Reimagining Retail: The Unofficial Most Interesting Retailers List (March)

Summary

Podcast Summary: Behind the Numbers – Reimagining Retail: The Unofficial Most Interesting Retailers List (March)

Podcast Information:

• Title: Behind the Numbers: an EMARKETER Podcast
• Host: Sara Lebo
• Episode: Reimagining Retail: The Unofficial Most Interesting Retailers List (March)
• Release Date: March 26, 2025

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Introduction

In the March episode of Behind the Numbers: an EMARKETER Podcast, host Sara Lebo, along with guests Becky Schilling, Rachel Wolf, and Skye Canavez, delve into the latest trends and movements within the retail landscape. The episode centers around their "Most Interesting Retailers of the Month" list, exploring the strategies and innovations that make these retailers stand out in a rapidly evolving market.

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Most Interesting Retailers of the Month

1. Number Eight: Reebok

   Discussion Highlights:

   • Reentry into Golf: Reebok is making a strategic comeback into the golf market, targeting both team sports and maintaining its professional edge.

   Notable Quote:

   • Becky Schilling [01:50]: “Reebok is getting back into golf... signals a great move for them to try to stay competitive.”

   Insights:

   • Millennials and Gen Zers constitute over a quarter of golfers, an increasing demographic that Reebok aims to attract (Rachel Wolf, 02:19).
   • The move taps into nostalgia, appealing to Gen Xers who have fond memories of Reebok as a trendy sneaker brand (Skye Canavez, 02:47).

2. Number Seven: Bath and Body Works

   Discussion Highlights:

   • Store Redesign: Launching a new store layout focused on Gen Z, featuring a scent bar that allows customers to test various scents beyond their iconic body sprays.

   Notable Quote:

   • Sara Lebo [04:15]: “Bath and Body Works is one of those mall stores that you walk in and get a headache from all the scents...”

   Insights:

   • The updated scent bar addresses the challenge of overlapping fragrances in traditional store setups, aiming to enhance the customer experience for younger demographics.

3. Number Six: CVS

   Discussion Highlights:

   • Focus on Pharmacies: CVS is opening 12 new small-format stores concentrating primarily on full-service pharmacies with limited retail offerings.

   Notable Quote:

   • Becky Schilling [04:32]: “It's an interesting move by a retailer to become less focused on retail but to save its big business.”

   Insights:

   • This shift mirrors trends seen in other struggling retail formats, emphasizing convenience and core services to maintain profitability (Skye Canavez, 05:11).

4. Number Five: Louis Vuitton

   Discussion Highlights:

   • Beauty Brand Launch: Louis Vuitton debuts its makeup line in collaboration with renowned makeup artist Pat McGrath, marking its entry into the cosmetics market.

   Notable Quote:

   • Rachel Wolf [07:07]: “I was shocked that they hadn't done this even a few years ago when beauty was experiencing this huge boom.”

   Insights:

   • The partnership with Pat McGrath leverages her dedicated following, positioning Louis Vuitton to attract beauty-savvy consumers through premium distribution channels like Sephora (Skye Canavez, 07:47).

5. Number Four: Poppy

   Discussion Highlights:

   • Acquisition by PepsiCo: Poppy, a prebiotic soda brand, was acquired by PepsiCo for nearly $2 billion, highlighting the importance of functional beverages in the market.

   Notable Quote:

   • Becky Schilling [08:13]: “Prebiotic is kind of one of these marketing health terms... strong products with strong marketing.”

   Insights:

   • Poppy's acquisition underscores the competitive nature of health-focused beverages, competing with brands like Coca-Cola's prebiotic offerings to meet consumer demand for functional foods and drinks (Rachel Wolf, 09:04).

6. Number Three: Ulta

   Discussion Highlights:

   • Marketplace Launch: Ulta is introducing a marketplace for select invited brands and enhancing personalization in its e-commerce platform.

   Notable Quote:

   • Rachel Wolf [11:08]: “It's an easy way to just add more product brands to your lineup and an advertising opportunity.”

