Suzy Davidkhanian (00:00):

Creator strategies are reshaping discovery, shopping and video. At the next EMARKETER's summit, Creator Trends 2026 hear insights from creators and brands like Gap, Stanley 1913, and DICK'S Sporting Goods on commerce and CTV. Join us live February 13th at 11:30 Eastern Time.

(00:23):

Hi everyone. Today is Wednesday, January 28th. Welcome to EMARKETER's weekly retail show, Reimagining Retail, where we talk about how retail collides with every part of our lives. I'm your host, Suzy Davidkhanian. On today's episode, we're rolling out something new. It's our unofficial monthly retailer awards, or as our producer and some others are calling it already, the UMRAs. They're taking the place of our retailer rankings, which also means we're officially retiring the committee. Thank you for your service committee. You earned the rest. Joining me in the studio, we have Arielle Feger.

(01:00):

Hi, Arielle.

Arielle Feger (01:00):

Hi, I'm delighted to be here.

Suzy Davidkhanian (01:02):

I'm so excited to have you, analyst Rachel Wolff.

Rachel Wolff (01:04):

Hello. Thanks for having me.

Suzy Davidkhanian (01:06):

Thanks for joining us. And dialing in from Texas, we have Principal Analyst Sky Canaves. Hey, Skye.

Sky Canaves (01:10):

Hey, everyone.

Suzy Davidkhanian (01:12):

Okay. So how this works is that each month we're going to hand out our UMRA awards to the retailers we think really nailed it in three key categories. Most impactful campaign, best in real life initiative, and the greatest under the radar move. Arielle, Rachel, and Sky each brought a nominee for January, and I'll get to pick the winner based on how convincing their cases. So let's get started. Award one, most impactful campaign. This is the marketing idea that broke through the noise that resonated, was memorable, high performance, and the nominees are... Arielle, I'm starting with you.

Arielle Feger (01:48):

Ooh, exciting. So my nominee is Dr Pepper for a TikTok jingle turned commercial. So back on December 23rd, a TikToker named Romeo shared a video where she's like, "Hey, Dr Pepper, I've got a theme song for you." And she sang this really cute little song. And then on January 19th, Dr Pepper unveiled official commercial with that jingle. Obviously, they worked with Romeo to create it. And I think it's just such a fun way of a brand really capitalizing on quick momentum, a social trend, and kind of just a surprise and delight, what a fun way to incorporate fans.

Suzy Davidkhanian (02:30):

I love this one. I love, because we don't often talk about how audio can also go viral. It was a very cute moment. Next up, Rachel, what's yours?

Rachel Wolff (02:39):

So the one that caught my attention this month was COACH teaming up with The Sims to offer players branded in game items and wearables. And there are a few reasons this caught my eye. One is that as a recovered Sims addict, I'm very interested in-

Suzy Davidkhanian (02:53):

Something I didn't know about you, Rachel.

Rachel Wolff (02:56):

... in any new content drops. But also I think it's interesting to see a brand have a video game activation on a platform that is not Roblox or Fortnite. So that's one differentiator. And I just think it's a great way to reach a huge audience of people, not only younger consumers that COACH has really been going after, but there's such a wide audience for The Sims that I can really see it doing wonders for their sales.

Suzy Davidkhanian (03:23):

As a non-gamer gamer, I had to look up The Sims, so now I'm devastated that I might start playing a new game.

Sky Canaves (03:30):

I'm also a non-gamer gamer, but every time I hear about The Sims, I'm like, wow, that's still around? Because it seems very old. It seems I'm like 20 years old-

Rachel Wolff (03:41):

[inaudible 00:03:40].

(03:41):

So it evolves, I guess.

Suzy Davidkhanian (03:43):

Well, and the thing about COACH, which I thought was cool, is that they're staying true court to their own course around gaming, but they're expanding that footprint into a place that for some of us is net new, or maybe Sky we're not the generation that's on it anymore. I'm not sure. But it is really interesting to see how they're using customization in a new way. Skye, who's your nominee?

Sky Canaves (04:03):

Okay. So my nominee is Fanatics for the launch of Fanatic Studio, which actually ties into one of our big 2025 retail trends. And of course, trends don't have expiration dates, they don't just last a year, so they continue to build and grow. Fanatics is launching a content studio in partnership with OBB Media, which I know them best for producing Sabrina Carpenter's Very Nonsense Christmas in 2024. And this past holiday season, they did Kiss or Kimsmas, Kim Kardashian's TikTok live-streaming special, which was also very commerce oriented.

