How Poshmark’s CMO Approaches Trends In Retail And Fashion

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In a week’s time, the presidential election has become reinvigorated by the Republican National Convention, President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the race and Vice President Kamala Harris emerging as the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination. The last week has taken what had been an election matchup that many Americans were unenthusiastic about to a much more exciting contest—complete with branding, celebrity endorsements and memes.

With her whirlwind entry into the spotlight, Harris has had the most momentum from a branding perspective. Fans on social media made videos mashups of her speaking, dancing and laughing set to songs from Charli XCX’s iconic summer album, Brat. As Harris received Biden’s endorsement for the nomination, the videos went viral. The BidenHQ X account rebranded to KamalaHQ, and immediately adopted the lime green aesthetic of the Brat album cover. Charli XCX herself approved, posting “kamala is brat” on X. As a new face in the race, a woman and a generation younger than former President Donald Trump, Harris is being lauded and embraced on social media. On the celebrity endorsement side, Harris already has the backing of actor and major Democratic fundraiser George Clooney, as well as entertainment luminaries Barbra Streisand, Cardi B and Mark Hamill. Beyoncé hasn’t given Harris an endorsement, but she’s allowed Harris to use her song “Freedom” at an event—a move that put the 2016 hit back on the charts.

But the branding momentum is on the Republican side of the ticket as well, which makes sense. After all, much of former President Trump’s career has been devoted to building his own brand. While the assassination attempt on the former president earlier this month was serious, it also made for iconic photos, which have spread across social media as a show of his resilience. And at the RNC last week, celebrity imagery loomed large, like Hulk Hogan ripping off his shirt on the main stage to reveal a red “Trump/Vance” tank top, and Kid Rock pumping his fist in the air with Trump-ized lyrics to “American Badass.” X owner Elon Musk, who endorsed Trump after the assassination attempt, has added Trump-themed icons to some hashtags on the site.

As the election draws closer, the spectacle will continue. While it seems Trump’s “Make America Great Again” brand has been ubiquitous since 2015, Harris is well on her way to catching up. And with just over 100 days until the election, there will be a lot more to see, hear and share.

When Steven Tristan Young joined Poshmark as its first and only CMO in 2018, he found himself repeatedly having to explain what the company did and why people would be interested in secondhand fashion. He’s built the company into a lifestyle brand synonymous with online fashion resale today, and the platform has more than 80 million users. He talked to Forbes HBCU scholar intern Tavon Thomasson and I about his experiences with Poshmark and what the future holds. An excerpt from our conversation is later in this newsletter.

BRANDS + MESSAGING

As the 2024 Summer Olympics begin in Paris this week, the stakes are high for brands. In the past, branding at the Olympics meant buying TV ads during key events, creating ads around personal athlete stories, and having branded merchandise available for athletes to wear and use. All of those are still in play, but social media takes it to another level.

Several brands, including Nike, Lululemon and Ralph Lauren, sent key athletes packages of merchandise. Forbes reporter Conor Murray writes that some athletes made “unboxing” videos of their packages—like Canadian sailor Sarah Douglas, who garnered more than 600,000 views for a video of opening merchandise from Lululemon. These videos benefit both brands—which have world-class athletes gushing about different products—as well as athletes, many of whom don’t have name recognition outside of the athletic community and may be looking for exposure.

Brands that don’t make equipment or apparel are also making big branding plays at the Paris Olympics. Visa has been a global Olympics sponsor for nearly 40 years, and CMO Frank Cooper III talked to Forbes senior contributor Kimberly A. Whitler about what the credit card company gets out of the sponsorship. Cooper said the Olympics don’t just reflect the message of inclusivity that is important to Visa—which is also a sponsor of both the Paralympic Games and some individual athletes competing in those games—but it’s also an opportunity to show off new technology and applications. “We view the act of sponsorship as just the beginning,” Cooper told Whitler. “Our goal is to add value to the experiences of the athletes, the fans, and the communities surrounding the Olympic Games.”

IN THE NEWS

Luxury brands have been trending downward for the last year, and new earnings reports are showing not-surprising slumps in sales. LVMH—owner of brands including Louis Vuitton, Dior, Tiffany and Moët Hennessy—reported 2% organic growth in the first half of the year, but still missed analysts’ estimates, which sent shares (and centibillionaire CEO Bernard Arnaut’s net worth) tumbling. In the last five days, LVMH’s shares are down more than 4.5%. Other luxury brands, including Burberry and Cartier parent Richemont, have had similar reports.

