camera there. There's no Instagram. There's no T- It is so genuine, and so we were kinda shocked, like, really? So we, you know, we put a pair in our coat pocket, and later that day there's a- You know, my experience was there was a guy on a grate, no shoes, no socks worth speaking of.

And I'm like, "Holy cow," like this is a direct... Like I walked out the front door- Oh ... and blocks later. [00:20:00] So I just think that's... Nobody's gonna see that at, who interacts with Bombas. Most giving partners aren't gonna be able to come into the office probably. Mm. And to know that it's just as baked in, like that's the kind of thing you feel like hit the jackpot on the partnership front.

Suzy Davidkhanian: Yeah, the, that authenticity versus being flashy about it, it, that's very cool. Yeah. Um, so let's stick with that because you have worked with lots of brands over the years, and here's one really great sort of tidbit. You know, look for the actions over the words, make sure that it's really authentic and true to that brand's mission, and it aligns with what you guys are doing as well.

But what are some of the other signals that you have noticed over the years that lets you see that the company is genuinely interested in partnering with you versus, like you said, checking off that box?

Buddy Teaster: Yeah. So I think it's something you started the conversation with Suzy, and to me it is the most important signal.

Is this a campaign or is this a partnership?

Suzy Davidkhanian: Mm.

Buddy Teaster: And look, there's a place for campaign. Uh, you [00:21:00] know, I'll, I'll be the, I'll be the leader of that band. But the ones that really matter, that really move the needle are the, are the partnerships that not only last over time, but Kelly, you said this, like you learn from each other.

And, and it's not only okay, but encouraged to talk about the business value. Like you can't... What, what often is the, to me the hardest thing to navigate is when the company says, "We're here just to do good," and Soles4Souls is saying, "We just wanna make the business side work." If, if each side is coming at that- With only one lens-

Kelly Cobb: Mm-hmm

Buddy Teaster: it's not gonna last the same way. It's, it is good to talk about systems and distribution and the cost of moving the product. Those things really matter. And to act like, "Well, Bombas is super successful, they should just eat that cost," that's a terrible partner. Like, we would be a terrible partner if we thought about it that way.

And if Bombas was like, "What, like, send it 19th class mail and who cares when it gets there- Mm ... but we sent them," like, that's also terrible. And because we can talk about those [00:22:00] realities that Kelly's gotta go back and talk to her team, the CFO is like, "This much goes out the door when we do this." Mm-hmm. And to have answers and understanding.

You don't start that on day one, but when it feels like this is a conversation that's gonna last a long time, to me, that is the most important signal for a good long-term potential partnership.

Kelly Cobb: Mm. I love that, Buddy. It h- it always has to make business sense. It, it couldn't be sustainable if, if it didn't make sense.

And n- no matter what the ideals, you know, the intentions can be in the best place, but if it's, if it's not going to allow your business to be sustainable and a mission to be sustainable, you know, then it, it may fail. And I think- Yeah ... to your point, that consistency over time is, is so critical. It's something that we really strive for.

And, um, because we know that our partners, like Soles4Souls, are giving so consistently. The need doesn't [00:23:00] stop after a holiday season- ... or back to school timing. You know, the times that reasonably are top of mind for most people, most consumers, and most givers. But the fact that in the dead of summer, in- Yeah.

the coldest parts of winter, when everyone's sort of forgotten the, the need or, or desire to show up and volunteer or, uh, offer a donation, it's like, this is an always on thing. Yeah. So that consistency is so critical.

Suzy Davidkhanian: And it sounds like the number one thing to look for is someone who is going to be mutually, right?

Someone who's gonna be a strategic partner- Yeah ... on both sides, who wants the best for both brands or both organizations, and is willing to actively manage.

Buddy Teaster: Susie, I have to share one more story- Yes, please ... 'cause I think it, it, 'cause it's a, it's, it's another angle. It's, it's connected to Bombas, but it's another angle of what is a good partnership, is when the company also asks, "How can we get our employees engaged?"

Like, so if there's a [00:24:00] signal that this isn't just about a product thing, but we wanna engage our team. And, uh, recently Nancy Youssef, whom you know- Oh, yeah ... Susie, on our team, ordered some socks and too many came from Bombas, and supposed to be... She ordered four and eight came. So she called customer service and said, "Hey, do you want me to send it back?"