   Insights:

   • This move aligns with the Amazon playbook, allowing Ulta to expand its product offerings and create new revenue streams through advertising and retail media networks (Skye Canavez, 11:37).

7. Number Two: Unilever

   Discussion Highlights:

   • Influencer-First Strategy: Unilever is increasing its investment in influencer marketing from 30% to 50% of its total ad spend, aiming to engage more effectively with Gen Z audiences.

   Notable Quote:

   • Unilever CEO Fernando Fernandez [12:43]: “There are 19,000 zip codes in India. There are 5,764 municipalities in Brazil. I want one influencer in each of them.”

   Insights:

   • By prioritizing influencer partnerships, Unilever seeks to leverage social media's role in brand discovery and align with consumer preferences for authentic, creator-driven content (Rachel Wolf, 12:58).

8. Number One: Wonder

   Discussion Highlights:

   • Acquisition of Tastemade: Wonder, a food delivery company, has acquired Tastemade, a content creator with over 160 million followers, integrating social and streaming content about food and restaurants into its platform.

   Notable Quote:

   • Becky Schilling [14:16]: “This acquisition gives Wonder not only a content studio but also a significant ad revenue opportunity.”

   Insights:

   • This strategic move positions Wonder as a super app in the food and delivery space, combining content creation with delivery services to enhance user engagement and advertising potential (Skye Canavez, 15:51).

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Modifications to the List

In the second half of the episode, analysts Skye Canavez and Rachel Wolf reassess the initial rankings, proposing adjustments based on evolving market dynamics and additional insights.

1. Repositioning Wonder:

   • Skye's Suggestion: Move Wonder from number one to number four, citing uncertainties about its profitability and competitive market (Skye Canavez, 16:43).

   • Sara's Rebuttal: Maintains Wonder's position due to the strategic significance of the Tastemade acquisition, emphasizing its potential in content and ad revenue (Becky Schilling, 17:24).

2. Removing Bath and Body Works:

   • Rachel's Recommendation: Remove Bath and Body Works from the list, arguing that the new scent bar does not constitute a significant reinvention of the store format (Rachel Wolf, 19:15).

   • Sara's Agreement: Concedes, noting skepticism about Bath and Body Works' ability to successfully rebrand for Gen Z (Sara Lebo, 19:37).

3. Adding Gucci:

   • Rachel's Addition: Introduces Gucci into the list, highlighting the appointment of Demna, former creative director at Balenciaga, as a bold move to rejuvenate the brand (Rachel Wolf, 21:07).

   • Discussion: Recognizes the risk and potential for Gucci to regain cultural relevance through innovative leadership (Skye Canavez, 22:09).

4. Introducing Edible Arrangements:

   • Skye's Wildcard: Adds Edible Arrangements, rebranded as edibles.com, launching a marketplace for THC and CBD products, tapping into the growing Cali Sober trend (Skye Canavez, 24:05).

   • Sara's Commentary: Connects the move to mainstream acceptance of cannabis products and potential advertising opportunities (Sara Lebo, 25:19).

Final Adjusted Rankings:

1. Wonder
2. Unilever
3. Ulta
4. Edible Arrangements
5. Gucci
6. Louis Vuitton
7. Poppy
8. Reebok

Honorable Mentions:

• FreshDirect: For partnering with Uber Eats on grocery delivery.
• Wayfair: For opening its second brick-and-mortar store in Atlanta.

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Conclusion

The episode provides a comprehensive overview of the dynamic shifts within the retail sector, highlighting how brands are adapting to changing consumer behaviors and leveraging strategic partnerships. By analyzing both initial rankings and subsequent adjustments, Sara Lebo and her team offer valuable insights into the factors that make retailers stand out in a competitive marketplace.

Notable Closing Quote:

• Sara Lebo [26:20]: “Please give us a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts...”