However, interest in luxury brands is alive and well. A new survey from Boston Consulting Group and Worth Media Group found that affluent Millennials prioritize spending on luxury goods, writes Forbes senior contributor Pamela N. Danziger. Nearly two-thirds of affluent Millennials—63%—spent money on luxury goods in the last year, more than the 54% who spent money on experiences. More than half of Millennials—54%—said they wanted to display their wealth and accomplishments through luxury purchases, and seven in 10 were concerned about projecting the right image. This motivation, the study found, was 40% higher for Millennials than older consumers.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Which generative AI chatbot is the best? It’s a nearly impossible question to answer, as chatbots are “learning” more every day, new players are constantly coming on the scene, and all have strengths and weaknesses. Research group LMSYS and the University of California, Berkeley’s Sky Computing Lab are working to get beyond the hype and come up with a realistic ranking with the Chatbot Arena, an open source project, writes Forbes senior reporter Robert Hart. Users are asked to compare responses from two anonymous AI models and vote on which one is the best. The responses are collected and the website features an always-updated leaderboard. So far, nearly 1.5 million human votes have been tallied at the Chatbot Arena, and more than 100 AI models are currently ranked. This method is not perfect—it doesn’t directly evaluate traits including truthfulness and bias—but it is a good first step.

ON MESSAGE

Poshmark CMO Steven Tristan Young On The Power Of Resale Retail

When Steven Tristan Young came to Poshmark to be its first CMO in 2018, he found himself having to explain the company and what it did a lot. More than five years later, Poshmark is a phenomenon in and of itself, with more than 8 million people using the app to sell apparel, millions more buying items from static listings, live video Posh Party sales and in-person retail pop-ups. Forbes HBCU scholar intern Tavon Thomasson and I talked to Young about his vision for Poshmark. This conversation has been edited for length, clarity and continuity.

You are Poshmark’s first and only CMO. When you came on board, what was your mission for building the brand? How did you envision making it a household name?

When I first came in, I had all these ideas about what Poshmark was, but those went out the window. One of the big decisions I made was not to pursue a brand refresh immediately. I didn’t want to be that CMO who just turns everything around. Instead, I discovered the brand was pretty good—people had high awareness and loved it. What we needed to work on was [things] like how do I re-architect my team for success and for the future, because we have global expansion plans. We also had new product launches. But more importantly, I said I wanted to redo the brand when I feel like it’s the right time. People need to understand what differentiates us from our competitors.

About three years in, I initiated a brand refresh. The idea was not to turn the brand 180 degrees, but to make it more relevant for newer audiences: specifically with a lot of Millennials, but more relevant for Gen Z and Gen Alpha. We moved the brand visually from more female-centric to gender neutral. At the time, we were thinking, “Should we be like X? Should we be like Y? Should we be a global fashion brand?” At the end, you know what our secret sauce is? We help our sellers make money. So, everything we do—our tagline, visual, creative, and our brand experiences—centers around making our sellers successful.

Reflecting on Poshmark’s evolution—from purchases based on static listings, to livestreamed Posh shows, to physical pop-up events—what insights have you gained about the changing landscape of retail?

What people want now is what everyone has been talking about for a while: retail to fit their current circumstances, whether that depends on where they are in their lives or even what day of the week it is. Sometimes I might want to go to the store, and other times I want to shop while watching an online television show. I think the brands that can help meet users in both formats are the ones who are going to succeed in the long run. Simply being offline or only online doesn’t work. For example, Amazon has pop-ups and Amazon Go stores to complement their online presence. The fact that we’re trying to be both in real life and online to meet our customers where they are is the direction retail is going. To be successful, you need to integrate into peoples’ lives.

For us, what’s interesting is our merchandising strategy and our trends. We get all the hot items before anyone else even sees them. Our merchandising team spots trends way ahead of time because people are selling these items online. I think the more retailers can help people identify trends that are relevant to them, the more successful they will be. I believe merchandising is going to be one of the key ways for retailers to win in the future.

Poshmark is used by many age groups—Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z, Gen Alpha. They’re all very different in terms of what they’re looking for in marketing and messaging. How do you craft a message for all of them?

We don’t try to message all of them. When I think about our social media messaging, I consider our ownable brand messaging strategy. This means figuring out how we talk about the things that matter when people are looking at trends and style. Everyone wants to be stylish, no matter what generation they belong to. No one wants to look like a fuddy duddy. Style cuts across generations. So, when I talk to my team, I’m like, “Hey, how do we think about our language and cultural moment and make them about style? How do people want to look and feel?” This is a big part of their identity. I think if you take that approach, you’re able to be more inclusive. At the same time, you’re also able to speak to a wider audience.

FACTS + COMMENTS

AB InBev’s Bud Light brand continues to suffer the fallout of a 2023 conservative ban following a marketing partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

3: Bud Light’s sales ranking in the U.S. for the four weeks ending July 6, behind Modelo and Michelob Ultra

$1.4 billion: Amount of U.S. sales lost in 2023 by parent company AB InBev

‘Millions of consumers choose Bud Light every day’: A spokesperson from AB InBev told CNN

STRATEGIES + ADVICE

Last week’s massive computer outage caused by a CrowdStrike update presented lessons in how to ensure your brand is strong—and what to do when something big goes wrong.

When you get into a leadership role, your first instinct may be to show those who appointed you how well you can manage it all. But it’s much better to begin by delegating some of that new responsibility.

QUIZ

Lyrics of a hit song by which artist were transmitted to Venus earlier this month using NASA’s Deep Space Network?

A. David Bowie

B. Missy Elliott

C. Beastie Boys

D. Lady Gaga

See if you got the answer right here.