Katie Babineau

Kudos to our agency partners at The Social Lights for an outstanding day of learning about AI and its implications for marketing at their inaugural AI Lighthaus Summit. It was inspiring to see the community unite with an impressive lineup of speakers, including AI futurists, educators, creative technologists, developers, talent development experts, and even … lawyers. :) Props to Emily Pritchard and Stephanie Schafer from our crew at Red Wing Shoe Co. for creating a forum that invests in the broader business community, client-agency relationships, and thought leadership. A few of the splashy headlines from the conference upon reflection: 1. Simple scales, complex fails. Avoid trying to tackle everything with AI. Focus on identifiable problems and iterate quickly. Speed is essential. 2. AI starts at the bottom; empower your teams. Be careful not to over-govern, as your AI-native, junior-level teams have the potential to address real-world business challenges since they are closest to the issues. 3. Discomfort is the precursor to excellence. While AI may feel uncomfortable for many, embracing that discomfort can lead to significant, incremental value. 4. How can AI enhance your personal “zone of genius”? Consider the mundane and repetitive tasks that hinder you from excelling in work that brings you joy and value. 5. AI should be a creative multiplier, not a headcount reducer. While AI may lead to reduced headcount over time, its true value is bigger than driving efficiency and productivity gains. Final thought: “AI amplifies your intent; ensure your intent is worth amplifying.” Bravo!

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Two points are increasingly clear: 1) Artificial intelligence is reshaping every industry, creating a generational opportunity for innovation and growth. 2) The organizations and individuals that leverage AI to empower people and elevate experiences will ultimately be the long-term winners.

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🙋‍♀️ I've committed to OpenAI Academy's summer of learning [July agenda below]. Thank you Jane Kim for sharing, grateful to have you in my network ☑️ I've just completed the first session 'Introduction to ChatGPT' run by humans Jane Kim [Community] & Lauren Oliphant [Solutions Engineer] for humans 🤓 Learnings: ➖ ChatGPT Multi-Modality: ChatGPT's multi-modality unlocks powerful interactions by combining text, image, audio/voice, and code understanding in a single AI assistant ➖ ChatGPT Interface: Multi-modal support: Upload images, PDFs, and audio for ChatGPT to analyze. Custom instructions: Let ChatGPT know how you’d like it to respond. Memory (Pro users): ChatGPT can remember facts about you across chats. Voice chat (mobile app): Talk directly with ChatGPT like a voice assistant. ➖ GPT's [#icydk]: Generative Pre-trained Transformer is a type of AI model developed by OpenAI that can understand and generate human-like language. Generative: It can create text, not just analyze it. Pre-trained: it learns from a massive amount of data before being fine-tuned for specific tasks. Transformer: the underlying architecture that allows it to handle language efficiently and at scale. If you're using ChatGPT, you're interacting with a version of GPT, such as GPT-3.5, GPT-4, or GPT-4o. *I use ChatGPT+/Paid, which includes access to deep research, multiple reasoning models (o4-mini, o4-mini-high, and o3), and a research preview of GPT-4.5] ➖ GPT Store: A marketplace or hub where users can discover, browse, and install specialized GPT-powered tools, apps, or “plugins” designed to extend the capabilities of GPT models like ChatGPT. ➖ Prompts: Hack: For the best results, speak to ChatGPT like it’s a human—use clear, specific language with enough context and explicit instructions about what you want. Asking step-by-step questions or giving examples helps guide it to provide more accurate and relevant answers. 💡 I recognize the complex and often polarized emotions surrounding ChatGPT and other AI/GenAI tooling—especially within the creative industry where I sit and tend to thrive: ranging from eager excitement and intrigue to genuine apprehension and profound doubt/fear. Yet, whether we embrace it or resist, these transformative tools are rapidly reshaping both our personal and professional landscapes in ways we can’t yet fully grasp. As Donald Rumsfeld famously said, “there are known knowns... known unknowns... and unknown unknowns”—we simply don’t know what we don’t know. I am committed to adopting, learning and leveraging these innovations to empower my work, and I’m starting to encourage my team at Tommy Hilfiger do the same—to lead with confidence and curiosity into this new frontier rather than shy away from it. ❓ Who's joining me for the next session: July 15th 'Build Faster with ChatGPT: How to use AI as a Co-Founder, for students' with expop Harsha Ravindran Heerraa Ravindran Siya Raj Purohit OpenAI Academy: https://academy.openai.com

