The Embelex Factor

Last week, Rana Sidahmed, M.S. and I had the honor of accepting PRWeek’s Award for “Best in Corporate Branding,” alongside M Booth, the stellar, fun-to-work with, unpretentious agency and guiding light behind Embelex, Avery Dennison’s suite of solutions for on-garment branding.?

Ironically, the award came almost at the exact one-year anniversary of the launch of the brand. And about two years after Rana challenged us to really think about the products formerly known as “External Embellishments.” The apparel industry’s movement towards personalization and customization meant this category was ripe for growth; but with a name like “External Embellishments” could we really get there?

Through the two-year journey, I learned a few lessons in branding and leadership:

A Name is Not Just a Name:

When we started the journey towards Embelex, we wanted to find out what individuals in the industry called all those things on top of your garment: the patches, that graphic, those names & numbers. To all my fashion industry friends who are sitting there thinking you know the answer; politely, you’re wrong. The answer was, there was no answer.?

We conducted research across the industry, supply chain and the globe. The answers were shockingly fragmented. It depended. On where you were in the supply chain. On where you were in the world. On where you were in your company. And individuals changed their language quite fluently depending on the context.?

The result wasn’t a conundrum, it was an opportunity. An opportunity for creativity. An opportunity to create a standard where one lacked. And an opportunity to develop a brand and identity for solutions that will forward innovation and sustainability across the industry.?

?One could argue that in the absence of a “name” why pursue it at all? Why not just let status quo go? I would argue that this is a case where style is in fact more important than substance. A rose does not smell as sweet by any other name. It’s human nature to want to talk about things that are exciting and sound as such. It’s why we’re drawn to abbrevs and slang and love brands that are satisfying to say. Would Google have been Google had they gone with their original name of Backrub??And while it started as "just a name," it became an impetus for so much more...

It’s not B2B or B2C, it’s B2H

If you work with me, you’ll hear this expression at least three times a week. But it encapsulates my fundamental philosophy towards marketing. We like to divide our marketing efforts based on who we're trying to convince to foot the bill: a person (B2C) or a business (B2B). But businesses are made up of people. And I don’t transition into a “business” mindset when I’m making decisions as Emily the marketer versus Emily the consumer. At 9 AM, I don’t turn into a pumpkin and react better to words like “ROI” or “Efficiency” and at 5 PM, I don’t shut off my brain.?

Too often, B2B? marketers hide under a cloak of wanting to sound “business” and in doing so, completely miss the mark. A favorite example of mine is e-mails that include the phrase “as a valued customer.” I have never once turned to a co-worker and said “as a valued colleague.” We don’t speak without personality as people, and we shouldn’t as businesses.?

With Embelex, this philosophy took flight with the channels and content we chose to promote on launch. We ventured into TikTok and influencers for the first time. One of my personal favorite pieces of content came from a TikTok influencer who used an Embelex patch to upcycle a t-shirt she stole from her ex-boyfriend.?

Traditional B2B logic would say that piece of content didn’t reach “X” buyer at “Y” company because I can’t prove it. And I can’t prove it. I can also guarantee that no one saw that clip on TikTok and thought, “hmm, I should buy Embelex.” But I can prove that many buyers at fashion companies follow sustainability and fashion influencers on TikTok. And I would guess that if they scrolled upon it, it would? “reach” them much more effectively than that email with a subject line around “saving costs” in their Monday AM inbox. And if I was feeling gutsy, I might say that after seeing “Embelex” in Women’s Wear Daily, being re-targeted on Instagram, and seeing trends on “Newness” in Embelex in their inbox, it might stay front of mind when designing their next collection.

The Power of the Right Partner

When I was still very green in my career, very eager, and I’ll say it - maybe a bit big for my britches - I found myself in the position of having to run PR for fashion week without anyone else in-house. I was utterly convinced that I knew exactly what to do to make this the best Fashion Week ever. I called my boss in London at the time to explain my well-reasoned and bulletproof line of thinking. Rather than giving me the go-ahead, much to my dismay, she asked me what the PR agency thought. It wasn’t that my ideas weren’t good; she just pointed out that they did, after all, have years of experience doing PR for Fashion Week. In the end by combining my expertise on fashion trends with their expertise in PR, we achieved 1000%+ organic growth in social media impressions from the previous year, with about 10% of the budget.?

That experience early-on informed what I look for in agencies and how I work with partners. The right agencies and partners don’t take what you say as a given, but interpret it, challenge you and push you beyond your limits. I am blessed to work with a ton of partners who push my team to do their best work precisely because they don’t simply agree with us or do what we ask. Rather they challenge, provoke and push.?

I have been blessed in my career to work with a number of partners like this. In this case, M Booth did exactly that. They created award-winning work, and they did so because they thoroughly immersed themselves in the business and the problem, developed a soundproof strategy, and worked with - not for or against us. In particular, working with Tracey Amico , Bonnie Ulman Miller , Brandi Swanson and Jon Paul Buchmeyer who were not only thought-provoking but fun to work with which brings me to my final point.?

Having Fun at Work Matters

We’ve all been there around big launches. The daily calls, the late night panics, the seemingly impossible deadlines are “all too much.” Which is why, and I can’t stress this enough, it’s important to have fun when you work. When you’re having fun, you might just come across crazy and outside the box ideas that allow your team to cut through the noise. When you’re having fun, you aren’t focused on just ticking off the box, but doing your best work. When you’re having fun, you go the extra mile. I’m not advocating for replacing the daily stand-up with a cocktail hour, but I am saying that it is worth taking 5 minutes at the beginning of a meeting to connect with our colleagues. And if we can’t connect within our teams, how do we expect to do so with the outside world??

With that, I want to say that I am also blessed with an exceptionally talented and creative team: Anna Glassman , Stephanie Ruff , Stephanie Sears, MBA , John Ellison , Aaron Durand , Duncan Marshall , Dilber Karamanci , Olivia Hagen . Working with guidance from the leadership and strategic direction of Steve Mason , Michael Barton , Rana Sidahmed, M.S. and Jeremy Bauer and one of the best project managers in the game, Helene Teu .