1. The new golden rule in marketing (spoiler: it’s not about you). Brands need to be asking one simple question: who is my audience, and what do they need? The new golden rule is putting consumers absolutely first. Business, and profits, will follow. – Read More on AdAge
2. How Luxury Is Reaching Consumers During Lockdown: From YSL Beauty tutorials on Instagram and Gucci’s AR-powered app to Prada’s conversation series and Loewe’s online events and workshops, here is how luxury brands are engaging with consumers while their stores are closed. – Read More on Jing Daily
3. Adidas says first-quarter profits fell more than 90 percent due to coronavirus store closures: Its first-quarter net income was $28.14 million, down 96 percent from the same three months in 2019. The company reported a 19 percent decline in net sales for the first quarter from the previous year to $5.16 billion, as 70 percent of its stores worldwide closed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.– Read More on CNBC
4. The Pandemic Will Change American Retail Forever: We are entering a new evolutionary stage of retail, in which big companies will get bigger, many mom-and-pop dreams will burst, chains will proliferate and flatten the idiosyncrasies of many neighborhoods, more economic activity will flow into e-commerce, and restaurants will undergo a transformation unlike anything the industry has experienced since Prohibition. – Read More on The Atlantic
5. RETRO READ: “Brands Can Do Better With a Conglomerate” Behind Them – A Look at the Consolidation of the Luxury Industry. The upper-most echelon of the fashion industry is firmly dominated by an increasingly small handful of mighty entities that have amassed collections of brands, which they have turned into house-hold names by way of eye-poppingly expensive traditional marketing efforts (complete with strong luxury-centric messaging) and the help of no small number of globally-recognized celebrities. – Read More on TFL
6. Plastic Waste Is a C-Suite Issue: From basic chemicals to high tech, from heavy industry to fast fashion, and from agricultural commodities to lifestyle brands — virtually every industry has plastic as an integral part of its products, supply chain, distribution, and customer interactions. For virtually every business leader, reducing plastic waste represents a strategic business opportunity. – Read More on HBR