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🔥 Pinterest has entered the sports chat. 🔥 In its first-ever sports partnership, Pinterest teams up with WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) champs New York Liberty—and it's more than just a brand deal. This two-year collab isn’t about highlight reels—it’s about lifestyle fandom. From “Game Day outfit inspo” to “WNBA tunnel fits,” Pinterest is tapping into where fashion, identity, and hoops intersect. Searches for “Sabrina Ionescu shoes pink” up 1,700%? That’s not a stat—it’s a strategy. With 570M monthly users and revenue up 17%, Pinterest is investing in culture-led storytelling: curated boards, editorial content, and even refurbishing backboards in NYC. This isn't just digital content—it's community connection. The NY Liberty continue to lead the league in innovation, signing 19 new brand partners this season. The takeaway? The smartest sports marketers are building lifetime fans, not just game-day views. #SportsMarketing #WNBA #Pinterest #BrandPartnerships #FanEngagement #NYLiberty #LifestyleMarketing #CreatorEconomy

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#InfluencerEngagement KEY TAKEAWAY - People connect with content that feels REAL. The influencer landscape is evolving fast and so are the rules for what really resonates with consumers. Earlier this month, members of our SchroderHaus team attended PRSA Colorado's Influencer Panel event and here are a few of our team’s takeaways (shoutout to Emily Stepanian for capturing): 🔑 Authenticity over ads — if it feels like an ad, people swipe right past it. 📲 Stories still deliver huge impact and ROI, even if they’re harder to measure. 🤝 Creators appreciate brands who show up with clear ideas, but also leave room for genuine collaboration. 🎯 For many campaigns, awareness and trust are bigger wins than pure conversions. 🤖 AI is reshaping everything from hashtag strategy to how people search — think Answer Engine Optimization, not just SEO. ✏️ Keywords and repeated phrases in captions and voiceovers matter more than ever for discoverability. 📝 Small creative choices, like where info goes (caption vs. voiceover), can make branded content feel more natural and authentic. As always, huge props to Elle Queen for being such a fabulous moderator and influencer engagement expert! #InfluencerMarketing #PR #CPG #PRSAColorado

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Some brands can make store retail fun and pleasant. #PatriciaNuñez, #MeredithEpsteinGoodman, #GeneDetroyer, and I set out on visits to four showcase stores on Fifth Avenue in New York City. We selected Adidas, Arc’Teryx (Canada), Nike Innovation, and American Girl (owned by Mattel). The visits were eye-opening. Much of the accolade is probably because these are showcases for each brand and, as such, little expense has been spared. All the stores are flashy. All the stores are well stocked. All the stores are well staffed. All the stores boast large square footage either on one large floor or on multiple stories. Adidas, Arc’Teryx, and Nike make very effective use of mannequins to convey ‘the look’ and how each garment or shoe will look on ‘athletic’ individual. Many of the sales associates to whom we spoke were engaging, smiling, and knew their products. All the brands put significant effort in training their associates on the history of the brand and on their assortment. The training can happen in person, or online with some sort of confirmation that the associate took the training course and is proficient in the subject matter. In the sports-oriented stores, the sophistication of the new fabrics was evident. Some very light-weight, wind-proof, UV-protective, water-proof fabrics are a feat of textile engineering, which our friend Gene quickly dubbed “TechStyle”. (I love this!) The American Girl store is impressive because of its very large footprint (40,000 sq.ft.) and its large assortment of individual SKUs, which I can only estimate at over 4,000). One can take one’s doll to the in-house beauty parlor and also have one’s hair and nails done. A young girl can spend two hours in the beauty parlor with her doll. One can also eat in the restaurant on the top floor, which is also available for parties. The visits were a confirmation that some retailers can run an attractive, immersive store that delivers the brand message loudly, colorfully, and clearly, in a rather expensive setting, well-staffed with knowledgeable and enthusiastic sales associates. These stores are all definitely worth a visit.

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Thinking about switching industries, but not sure how to make your case? Playful experimentation helped Nikkia Reveillac convey her story into something impossible to ignore. She's navigated major career pivots—from CPG to tech and entertainment and now entrepeneurship—and this approach helped her make the leap. Nikkia joins us on today's episode of In Confidence. Watch/listen now wherever you get your podcasts (link in comments).