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Key Takeaways:

• Strategic Acquisitions: Companies like Wonder and PepsiCo are making bold moves to integrate content and health-focused products into their portfolios.
• Influencer Marketing: Unilever's shift towards an influencer-first strategy underscores the importance of social media in brand engagement.
• Store Reinventions: Retailers like Bath and Body Works and Ulta are experimenting with store formats and e-commerce enhancements to cater to Gen Z.
• Luxury Brand Revitalization: Gucci's appointment of Demna signals a potential shift towards more innovative and culturally relevant offerings in the luxury sector.

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Stay informed and stay ahead by tuning into future episodes of Behind the Numbers: an EMARKETER Podcast for more in-depth analyses and industry insights.

Transcript

[Sara Lebo]

Struggling with out of stocks, phantom inventory or lack of shelf data. Traxxas signal based merchandising is designed to give real time visibility into what's happening in stores and on shelves so you can take action when and where it matters most. Visit traxretail.com eMarketer to get started today. Hello listeners. Today is Wednesday, March 26th. Welcome to behind the Reimagining Retail, an Emarketer podcast made possible by Trax. This is the show where we talk about how retail collides with every part of our lives. I'm your host, Sara Lebo. Today's episode topic is our March unofficial most interesting retailers of the month list. Before we jump into our list of our top eight most interesting retailers, let's meet today's guests. Joining me for today's episode, we have back after a bit of a pod hiatus, Becky Schilling. Hey, Becky.

[Becky Schilling]

I'm back.

[Sara Lebo]

Welcome back. Also with us is one of our analysts, Rachel Wolf. Hey, Rachel.

[Rachel Wolf]

Hey, Sarah.

[Sara Lebo]

And also joining us is another analyst, Skye Canavez. Hey, Sky.

[Skye Canavez]

Hey, Sarah. Glad to be here.

[Sara Lebo]

Glad to have all of you. Okay, let's jump into our most interesting retailers of the month list. As our listeners will know, Becky and I, we're the committee, will present our list in the first half of this episode. And in the second half, sky and Rachel will have the opportunity to edit our list. So here is our unofficial list of our eight most interesting retailers of the month. Number eight, Reebok. Becky, why Reebok?

[Becky Schilling]

So Reebok is getting back into golf. And while I'm not a huge fan of the sport, millions of people in this country are 45 million. In fact, my father shout out to him the the move signals the shoe giants move to position itself back into team sports, but keeping its professional edge as well. Team sports are such a huge thing in this country, especially with kids, and so it signals a great move for them to try to stay competitive.

[Rachel Wolf]

One fun fact that I learned while researching Reebok and golf is that millennials and gen zers make up over one quarter of golfers and their proportion is growing. So, you know, I think it makes sense for Reebok to really lean into that space.

[Becky Schilling]

So you're telling me it's not just my dad?

[Sara Lebo]

Becky, where'd you get that number for? How many people in the US Are golf fans?

[Becky Schilling]

It was a Fortune magazine article, I believe.

[Sara Lebo]

All right, well, good for those people. I don't care about golf at all.

[Skye Canavez]

But I think it's a nostalgia category as well. I was Gonna say I think it's a great nostalgia category as well as a Gen Xer. I have fond memories of Reebok as my first trendy sneaker shoe brand. And this was in the 80s. And I've just started looking at golf as something that I might do as an activity at some point.

[Rachel Wolf]

I will say it is more fun.

[Skye Canavez]

Than I think I'm engaging into that.

[Sara Lebo]

Golfing.

[Rachel Wolf]

Yes.

[Skye Canavez]

Yeah.

[Rachel Wolf]

You get to whack a ball as hard as you can. I mean, like, what's the saying?

[Sara Lebo]

A good walk ruined.

[Rachel Wolf]

That's true. I mean, that is also true.

[Sara Lebo]

All right, number seven, Bath and Body Works. Bath Body Works made the list for launching a new store design with an updated layout. It says the layout is more focused on Gen Z and one of the ways that it's getting Gen Z involved is a new scent bar where people can test different scents of not just Bath and Body Works iconic body sprays, but also candles, flowers. I saw on there just various different things that have to do with scent, which we know that perfume is a growing category right now.