(04:41):

So this really brings together brands, retail and content to drive commerce ultimately in really creative ways. Because our big trend was that these brands and retailers would be taking greater stakes in media and entertainment content to engage with customers, reach new audiences, and ultimately sell more products in a market where it's a lot harder to stand out. And of course, by partnering with OBB Media, they're working with a company that has a lot of deep expertise in sectors with a lot of fan engagement, namely sports and music. And one of the big things I think they're doing is tapping into audiences for new sports as well. So they're bringing Tom Brady out of retirement to play in a-

Suzy Davidkhanian (05:29):

I read about this.

Sky Canaves (05:29):

... Flag Football Classic. Yeah, that's taking place in Saudi Arabia, which is a huge destination for more sports audiences and sports content and ultimately selling more sports related products.

Suzy Davidkhanian (05:43):

Merch.

Sky Canaves (05:43):

Merch, yes.

Suzy Davidkhanian (05:44):

Well, it's fascinating that they're figuring out a way to own culture in such a seamless way and to own every touchpoint around fandom, including the merch, which is their original-

Sky Canaves (05:55):

And they'll gain revenues from the content, from their licensing and distribution agreements, from the IP, as well as from the merchandise that they then create based on the content that they're producing. So I think it's really creative and part of the much bigger trend of how brands need to work harder and more creatively to stand out.

Suzy Davidkhanian (06:17):

I love this. I love all of these. For our most impactful campaign, which is our first award, we had Dr Pepper, COACH and Fanatics. And you guys, this was really hard for me. Do I tell you now who I think wins?

Arielle Feger (06:31):

Yeah.

(06:31):

Tell us now.

Rachel Wolff (06:32):

Sure, yeah.

Suzy Davidkhanian (06:36):

Is there a drum roll? I think for me it was the Dr Pepper one because it's so new and it's leaning into the cultural moments and we don't see this happening so often in the exact order that it happened in. And it's like they got it, they went with it. There was a slight pause, so the audience didn't really know what was going to happen. And then it got unveiled during a college cultural moment, which I thought was really cool.

Arielle Feger (07:00):

And also for such a big brand, I think we tend to think about bigger brands having a little less agility when it comes to capitalizing on pop culture moments. So I think it showed kind of that really agile thinking from them.

Suzy Davidkhanian (07:14):

I'm sold. The other ones are cool too, but I'm just sold.

Arielle Feger (07:18):

Yeah, I like both of those.

Suzy Davidkhanian (07:19):

Okay. Award number two, best in real life initiatives. The in real life move that got people off their screens at into stores, creating an experience worth checking out. So the nominees are... Rachel, I'm starting with you.

Rachel Wolff (07:33):

Okay. So my nominee is Nespresso's newest New York City flagship. And I will caveat by saying that this technically opened at the end of last year, but it happened after our previous rankings episode, so it didn't make the cut.

Arielle Feger (07:46):

Still counts.

Rachel Wolff (07:46):

Yeah, it still counts. And it looks really cool.

Suzy Davidkhanian (07:50):

Have you been?

Rachel Wolff (07:50):

I haven't been.

Suzy Davidkhanian (07:51):

I've been.

Rachel Wolff (07:51):

Oh, have you?

Suzy Davidkhanian (07:52):

Yes. Can you guess who's going to win? It's amazing.

Rachel Wolff (07:57):

[inaudible 00:07:57].

(07:57):

Yeah, it's got a coffee speak-

Arielle Feger (07:58):

It's rigged.

Rachel Wolff (07:58):

It's rigged.

Sky Canaves (08:01):

Susie likes coffee.

Rachel Wolff (08:04):

The whole thing, wait till you hear more about the story. It's truly amazing. They have a multisensory mocktail experience is quoting their press release, and I have to say that that sounds pretty amazing. You can hang out in their lounge. You can test out all of these different espresso machines and learn some coffee skills. They have a coffee theater where you can attend masterclasses, and it really just is a place where you can go and spend the whole day immersed in everything coffee related.

Suzy Davidkhanian (08:33):

They are not exaggerating. It is pretty big for a Fifth Avenue store. There's education, there are couches. I went for an event, so it was a little bit different, but there are these tactile things where you can pump to see the smell and it's describing. It's just amazing. And downstairs, did you talk about the bar?

Rachel Wolff (08:52):

So they have the coffee speakeasy with exclusive drinks. I think they swap them out throughout the year, so it gives people more reasons to go in.