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How can brands translate this generational insight into meaningful strategy? What can PACSUN’s findings teach us about the future of identity-driven commerce, creator culture, and conscious retail? In this episode of Retail Refined, I sat down with Brieane Olson, CEO of Pacsun, to unpack the findings of their newly released Youth Report 2025. Together, we explore how Gen Z and Gen Alpha are redefining creativity, consumption, and connection—and what it means for brands hoping to stay relevant in a culture that’s evolving faster than ever. Here is a teaser clip. Click the link below to watch the full conversation including how to think about: https://lnkd.in/eJzACFs - A Shift of Mindset from Consumers to Co-Creators - The Key Elements of the New Trust Economy - And How Culture and Well-Being serve as Brand Connectors You can also listen on Spotify at: https://lnkd.in/ejVkKDSq or Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/ekhPBAkZ #RetailRefined, a MarketScale #Podcast #MG2Advisory, MG2 Design

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The Best-Kept Secret in the Fashion Industry? Cal Poly Pomona’s Fashion Design, Apparel Merchandising and Management Program. As a member of the Advisory Board, I recently attended the April Board Meeting and Awards Luncheon — and it reaffirmed what I’ve long believed: this program is one of the best-kept secrets in the industry. What sets the newly renamed Fashion Design, Apparel Merchandising and Management program apart is how industry-ready the students are by the time they graduate. Unlike many traditional programs, Cal Poly Pomona teaches students cross-functional expertise across: * Merchandising
 * Product Development
 * Production and Sourcing
 * Supply Chain Management
 * Retail Buying
 * Leadership and Team Collaboration
 In their senior year, students work in a cross-functional pod that mirrors real-world company structures, with specialists and leaders collaborating on a capsule collection that is actually purchased and sold in the campus bookstore. They source fabrics and trims directly from the LA market, attend MAGIC as buyers, and some students even participate in a study abroad experience in Paris — giving them a broader view of the global fashion industry. Because of this immersive, hands-on training, the students don’t just know industry terminology — they speak it fluently. In my opinion, they graduate with the skills of someone who has already spent a year working in the industry. And the results are clear: 
 - One senior proudly shared he was hired by Disney. - Another, who specialized in production, accepted a role at Alo Yoga. The surprising part? When I talk to colleagues across the LA fashion industry, very few know about this incredible program. Cal Poly Pomona is building the next generation of industry talent — and it’s time we paid attention. If you're looking for entry-level talent who can hit the ground running, this program is a hidden gem. #FashionIndustry #FashionCareers #TalentPipeline #CalPolyPomona #FashionDesignApparelMerchandisingManagement #Merchandising #ProductDevelopment #Sourcing #RetailBuying #FutureOfFashion #CPP #CPPFashion #EthanOff #GabrielDavidovPardo #JiangningChe #ChitrasDabas #FashionEducation #FashionLeadership

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If you work in sustainability, you’re in the behavior-change business. Which means you should be paying very close attention to what Gap Inc. just did. The company hired its first Chief Entertainment Officer, former Paramount executive Pam Kaufman, to build a “Fashiontainment” platform weaving music, TV/film, sports, and gaming into the business. Gap didn't make this hire for sustainability. But it IS a behavioral strategy. And the same mechanism the company is betting on for growth is the exact mechanism that closes the attitude-behavior gap. Culture. Fandom. If you're subscribed to my Substack, you know I talk a lot about the psychology shift that rebranded resale as "cool." It wasn't that long ago that secondhand was coded as lower status and a signal of economic necessity that carried its own social stigma. Fast forward to today: thrift hauls go viral, "vintage" is a coveted label, and digital marketplaces have turned pre-loved items into a billion dollar industry, growing faster than global apparel. So what changed? Resale became cool when "used" stopped signaling lack and started signaling taste, access, and savvy. When it went from fringe to socially validated. When it became...culture. I know what you're thinking: resale became cool because people are broke. Yes, affordability was the entry point. But affordability has ALWAYS been the entry point, and people have been broke before. From eBay partnering with Condé Nast to Vestiaire Collective's spot in Emily in Paris, cultural cachet is what gave resale its staying power. Without that, resale would still be coded as economic necessity with a musty thrift-store smell. Culture is what turned resale from niche behavior into mass behavior. And culture/fandom is exactly what Gap Inc.'s CEO Richard Dickson is building. Gap didn't hire Kaufman to save the planet. But the playbook transfers. Fandom drives the exact behaviors sustainability teams struggle to scale: → Emotional durability (identity-linked purchases get kept longer, repaired, archived) → Resale participation (perceived value holds, making secondary markets viable) → Higher AUR at full price (fewer units, better margins, less discounting) → Values-based price tolerance (room for better materials, fairer production) → Identity-driven purchasing over convenience-driven (more intentional, longer-held) These are measurable outcomes sustainability teams can bring to leadership tied to demand, margin, retention, and lifetime value. If you want to apply this playbook to your sustainability efforts, you NEED to be at SFF26. We're bringing together behavioral scientists, consumer psychologists, and senior leaders from brands and infrastructure to answer one question: what drives adoption? Walk away with a repeatable way to design participation into your programs and diagnose why existing ones stall. The industry is building the systems of the future. SFF26 is about unlocking the behavior that fuels them.