[Rachel Wolf]

Yeah, I mean, I think this is pretty low hanging fruit. People like to smell things before they buy. I was kind of surprised that they didn't already have a similar function.

[Skye Canavez]

Yeah, me too. I'm thinking, can't you smell everything in the store as a. Don't they at least have a sample of each product that you can smell?

[Becky Schilling]

Since that's the problem though, all the scents come together and you can't smell them. So I'd be very interested to see how they're actually gonna make it to where you can smell an individual scent.

[Sara Lebo]

Bath and Body Works to me is one of those mall stores that you walk in and you get a headache right away from all the scents. But now I've complained about two different things on this episode, so I think I have to stop for a little bit. Number six, cvs. Becky, tell us why CVS made the list.

[Becky Schilling]

Yeah. So drugstores are hurting. That's not a shock to anybody. But it looks like the retailer is trying to focus on its core business of pharmacies. It's opening 12 new small format stores that will focus on those. Just the full service pharmacies with limited retail offerings. The average is less than 5,000 square feet. It's an interesting move by a retailer to become less focused on retail but to save its big business. So it's an interesting move in that part. And if you are looking to learn more about drugstores, check out our podcast for Monday where we talked About Walgreens.

[Sara Lebo]

Yeah. So they're doing, like, a convenience store kind of format. Go ahead, Sky.

[Skye Canavez]

A convenience store with a pharmacy, though. So my first reaction to this was a smaller store. Does that mean they'll be able to stay, stop locking up the products if their employees can then see who's in the store and what they're looking at? I think it's an interesting move with the pharmacy focus, but I see the future of pharmacy as increasingly digital and online because people. Nobody wants to go to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. You want it brought to your home. And that's really where the future of pharmacy is. Maybe not in stores. And we see other retailers with struggling formats, like department stores like Macy's rolling out small formats. And if you're. If your big picture is struggling and going downhill, just shrinking, it isn't necessarily going to solve the problems. And I think Macy's has found that too. They touted these smaller stores, and now they're actually closing some of them.

[Sara Lebo]

Number five, Louis Vuitton, for launching a beauty brand with makeup artist Pat McGrath. So I didn't realize this until Becky pointed it out to me, but this is Louis Vuitton's makeup debut. I assumed they had a beauty brand. They do. Not so.

[Skye Canavez]

But it's actually not so. I learned that Louis Vuitton had a cosmetics line literally, like 100 years ago in the 1920s. It was very small. I think it was like compacts and makeup brushes, but it was something. And yes, that's like an eon ago in terms of.

[Sara Lebo]

Wait, so when did they get rid of that 1920s beauty brand?

[Skye Canavez]

I don't know.

[Rachel Wolf]

Yeah, I mean, to your point, like, I was shocked that they hadn't done this even a few years ago when beauty was experiencing this huge boom. And I think it's smart to get Pat McGrath on board. She has a pretty dedicated following, and it will certainly help boost the brand among beauty or makeup savvy consumers.

[Sara Lebo]

Yeah. Pat McGrath is an older makeup artist. How old is she? She's 54. Okay, so not that old. Hey, sorry. She's not that old, but she's not like a young Gen Z trendy makeup artist, but she's a legend.

[Skye Canavez]

Really viral. She's been around.

[Sara Lebo]

Yeah, she's a legend around the 90s with younger people. Recently, she went viral for this. These looks that she had in, I think, a Fashion Week Runway where she had these, like, so cool. What were they like? Like a gel face mask?

[Rachel Wolf]

Yeah. It was like, over makeup. Yeah.

[Sara Lebo]

So, yeah, I think She's a smart person to partner with because she's legacy and she's still relevant today.