And the customer service person said, "No, you should donate them to somebody." And Nancy said, "Well, as a matter of fact, I'm with Soles4Souls." The customer service person said, "Oh my God, we love Soles4Souls." So the fact that this wasn't just Kelly and her team, it wasn't in the social impact report at the end of the year or whatever that might be, like the person answering the phone knew that is an- like the fact that Bombas can connect that, that is a signal from any company when you c- like, oh, they care about how their people are gonna plug into this- Mm

that's another really good long-term signal.

Suzy Davidkhanian: Trust, communication, all of these are really important as you're building strategic partnerships. If you do look back though in the years behind you, what is something that you wish you had known? And I'm [00:25:00] gonna ask each of you from your lens. Like, what's something that you didn't necessarily pay attention to when you first started thinking about strategic partners that you wish you knew now or that you look out for now, or some of the bigger surprises?

Kelly, I'm gonna start with you.

Kelly Cobb: I guess there are two things that I'm thinking about. One is at the beginning, Bombas set a goal to donate a million pairs of socks in the first 10 years, and we far surpassed- ... that goal incredibly, um, because our, our customers made that happen for us. And so, you know, there's this, this idea that we had to scale relatively quickly and sort of unexpectedly, like the idea of building the plane as you're flying it, sort of.

And so I think in some ways, uh, and, and maybe I'm like almost not answering the question- ... but in some ways it's like w- were there things that we could have considered at the beginning to be more prepared [00:26:00] for scale? But I think actually as I'm saying that and just thinking about how, how things change over a period like 10 years, that the going into it with a small scale mindset, despite the fact that it's, you know, a pretty massive operation now, is actually really beneficial I think because we were thinking about what would it be like to- To connect one-on-one, or what would it be like when there's a small group?

You know, there always, there always feels like there's so much more you can do when an effort is relatively small, and as soon as something grows, certain things fall away. You have to make compromises. Mm-hmm. So I think because we- we've maintained that, like, small, small organization mindset, that's enabled us to really hold onto the things that matter the most, even as we've grown.

Um, but I would say to directly answer the question- ... that I think, um, data collection is, is such a [00:27:00] major part of what we do. It doesn't really go anywhere beyond Bombas, and I think that's something that we're also thinking a lot about lately, is how to ensure that so much useful information doesn't just stay with us when- Yeah

I think it could be beneficial in the, you know, across the landscape of housing insecurity and homelessness. But our ability to tap into the knowledge and the experience and expertise of our giving partners is so critical to how we operate, and so we've refined the way that we collect data and ask very specific questions.

At the beginning, I wish that we had thought a little bit more about how valuable that could be- Mm ... and built more of a consistent collection over time. Um, still, I mean, to have thousands of organizations answer the same questions year over year is, and pretty, it's pretty incredible and very telling.

Yeah. Um, it paints a, a really meaningful picture of what we're seeing across the, the landscape. [00:28:00]

Suzy Davidkhanian: Buddy, I'm gonna ask you a slightly different, similar question in terms of as people, as brands approach you now, what's the one, the first question that you ask them? Based on everything you've learned, based on everything you know, what's the one thing?

Buddy Teaster: This is very unsexy, but what's the business? Like, what's your business rationale for this? 'Cause that's the only thing that will sustain it. I mean, Kelly said it. If, if this is just a, if it's just philanthropic, if it's just a moment, that, that's okay. But I, I, we wanna know that first. Mm-hmm. So that, that, that frames how we think about investing our time and people and, uh, our brand.

Everybody gets the full treatment. You know, it's not like that. But we don't understand do they, have they thought this through from a business perspective?

Suzy Davidkhanian: That's very practical, and it's such a great way to end, right? Partnerships really need to create value for both sides of the organization, for [00:29:00] all the organizations involved.

And if it's just about awareness, then it's a different muscle that you're trying to build, you know? Exactly. It's very different. I wish we could keep going on and on, but unfortunately, that's all the time we have for today. Thanks, Buddy.

Buddy Teaster: It was a pleasure. Thank you.

Suzy Davidkhanian: And thanks, Kelly.

Kelly Cobb: Thank you so much.

This was great.

Suzy Davidkhanian: And thanks to our listeners and to our team that edits the podcast. Please leave the rating or review, and remember to subscribe. I'll see you for more Reimagining Retail next Wednesday, and on Friday, join Marcus for another episode of Behind the Numbers, an eMarketer podcast made possible by AWIN.

 

Get more articles - create your free account today!