🔊 How a fashion rental site personalizes without the creep-factor

Plus, why brands should be connectors and more. Nov 11, 2019 Good morning marketers, will today’s Singles day set another record? Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is expecting to top the $30 billion its Singles Day raked in last year. More U.S. retailers are looking to capitalize on the online shopping event and jump-start holiday sales ahead of the Thanksgiving weekend. Happy selling to those of you participating today. We all have stories of retargeting campaigns gone wrong, but with so many personalization capabilities at our disposal, marketers have to be ever-mindful about the fine line between being helpful and creepy. “We want machine learning to be more human, but then we’re freaked out when it is,” said Katrina Taylor, fashion rental start-up Armoire’s head of user experience and product design, in a presentation at DX Summit this week. “Just because something is code smart, does not mean it is people smart,” said Taylor, “Great AI and machine learning solves customer problems before solving business problems.” She shared an example of how [Armoire utilizes machine learning to solve a business problem by delivering better experiences](. Armoire knew women spent, on average, 219 hours shopping online per year and that 91% of online apparel returns were due to poor fit. Armoire addressed the issue by showing just 50 items from a customer’s search to reduce the amount of time spent browsing and show products the customer will likely “love” based on an algorithm that surfaces what will fit best. Customers have a better experience and returns go down. Keep reading for a Soapbox on brands as connectors and more. Taylor Peterson, Deputy Editor Soapbox Brands can thrive as connectors to bring people together As everything from Greta Thunberg at the U.N. to #MeToo to the Hong Kong protests shows, power is shifting beyond traditional structures, pushed by new generations and new technologies. In turn, the changing face of power means that brands need to find new ways to connect with those younger audiences. It begins with a willingness to take a corporate stand on important issues that connect directly to the company’s core mission. New roles include a cheerleader for notable personalities in your target audience, or as a collaborator providing access to opportunities for your audience. In an increasingly fractious and fractured time, brands can be connectors among different groups that otherwise may believe they have little in common. – David Bloom is an analyst at TVREV Soapbox is a special feature for marketers in our community to share their observations and opinions about our industry. Read more [Soapbox features]( – and [submit your own](. [Learn More »]( What's a CDP? Does you company need one? Learn the everything you need to know about customer data platforms. This report answers the following questions — What features do CDPs provide? What trends are driving the adoption of CDPs? Does your company need a CDP? — It also includes profiles of 25 leading vendors, capabilities comparisons, and recommended steps for evaluating and purchasing. [Read more »]( On the Move Extreme Networks appoints new SVP of sales, Sterling names a new CEO Extreme Networks has appointed Pete Doolittle to the position of senior vice president of Americas sales. Doolittle, an industry veteran with 25 years in enterprise sales, joins the cloud-driven networking company from Cisco Systems where he most recently led the global SD-WAN sales team. “We are excited to welcome Pete to our team. As Extreme doubles-down on our cloud-driven go-to-market model, we are investing in organizational talent with top-graded sales leadership hires in key regions and vertical markets. The hiring of Pete demonstrates this commitment,” said Bob Gault, chief revenue and services officer at Extreme Networks. Sterling, the Omnicom Group-owned design consultancy, has announced the appointment of Susan Cantor as chief executive officer. Cantor’s nearly 30-year career has included leadership positions across marketing functions, including advertising agencies, marketing strategy consultancies and design firms. She joins from branding firm RedPeak where she served as CEO, and also spent 11 years at Lowe New York, including two years serving as president and CEO. Brand and retail consultancy FITCH has named six-year company veteran Matt Michaluk its new creative director for its New York studio. Michaluk will be taking over the position which he previously held in FITCH London for the past two years. “Matt has an extremely strategic mind which is well balanced by his creative flair,” says Alasdair Lennox, executive creative director of FITCH North America. “His experience in building global brands will help with the next stage of growth in the FITCH New York Studio.” Prior to joining FITCH, Michaluk worked for Prophet Brand Strategy, OPX London and Myton Williams Ltd. D2C lifecycle management company Applicaster announced the appointment of Bennett Theimann as chief financial officer. The announcement comes on the heels of Applicaster’s $20 million funding round this year. Theimann will be based in the company’s New York City office where he will report to Applicaster’s CEO and co-founder, Jonathan Laor. Take The Amazon Advertising Survey Help us chart Amazon’s growth as an advertising platform! Please fill out our survey to help us understand how marketers are prioritizing Amazon and other digital commerce advertising platforms. 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