[Skye Canavez]

Right. And she has her own beauty brand, but there have been some struggles there and I think it's more around the executive side of the brand and the people running the brand. So I think with Louis Vuitton she'll be in better hands. And then of course it's, it's going to have the automatic distribution through Sephora, which is owned by Louis Vuitton's parent company. And there will surely be premium placement for that launch as well. So expect it to do pretty well.

[Sara Lebo]

Okay, so welcome back. Louis Vuitton beauty brand back for the first time since maybe the Great Depression. Number four is Poppy. Poppy, which is a prebiotic soda brand, was just acquired by PepsiCo for close to $2 billion. I think this is really interesting because we had Coca Cola on list last month for launching its own prebiotic soda brand. I want to once again, like I said last week, say that Prebiotic is kind of one of these like marketing health terms. It like doesn't really exist what is Prebiotic. But these health soda brands are, are really like strong products with strong marketing. Right now Coca Cola clearly thought that it needed one in the market and PepsiCo responded by acquiring Poppy. So we can see how important these brands are to the major distributors.

[Rachel Wolf]

Yeah, I think to your point, right. These are really zeitgeisty products. People are interested in these so called functional foods and beverages that promise to improve your gut health or give you more protein and all those kinds of health concerns. And it fits in neatly with what the other work that Pepsi is doing to make its portfolio, you know, more appealing to health conscious consumers. Adding more whole grain options or smaller portions. All of that work.

[Sara Lebo]

Yeah. Presumably now you will also. This is just an assumption, but I think it's a fair one be able to get Poppy anywhere that distributes Pepsi products. So like the age old joke is like do you have Coke? Like no, but we have Pepsi. Like those places will have Poppy now. So Poppy, which is already a huge brand online, will keep getting bigger as you're able to get it in stadiums and maybe on airplanes.

[Skye Canavez]

And I already see it in stores everywhere. And its other competitor, Olipop, they just seem to have gotten everywhere in front of me by the cash registers at the supermarket right next to the cases with the traditional sodas. But I think a challenge will be these are relatively premium products and they're up against big competition as well from the flagship brands that frankly taste a little better. And I think that's maybe a challenge, maybe as a parent, I think that's maybe one reason I would buy is if your kids haven't gotten into real soda yet, maybe you can fool them with this better for you soda.

[Sara Lebo]

Number three, Ulta. Becky, why is Ulta on her list?

[Becky Schilling]

So Ulta is launching a marketplace for select invited brands and they're also adding some more personalization to its E commerce business. Ulta's new CEO has acknowledged that the company made several self inflicted mistakes recently and they lost Beauty Share last year. She's hoping that these changes will help elevate the guest experience.

[Sara Lebo]

I want to shout out fellow committee member POD regular Arielle who predicted that more third party marketplaces would launch this year. And I'm pretty sure she specifically predicted that Ulta would launch one.

[Rachel Wolf]

Yeah, I mean it's a pretty safe bet to make at this point. I mean we've seen Best Buy do the same thing where it's an easy way to just add more products brands to your lineup. And it's also an advertising opportunity. Right. With your marketplace you can get these brands to sponsor their placements and it's just another revenue stream.

[Skye Canavez]

Right. I think any company that's trying to follow the Amazon playbook and building a retail media network has to understand that a lot of that growth has come from the marketplace. And so we increasingly will see that they want to bring on board advertisers. And new advertisers are best positioned to come from the new merchants. You can exponentially increase your pool of potential advertisers with a marketplace and avoid some of the tensions you have with your existing suppliers and the marketing budgets and shifting them to retail media.

[Sara Lebo]

Number two, we have Unilever, which claims to be investing half of its ad budget in an influencer first strategy is what they're calling it. Unilever's investment in influencer marketing will rise from about 30% of that ad budget to about 50% of their total ad spend. A quote from their CEO Fernando Fernandez said there are 19,000 zip codes in India. There are 5,764 municipalities in Brazil. I want one influencer in each of them.

[Rachel Wolf]

I think it's makes sense. Our own research shows that social media is Gen Z's favorite place to discover new brands and products. Right. So given that, I think it makes sense for Unilever to really go after those audiences and target them where they are.