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It's Barriers to Entry day, and today is the Season 3 finale! For our season finale, Andrew Lane and I got to hang out with Mary Franck, Creative Director and Head of Design at Future Colossal. Mary's portfolio is a powerhouse, including work with IBM, The New York Times, Spectrum, Verizon, Puma, and The Masters, which gave us a great foundation for a conversation about DATA. In our conversation, we explored Mary's approach to making data approachable. Mary's work on the Spectrum Headquarters is a great example of her professional superpower - taking lots of information, and making it compelling and COOL! (Project info here: https://lnkd.in/eA723J2h) Tune in, join the conversation, and don't forget to thank Arktura for sponsoring this season of BTE! (Learn more at arktura.com/bte.) Lots of love to Rob Schulte and Rachel Senatore for producing this season. Thanks to Patricia Kisereu and Amy Hahne, MBA for supporting Barriers to Entry. And so grateful to our amazing guests this season - Mary, Steven Ranta, Nathan Ferrance, Amanda Schneider, LEED AP, MBA 🤓, Michael Schneider, Eli Hoisington, Brooke Grammier, and Joel Yow. Listen here (or wherever you get your pods): https://lnkd.in/emNMsPbT

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Let’s be honest, reading your own Glassdoor reviews can sting. But bad feedback doesn’t always mean bad culture and we can learn from it. After all, what one person calls “chaotic,” another might see as “creative freedom.” The real signal is when the same themes start popping up, such as burnout, poor communication, leadership gaps. We address good and bad reviews with our clients, it helps us understand the type of candidate that would fit into their culture. If there is a negative theme, we work with them to learn and evolve in ways they may not have thought about. #glassdoor #hiring #companyculture #hiring 👉 Read the full post on the PRTNR Blog

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THe recent whispers of an Accenture Song / WPP merger feel less like breaking news and more like a belated realization that the future of marketing and commerce belongs to community architects For 8 years, we’ve been building the tech stack and more recently our own platform that captures the spark of online tribes matched to real time trends, decodes their cultural logic in real time, and transforms that insight into creative work and commerce pathways all while old-guard players ignored the biggest transformation in commerce history Imagine a world where every nascent trend, every emergent community, is recognized the instant it flickers to life - documented, understood, and woven into brand strategy at the speed of social momentum That’s the world we’ve lived in since day one after building brands for influencers for 13 years ago and finally stumbling on community as the only driving force that matters Ngl, I'm kinda angry it took me another 5 to start building it And now, as consultancies and holding companies eye each other with binoculars, the market is finally catching up to what we actually started proselytizing about and building 8 years ago These merger rumors are admission that institutional marketing missed the boat on the most powerful intelligence layer of all: authentic community signals Traditional marketing still believes you build funnels and then optimize, as if demand emerges only when an ad goes live lol But we know that culture births commerce to the point that one of the most followed people on the planet converted 200 units in a month vs a nano influencer's 25k in 30 seconds When you embed purchase pathways within the very moments that communities celebrate, laugh, debate, and share, you don’t chase demand - you harness it That leap from push ads to pull community is no longer a thought experiment; it has been live and profitable for years but it had no infrasctructure until Since Tomorrow Their merger talk confirms exactly what we’ve known... the future lives at the intersection of real‑time cultural intelligence, creative activation grounded in authentic context, and now seamless agent‑enabled transactions When you can turn cultural moments into immediate transaction opportunities at the speed of social momentum, you're not just doing better marketing - you're operating in a different paradigm entirely...

