Every brand wants to build brand love. If you’re not actively working on it, you’re actively falling behind the competition.

Do you know the one thing it takes to get there?

Building a Brand Universe first.

By giving your community something to fall for, you build a world your customers, creators & Brand Advocates can find meaning and love in.

That’s why, this week, Verity’s welcoming Sekai Masunda (Senior Brand & Content Marketing Manager | ex-Jigsaw, ex-lululemon, ex-Pangaia) to the podcast.

From a marketing career affirmed when lululemon slid into her DMs, Sekai has fast become an industry go-to for all things content, brand & Advocacy. While she never intended to go into brand building, brand building found her; and the rest is history.

Now, she’s sharing her tried-and-tested tactics for turning your customers into Advocates via Brand Universes and tapping into taste communities (a term coined by our past guest, Ana Andjelic). From Sekia’s exact formula for good content to her take on why brands must stop taking themselves too seriously, there’s disruptive wisdom afoot.

Tune in to hear Sekai’s expert advice on…

• Making Money While Making Room for Brand: To drive impactful Brand Advocacy while helping the bottom line, bridging the gap between community feedback and C-Suite decisions is crucial. It’s not just listening to what your community says; it’s seamlessly translating those insights into strategic actions. Sekai knows how.

• Actually Knowing Your Advocates: REFY set a new standard, with community events that put their customers in the spotlight. Lululemon’s affinity for community led the charge and, while at Jigsaw, all VIP events hosted through Sekai were also customer-only. While influencers still play a role in brand strategy, your customers are now your most powerful Advocates. Each customer and every store has unique needs. It’s time to get on the ground, understand those differences, and deliver what your customers truly want — not what you assume they want.

• The Key to Disruptive 360° Campaigns: Dive into the data behind Jigsaw’s ‘New Age Denim’ campaign. This campaign was all about authenticity — featuring real bodies and real store managers, wearing their favorite denim as uniform. With a focus on understanding the customer journey, Sekai asked; when do people actually buy denim, and how can we address their fit concerns? From there, her team built category awareness step-by-step. Now, she’s sharing the playbook.

  
  

Listen. Learn. Build better brand love.

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Connect with Sekai:

• On LinkedIn
  

When building Advocacy, customers fast become your brand’s new creators.

Does this spell the end of the powerhouse beauty influencer, once and for all?

Grown Alchemist doesn’t think so. The cult brand sees a place for megas, micros & nano-creators in every influencer & Advocacy strategy – when each is done right.

Here’s how you crack the content code to every. single. creator. approach.

Join Verity in welcoming Colby Wood (Global Social, Content & Community Manager @ Grown Alchemist | ex-Vieve, ex-L’Oréal) to this week’s episode of Building Brand Advocacy. Together, they unpack the playbook for global growth like Grown Alchemist’s.

From launching Lancôme’s first community to turning down a Parisian-headquartered role to partner with an influencer-founded brand, Colby’s career has been shaped by marketing to – and for – passionate people.

Now, she’s sharing expert advice for keeping up with these industry trends, operating on a lean team (even a team of one!), and intentionally activating influencers & creators along the entire marketing funnel.

Listen in to learn from Colby’s take on…

• Cultivating US Communities: Take it from a marketer who’s made it. Breaking a global brand like Grown Alchemist into the US market hasn’t been easy, but it’s happened. Colby’s learnt the lessons you need to hear about, so you can take her shortcuts to sustainable growth. Hear her top piece of advice for any brand looking to do the same, alongside every difference to prepare for when it comes to the inner workings of TikTok Shop across two countries.

• The Influencer vs Community Event Knock-Out: Does a brand have to choose one, or can there be space for both? The answer, according to Colby, is to let them share intentional spaces in your community engagement strategy. By having a good mix of both influencer-led and community-only events in your brand calendar, you can achieve the most important thing – true relevance of the events to the specific community attending. Apply her advice to see your events take off.

• Nailing the Content Split per Social Channel: You’ll learn exactly which platforms Grown Alchemist uses, where they see results, and why they’re there. Colby breaks down each platforms ideal content-fit, and the 5 types of community they should be engaging.

This is how you stand out & earn Brand Advocates in the beauty space.

Rate & review Building Brand Advocacy:

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Connect with Colby:

• On LinkedIn

• On Instagram

• On Grown Alchemist’s Instagram

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  On Grown Alchemist’s TikTok

New Look has been a staple on the British high street for 50+ years.

Now, they’re fast adopting new frontiers. Ready, testing, and learning.

For this episode, Paul had the pleasure of interviewing long-time peer and industry pal, Raine Peake (Head of Marketing & Customer Growth @ New Look | ex-Director @ Jigsaw, Mint Velvet & Farfetch).

Together, they dive deep into the importance of – and tactics behind – investing in the right brand strategies to purpose-build passionate communities. Their expert takes on personalization through AI, engaging gamification, Out-Of-Home advertising, store refurbishments & influencer marketing are all included.

Tune in to hear Raine’s advice for…

• Creating Strategic Squads to Build Local Communities: Right now, New Look is running a highly successful experiment. The brand has overhauled one of their stores in Manchester, supported with numerous marketing activations – led by a dedicated in-house ‘Squad’. Taking up 25% of the assigned team members’ time, the benefits seen in awareness, growth, and conversion have far outweighed the cost. Now you can learn Raine’s formula for ‘Squad’ success, too.

• Turning Employees into your Biggest Advocates: Often overlooked, at the expense of your easiest brand win. Your employees are easily your best Advocates – a fact that’s especially true when it comes to fashion brands. They know everything about your product, are (ideally!) incredibly passionate about the brand, and (one better) often model the clothes themselves. Learn why the next frontier of building Brand Advocacy lies with them.

• Knowing the Place of AI, Personalization & Gamification: Big buzzwords here, for good reason. As Raine explores these domains for New Look, she openly shares her favorite insights so far. Her north star in these realms? Data, data, and data.

All the practical and tactical advice any Brand Builder needs from Raine is waiting.

Rate & review Building Brand Advocacy:

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Connect with Raine:

• On LinkedIn