[Sara Lebo]

What I'm curious about here is if they're going to be using influencers mainly for like cosmetics, beauty, health products or if they're also going to be using them to market things like food and other sort of grocery cpg.

[Skye Canavez]

I think they need them for everything. I think they see the way the wind is blowing. Creators are really where it's at and they need to stand out from the competition primarily in private label in this environment. And content, creator content that's entertaining and interesting is really one way. I think retailers with their private labels, they still haven't capitalized on influencers and the groups that follow the retailers and their private labels as much. So this is one way to get the brands to stand out in this increasingly competitive environment.

[Sara Lebo]

Yeah, Poppy, I should note that we talked about before is a creator driven brand as well. Their founder Alison Ellsworth used social media heavily to market that brand. So I think it shows how powerful creator driven brands can be right now. Not that Unilever will be creating creator driven brands, but it shows that the influencer side of that, the content side of that. Number one wonder Becky. Why wonder?

[Becky Schilling]

Yeah, so the food delivery company bought tastemade this month. Tastemade makes and distributes social and streaming content about food and restaurants. They have more than 160 million followers and this acquisition gives Wonder not only a content studio, but also a significant ad revenue opportunity.

[Skye Canavez]

My impression was like, wow, they're just like have this bottomless well of money and are buying everything. Trying to become a food and delivery super app. But all around the food space, I think I read that they got nearly a billion dollars in funding last year in two rounds and they bought Blue Apron and grubhub. But I'm a little concerned about the purely regional focus right now. In the northeastern US Where I am in Texas, there's no Wonder presence really. So there's no way for me to test it out and see if it's worthwhile.

[Becky Schilling]

But now you could watch some social and streaming content.

[Sara Lebo]

Is tastemade the one that the MTA ads are partnered with, where you see them making like a weird little dumpling in those like multimedia MTA ads?

[Becky Schilling]

I think so.

[Sara Lebo]

I wonder if those will now become wonder ads also.

[Skye Canavez]

So now what's missing is a grocery partnership for those tastemade recipes and to get you to get your food home too. Interestingly, Walmart and tastemade have had a partnership where Walmart plus members get a free subscription to or at least a free trial to tastemade. Which is interesting given Wonders CEO Mark Laurie has a long history with Walmart and their e commerce business.

[Becky Schilling]

Everything always comes back to Walmart.

[Sara Lebo]

Yeah, okay. So that means our list is number one, wonderful. Number two, Unilever. Number three, Ulta. Number four, Poppy. Number five, Louis Vuitton, number six, CVS, number seven, Bath and Body Works, and number eight, Reebok. We also included a 9 and 10 honorable mentions on this list. At 9, we have FreshDirect for partnering with Uber Eats on its grocery delivery. And at number 10, we have Wayfair for opening its second brick and mortar store in Atlanta. Now it is time for our second half, where sky and Rachel get to tell us where we went wrong. Both of them will have a chance to move a brand up or down our rankings and to add a new company entirely. So, sky, why don't you go first and make a move?

[Skye Canavez]

So I'm going to bring Wonder down a few spots, maybe to number four. So moving up Unilever and Ulta above them, just because I think it's an interesting acquisition, but there's still a lot that's unproven with Wonder and its business model and whether it's going to be profitable. They say that their stores, their food halls are profitable. Their original business concept was not that great. But I still have questions because it's a very crowded and competitive market in food delivery.

[Sara Lebo]

Becky, you were the Wonder Wanderer. How do you respond to this?

[Becky Schilling]

So I would deny that move. And the reason why is not because I agree with you that they have a lot of challenges and headwinds in front of them and that it may not work. But for the interesting component alone, I think this is the most interesting mood that a retailer has made. We've acknowledged with Unilever how important social content is, and this gives Wander that acquisition to be able to do that. We know what streaming does for people. We know what audiences reach, Desk for people, ad revenue. I think when you take in all of those components together, that it is holistically the most interesting move that anybody's made. Will it work? Will it help them succeed? It can't hurt. They have a lot of challenges ahead of them. But just on the interesting alone component, I would have to say that I'm going to keep them number one.