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For the season one finale of Piece of Work, I sat down with Sal Khan, Founder & CEO of Khan Academy, and Katrina Agusti, CIO of Carhartt, to tackle a big question leaders are facing:   How do you lead through AI-driven change without leaving your people behind?   We talked about what responsible AI adoption actually looks like. Why transparency matters more than ever. And how moving fast only works when you’re also bringing people with you.   No hype. No fear. Just a candid conversation about leadership, clarity, and building confidence through change.   And as we put a wrap on our first season of Piece of Work, I’m reminded again how fascinating and exciting it is to examine how we work. This massive effort we all show up to do in so many different, but also very related, ways. Having been in the HR and HCM space for a long time now, I’ll continue to say this is the most exciting, challenging, and transformative it’s ever been. I’m here for it. 👊   I’ve learned something new, challenged my own beliefs, and had a good laugh with every guest. That’s my preferred recipe for any day of work.   I’d love to hear what you think so far and where season 2 should go next. Drop a comment and let me know 👇 🎧 Listen now https://lnkd.in/ewUc48Ka   #AI #FutureOfWork #HRLeadership #ResponsibleAI Dayforce

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It's official!! 🕺 👀 After years of working together behind the scenes, Endear and Leap have officially partnered to transform how physical retail actually works. Here's why I'm pumped about this... For years, we've watched e-commerce teams leverage customer data to deliver personalized experiences at scale. Meanwhile, store associates were left operating in the dark - guessing what customers wanted instead of knowing it. That changes now. When a customer walks into a Leap-powered retail location using Endear, that associate has an immediate data advantage. They see what the customer likes, how often they buy, and what they're looking for next. They're not just transacting - they're continuing a relationship built on real insight. Think about what this unlocks: ✅ Omnichannel customers who shop both in-store and online generate 2-3x the lifetime value of e-commerce-only shoppers. This partnership moves more customers into that high-value territory. ✅ Associates can now deliver personalized follow-ups that feel genuine because they're coming from the person who actually helped them - not some automated email. ✅ Brands with large store fleets are seeing $60k-$100k+ in attributable monthly sales lift. That's real ROI from real relationships. But here's the thing that gets me most excited... this isn't about cramming more marketing messages into customers' phones. It's about giving store teams the tools to do what they've always wanted to do - build genuine relationships with their customers backed by data instead of guesswork. Leap handles the operational complexity (real estate, staffing, inventory). Endear gives associates the clienteling superpowers to turn transactions into loyalty. Together? It's an omnichannel experience that actually works. To everyone at Leap - huge thanks for being incredible partners and for sharing our vision that physical retail isn't dead. It's just getting started. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/ezrMGAEp

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This this this. We’ve seen it time and time again, never underestimate the power of the founder or the culture they build. These are the true forces behind the rise (and fall) of companies, especially today, in a landscape crowded with copy-paste brands.

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Bubbling to the surface soon for brand strategists. Discover how to develop a comprehensive brand coherence strategy tailored to work directly with founders. Think like a business owner, bake in sustainable growth marketing while guiding founders to build a remarkable brand with impact.

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What's the secret sauce behind the success of SXSW, an event that brings 300,000+ people to Austin each year, generates nearly $380 million in economic impact, and has become the launching pad for breakthrough artists, startups, and ideas that shape our culture? We caught up with SXSW Chief Commercial Officer Peter Lewis to talk about this and so much more during our Trade Show Talk podcast by TSNN - Trade Show News Network. Get a preview of the event that opens next month in Austin across about 75 venues while the Austin Convention Center is closed during construction of a new building that's currently scheduled to open for its first event, SXSW 2029. (Now that's a challenge!) Fun fact: SXSW, which celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2026, launched before the former Austin Convention Center opened the first time around. Listen to the rest of episode on your favorite streaming service or here: https://lnkd.in/gbsCkVmP

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Coming off the heels of the latest fashion weeks, I’m pleased to share JOOR's newly released Fall 2026 Trend Report, where we dive deep into the key style statements defining the upcoming season. After identifying these runway trends, we leveraged our new proprietary AI tool to analyze millions of products on JOOR and surface the most relevant matches for retailers looking to add these trends to their seasonal assortment. By combining human trend analysis with AI’s ability to accurately assess extensive style data, JOOR’s On Trend: Women’s Fall 2026 curated shoppable experience is a powerful resource to facilitate trend-right product discovery. 📖 Read my perspective on the Fall 2026 season: https://lnkd.in/dar6JfvP 🛍️ Explore the On Trend: Fall 2026 digital experience: https://lnkd.in/ewTXsc76 #JOOR #FashionTrends #Fall2026 #RetailBuying #TrendForecasting #AIinFashion

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