Suzy Davidkhanian (09:00):

It's like literally a destination where I think they welcome transactions, but it's not the focal point.

Rachel Wolff (09:05):

Yeah. I think it's just a great example of what retailers can do with physical retail and also what they increasingly need to do to stand out in a very competitive and tough landscape.

Suzy Davidkhanian (09:15):

I love that one. Up next, we have Sky. I'm going to caveat that this one got nominated by many people in many different categories, so I also wonder if this might be the winner.

Sky Canaves (09:27):

I don't know. Coffee immersive experiences are going to be tough to follow. As a Nespresso loyalist who insists on fresh cup of coffee by just pushing a button in the morning before I'm barely awake, [inaudible 00:09:39]-

Rachel Wolff (09:38):

Imagine kind of speakeasy.

Sky Canaves (09:40):

Yes. I want to go live there now. So my pick is Levi's with the Wear Longer Project, which is an educational initiative for high school students to teach them how to repair or repurpose clothing that they already own. And they launched this with a workshop in San Francisco at one of their innovation labs, and they're going to do additional ones throughout the year along with activations during Super Bowl weekend, which is coming up. And so we know that Gen Z loves thrifting and secondhand clothing and DIY projects. So this brings all of them together. Levi's actually based this on, I think, some of their own survey research that they had done, which found that a lot of Gen Z doesn't know how to do basic repairs.

(10:27):

So it's really focused on basic things like sewing buttons on repairing tears, hemming items. And I think if they brought something like this into stores, like expanding it further, it could really be one of those things that brings people into stores. It creates new experiences. I know that other stores are doing... I saw that Michaels is doing patch bars now, so that's the kind of thing that I think will really appeal to younger consumers. They want to go to stores, but as Rachel said, it's not just for transactions, it's to have experiences and do things together with other people.

Rachel Wolff (11:05):

One thing I thought was really interesting about the Levi's project is that it also is a way for them to justify premiumization, right? If you can make the case that you can buy this more expensive pair of jeans, but we will give you the tools so that you can wear it for longer, I think that really supports that push.

Suzy Davidkhanian (11:21):

That and also trust, right? You can trust me that I'm giving you something great and I stand by it and I'm going to show you how to fix it yourself.

Rachel Wolff (11:28):

Yeah.

Sky Canaves (11:28):

And they're also offering resources for high schools that work with this platform to help teach students in schools as well, which is when I think about how I learned these basic tasks, I had sewing in junior high school and I made a pair of denim overalls.

Arielle Feger (11:44):

Oh, I want to see that.

Suzy Davidkhanian (11:46):

I love that. That's awesome. Arielle, I know you had this one on your list too. Anything to add on?

Arielle Feger (11:51):

I did. I really like this one. I think it's a good example of a brand kind of doing good while also being able to do brand marketing. I think you can do both. And as someone who... Unfortunately, I did have Home Ec in middle school, but somehow didn't retain any of it, I could certainly use some of this.

Suzy Davidkhanian (12:13):

I mean, it is really cool. And if all of this isn't enough on the sustainability and trust building, they're doing activations doing the Super Bowl, which I think is also really clever. Arielle, what do you have then instead?

Arielle Feger (12:25):

So we cheated a little bit. So mine is less about bringing consumers in store, although I think this could, when done right, absolutely do that, and more about bringing advertisers in store. So I love to talk about retail media. And so my nominee is Albertsons for a two-pronged approach. They're bringing more in store advertising to about 800 additional stores this year. And in addition, they're launching a measurement capability that helps advertisers measure incremental sales in store, which is something that is hard to do and something that I think in store retail media has had a little bit of a challenge with advertisers needing to prove its value. So I think with this, I think Albertsons will then bring more advertisers in store and then also which will bring more customers in store and have a better in store experience.

Suzy Davidkhanian (13:25):

I mean, I'm cool with the small cheat.

Arielle Feger (13:27):

Yes.

Suzy Davidkhanian (13:28):

I always do those kinds of things, so that doesn't worry me at all. The one thing I'm a little bit, and we spent a lot of time talking about this last week, but what I'm a little bit concerned about is can it become too much clutter?

Arielle Feger (13:38):

I think it absolutely is possible. And I think that Albertsons I think has been on the forefront specifically of measurement. And I trust that they are trying to do this with the customer experience in mind. So obviously anytime you bring more screens in store, there's the opportunity for it to feel overwhelming or distracting, but that's why I'm so interested in this because I'm really excited to see how it can work out well.