[Sara Lebo]

Yeah, I'll. I'll keep them number one. Uh, I'm. I'm okay with that. They Tastemade feels like such a. Almost like it's very. Of the 2000 and tens tastemades content, any viral, like food recipe content mill feels very Buzzfeed tasty 2010s to me. So I'm really interested in what this new iteration looks like.

[Rachel Wolf]

Yeah. And I'M just interested in how Wonder plans to stitch all of these things together.

[Sara Lebo]

Right.

[Rachel Wolf]

I mean, they have grubhub, but how will grubhub play into how the Wonder food halls develop and so on?

[Sara Lebo]

And will people start consuming media on grubhub or on Wonder's own app? Does Wonder have an app?

[Rachel Wolf]

Probably they do.

[Skye Canavez]

And then I'm also wondering about the blue Apron part. That's another brand of the 2010s. Yeah, that's kind of past its heyday. And how do you get people to come back to meal kits or restart growth in that sector?

[Sara Lebo]

Okay, so we are denying Sky's move at this time. Sorry, Sky. Congratulations, Wonder. Rachel, what is your move?

[Rachel Wolf]

So I want to boot Bath and Body off of the list. We kind of touched on this before, but I think, you know, just adding a place for people to smell things is not really a reinvention of the store format. And I'm not sure that, you know, that will be the thing that Gen Z's will be like. This is why I go to Bath and Body work.

[Sara Lebo]

I'm okay with booting them off the list.

[Becky Schilling]

I mean, when you put it that way.

[Sara Lebo]

Feel free to deny this, but I was never super sold on Bath and Body. The only reason they're above Reebok is because my argument was that golf is boring. So I. I'm okay with taking them off of the list. I know that we don't tend to judge things on whether or not things will work, but I don't think Bath and Body is going to successfully rebrand itself as a Gen Z brand by, like, going sort of a glossier route. Not that that's necessarily a Gen Z brand either. I'm okay with taking them down a notch.

[Becky Schilling]

I'm all right with it.

[Sara Lebo]

Okay, so we are taking Bath and Body off the list. Technically, that moves fresh direct onto the list, but if we accept any of your additions, then they'll move off again. So, Rachel, what is your wildcard that you're adding to the list? Where are you putting it?

[Rachel Wolf]

So I'm going to add another luxury brand to the mix, and that's Gucci, which made a kind of. I would say this appointment came out of left field. But they brought in Demna, who is currently the creative director at Balenciaga, to revamp the brand, and investors weren't pleased about that. But in some ways, I think that's what makes it so interesting, which is that a lot of luxury brands have really been playing it safe to try and win over wealthier shoppers and just avoid alienating people in general. But I think that this appointment shows that there's a real need to shake up, you know, the creative leadership of these brands and bring in new ideas. And this could be the breath of fresh air that Gucci needs to get back on its feet.

[Sara Lebo]

Where do you want to put them?

[Rachel Wolf]

So I would put them, I would say above Louis Vuitton because I think it's a more interesting move than launching Beauty.

[Sara Lebo]

I didn't know about this, but this is a weird choice. Demna famously collaborated with Kanye west, also was behind that Balenciaga ad campaign with children in like holding teddy bears and leather harnesses. That ended up becoming like a whole conspiracy theory online. This is, this is a sort of a risky choice for Gucci, is it not?

[Becky Schilling]

It is.

[Rachel Wolf]

But he's also at Balenciaga, kind of been a proven commercial quantity. I mean, he really almost kickstarted the trend of designer sneakers. He got people to pay attention to the brand, which at that point had been kind of languishing. And so I think for Gucci, this is really kind of what it needs. Even a, a dash of controversy really could be what helps it just get back into the cultural limelight.

[Sara Lebo]

I'm okay with adding Gucci to the list.