Suzy Davidkhanian (14:08):

Yeah. I mean, we were talking about that, Sky and I earlier this week around... Or maybe it was last week, Sky and I were talking about that last week around ChatGPT bringing in advertisers, right? And Amazon did it too. And I think if people understand that there are going to be ads, then they're sort of more accepting of it.

Sky Canaves (14:26):

And somehow the Europeans survive with a lot more digital screens in their supermarkets.

Arielle Feger (14:31):

Exactly.

Sky Canaves (14:32):

And we don't think it affects their quality of life or quality of shopping experience.

Suzy Davidkhanian (14:36):

That is very true. So then with that, the best in real life initiative goes to... Thank you. The Nespresso store.

Rachel Wolff (14:48):

Surprise.

Suzy Davidkhanian (14:50):

Also, in parentheses, I'm trying to get them to come on the pod.

Arielle Feger (14:54):

It does sound very cool. And actually when you were talking about it, Rachel, it made me think of a brewery or something.

Suzy Davidkhanian (15:00):

It's amazing.

Arielle Feger (15:00):

This experience where you're smelling and tasting and learning about how it's made and I think really adds to the enjoyment of a product.

Suzy Davidkhanian (15:09):

And it's like wifi and coffee tables and it's just like so nice.

Sky Canaves (15:13):

And it's such a departure from the Nespresso stores that I've experienced. The one here in Austin is pretty small. It's smaller than the one I've been to on Madison Avenue where it is a little bit narrow. And I went to one in Europe once and it was like a giant waiting room. I think people took tickets and they sat down to get their coffee because it's so popular there. It was a lot more transactional. So I fully celebrate the immersive coffee experience.

Suzy Davidkhanian (15:40):

I love it. So onto award number three, greatest under the radar move for the month. This is the smart play that didn't make the headlines, but quietly move that business forward and the nominees are... Skye, I'm starting with you.

Sky Canaves (15:54):

Sure. And this one, I guess, follows on nicely from Arielle's retail media oriented pick because it also has a retail media angle. And this is Amazon is upgrading the dash cart. So they have these smart carts that they've started rolling out in Whole Foods stores and they've introduced a refreshed, lighter, more capacious version that can take more payment options. And I think it's a really savvy move as the prices of this kind of technology come down and they're able to roll them out in stores because we talk about those challenges to retail media and digitizing the stores through screens. And I'm racking my brain trying to remember where I read this, but I recently came across an article talking about that challenge of screens in terms of creating bottlenecks in stores. If you get people crowding around screens, I saw Sam's Club also recently had some announcements about refreshing their sample dispensing kiosks, which can also create lines and crowds around them while you wait for the sample to be dispensed while you watch a commercial for a product.

(17:04):

So I think part of unlocking the power of in store retail media is really going to be with more flexibility, mobility, and connectivity to the customer as they move through the store rather than a static and stationary displays or ad tech that is apart from the customer. So mobile phones and retailer shopping apps are a great way to do this when people are looking at their phones in stores. And I think the cart is also very savvy and you can easily measure the displaying an ad or offer on the screen and whether a product goes into the cart or when it goes into a cart at some point later. And so-

Suzy Davidkhanian (17:44):

Well, this is also really good in terms of removing some of the friction from the original cart, right? And making it that much easier. So on the retail media front, amazing, but on the consumer front, it might also just make for a better experience.

Sky Canaves (17:56):

Right. If you can actually fit your whole shopping trip into the cart.

Rachel Wolff (18:01):

[inaudible 00:18:01] matters.

Suzy Davidkhanian (18:02):

Well, at a Whole Foods, I think you're probably not doing a big haul. Cool. Not a small company, but definitely a small move that was under the radar for the better. Arielle, what do you have?

Arielle Feger (18:14):

Speaking of small, I have to tee myself up. So my pick is a company called Wild Planet, and they did this campaign called Small Fish Resolutions. And it's a New Year's resolution campaign, which by itself isn't necessarily new or exciting, but they installed tiny billboards that are a 64th of the scale of royal billboards all around San Francisco at street level. And the idea behind the campaign is small choices like eating, "Lower on the food chain like sardines or tin fish can add up to more sustainable consequences and better health." And I mean, I'm just such a fan of anything that's comically large or comically small. And I just think it's a unique, fun way to get that message across and I've really liked it.

Suzy Davidkhanian (19:07):

It is very cute. You guys go check it out. But my question to you is, had you ever heard of Wild Planet?

Arielle Feger (19:12):

I have actually. I'm probably a unique person because I have worked... I used to work in specialty food, so I am familiar with some of these, but tin fish is a-

Suzy Davidkhanian (19:25):

Is a [inaudible 00:19:26].