[Skye Canavez]

I think the big question mark is whether he's more of a known quantity, which I think is what the market reacted to thinking like, oh, we already know what he's capable of, this is who he is and it's not going to be interesting enough, or whether he really has a viable second or third act in him that could really propel the brand forward and do something that's wholly new and creative. I think he is capable of that though.

[Sara Lebo]

I'm okay with pretty young adding Gucci to the list. Becky, what do you think?

[Becky Schilling]

I'm okay with adding him. I would not put it above Louis Vuitton though.

[Sara Lebo]

Okay, so we can put Gucci above CVS and Reebok, I think. Okay, sky, what is your wild card and where would you put it?

[Skye Canavez]

So my new brand is actually in the marketplace space. A new launch. So a couple of years ago, the flower and fruit delivery brand, Edible Arrangements. Maybe they're more flower shaped fruit delivery or fruit bouquets. Anyways, Edible Arrangements, they rebranded as edibles.com or edibles. And at the time there were some jokes and speculation about the other kinds of edibles and as well as some acknowledgement like that, oh yes, we could move in that direction. And now, lo and behold, they've just announced that they are launching a marketplace for the other kind of edibles. Not fruit, but THC and CBD type products, which is a really booming market in the US we don't cover it as much because it, I think, falls a little into the vice goods area, but it's a really interesting market. And there is this growing trend towards what I learned today is called Cali Sober, which is abstaining from alcohol but engaging with other substances of varying degrees of legality.

[Sara Lebo]

Where do you want to put them on the list?

[Skye Canavez]

I would put them pretty low on the list, maybe. Does that boot. Would that boot Reebok off? I don't know.

[Sara Lebo]

Yeah, but I'm okay with that because I think Golden.

[Skye Canavez]

May I. Can I swap them with cvs?

[Sara Lebo]

Yeah, I'm definitely okay with that move. The reason Edibles didn't make our original list is because this move happened after we made our list. But the reason I'm okay with putting it on the list is because Becky and I already had a conversation about this this morning and about how interesting it is, and then it didn't occur to us to change our list.

[Skye Canavez]

And there's also a potential advertising opportunity there that just crossed my mind because there are a lot of these companies, they don't have many places to advertise, and this new marketplace could be one.

[Sara Lebo]

I think it shows a lot of something interesting about cannabis as a product. Also, Edible Arrangements is like a wholesome company. They're like a Mother's Day, get well soon company. And if they're getting into the cannabis market and specifically into E commerce, which is kind of a complicated area, like legally, as it relates to cannabis products, it shows just how mainstream these products are. And we're probably going to see other companies do similar things. So I'm definitely okay with booting CVS for edibles.

[Becky Schilling]

I'm good with that. I mean, our entire team was having a conversation about this move this morning, and it was so debated on whether or not you actually liked getting fruit as a delivery or as a gift, if that was a good gift or a not good gift. So expanding your product line into something that seems very fitted for your name I think is a very interesting move.

[Sara Lebo]

Okay, both of your wildcards made the list. Good work. So that leaves our final list with honorable mentions of FreshDirect and CVS, which got booted from the list. And then we've got number eight, Reebok. Number seven, Edibles or Edible Arrangements. Number six, Gucci. Number five, Louis Vuitton. Number four, Poppy. Number three, Ulta number two Unilever and number one, Wonder. That is all we have time for today. So thank you so much for being here with me. Thank you Becky.

[Becky Schilling]

Thanks for having me.

[Sara Lebo]

Thank you Rachel.

[Rachel Wolf]

Thanks.

[Sara Lebo]

And thank you Sky.

[Skye Canavez]

Thanks. This was fun.

[Sara Lebo]

Please give us a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts. Thank you to our listeners and to our team who edits the podcast and always ranks number one for us. We'll be back next Wednesday with another episode of Reimagining Retail, and on Friday, join Marcus for another episode of the behind the Numbers show, an E marketer podcast made possible by Trax.