Arielle Feger (19:25):

... pretty big trend. It's grown a lot. So I do think this is a great way for them to get their name out there and build awareness.

Suzy Davidkhanian (19:34):

I mean, it's definitely clever.

Arielle Feger (19:35):

Yeah. It's fun.

Suzy Davidkhanian (19:36):

Definitely stands out.

Sky Canaves (19:37):

I know the name and I just remembered that I received a sample of their tuna. It's still in my pantry because I'm not a big canned fish eater and-

(19:46):

[inaudible 00:19:47].

Arielle Feger (19:47):

Yeah, try to try it for the pod now.

Sky Canaves (19:49):

Okay. Yeah, I will.

Arielle Feger (19:51):

Let us know what you think.

Rachel Wolff (19:52):

Our next episode is sponsored by Wild Planet.

Arielle Feger (19:55):

Yes.

Suzy Davidkhanian (19:57):

[inaudible 00:19:57] can sponsor us, it's okay. Rachel, who do you have?

Rachel Wolff (20:00):

So my under the radar move is Gap hiring a chief entertainment officer. And I will admit that maybe this is not the most under the radar if there was a Bloomberg article about it, but I do think that it's super interesting. And really this builds on, Sky, what you were talking about before about this merging of content and commerce and entertainment and how retailers are really having to lean into this to stay relevant. And I think it's notable that Gap created an entirely new role entirely for that purpose. And I think talking about trends that we're going to see over the next year, I think this is definitely something that we're going to see more brands, especially in the apparel space, have to do to stay relevant.

Suzy Davidkhanian (20:40):

It's interesting because you're right, it wasn't so under the radar, but what I do think is under the radar, it's this idea around it's an organizational commitment that we were trying to talk about in 2025 that is starting to, like you were saying before, Sky, it's taking legs and taking shape.

Rachel Wolff (20:59):

Yeah. I think the difference is that I think a lot of retailers in the past have been more reactive to what's happening in culture. And now this is an example of retailer that's really trying to shape it in a more active way.

Suzy Davidkhanian (21:09):

Especially as we think about creators and the Dr Pepper example, it's a way for them to scale cultural moments in a different way. It is fascinating. And the winner is... Yeah. Nice. Because I do think there's something around fashiontainment as it has been built that is really going to change the way all the different players and channels come together and it wasn't under the radar, but I don't think it got enough radar.

Rachel Wolff (21:39):

Yeah. I think people were more focused on, oh, here they're doing something entertainment related as opposed to thinking about here are the implications of what that move means for the industry.

Suzy Davidkhanian (21:49):

Yeah.

Arielle Feger (21:49):

I think it's a really interesting move. I think it's a smart move and I'm sure that other brands will follow suit.

Suzy Davidkhanian (21:57):

Those are all our awards. Thank you so much for joining us. So the first award was most impactful campaign, Dr Pepper was the winner. Best in real life initiative, the Nespresso store on Fifth Avenue in New York City and greatest under the radar move, which was Gap and their new structural change.

Arielle Feger (22:15):

If you're keeping count, that's two for Rachel and one for me.

Rachel Wolff (22:19):

[inaudible 00:22:20].

Sky Canaves (22:19):

And zero for me.

Arielle Feger (22:21):

None for Sky Canaves.

(22:24):

That was a Glen Coco reference, just FYI.

(22:28):

From Mean Girls?

(22:29):

No. Okay. Sorry. I wasn't trying to be mean.

Rachel Wolff (22:33):

It didn't even sound mean.

Arielle Feger (22:35):

Okay, good.

Suzy Davidkhanian (22:36):

That's all the time we have for today. Thank you, Arielle.

Arielle Feger (22:42):

Thank you, Suzy. This is [inaudible 00:22:43].

Suzy Davidkhanian (22:44):

Thanks, Rachel.

Rachel Wolff (22:45):

Thanks, Suzy.

Suzy Davidkhanian (22:45):

And thanks, Sky.

Sky Canaves (22:47):

Thanks. I'm definitely going to try to make fetch happen next time.

Arielle Feger (22:53):

There we go.

Suzy Davidkhanian (22:53):

And thank you to the team who edits the podcast and of course our listeners. Please leave a rating or review and remember to subscribe. I'll see you next Wednesday for more Reimagining Retail and I'll be back with the UMRAs at the end of the month of February. And on Friday, you can join Marcus for another episode of Behind the Numbers.