LOYALTY PROGRAM GAME-CHANGER AT UO
When I joined Urban Outfitters, we faced a real challenge: customers weren't creating accounts, our email capture was practically non-existent, and we had significant gaps in customer data. We needed a way to get customers excited about sharing their information while reigniting their love for the brand.
I developed and launched a mobile-first loyalty program that did double duty – boosting retention while collecting valuable customer data. The program was a massive hit, reaching 1 million users in just one year! We gave loyal customers special access and rewards that brought them back to stores more frequently, while cleverly solving our data problems by creating unified customer profiles with unique QR codes that eliminated the awkward email collection at checkout.
The program was so successful that Urban Outfitters took it global in 2016. This initiative showcases my ability to identify marketing problems, create practical solutions that customers love, and deliver measurable results that impact the bottom line – exactly the kind of strategic thinking I'll bring to my next executive role.
“Urban Outfitter’s provides platform for selfies, gives shoppers rewards and exclusives for sharing their style. Fashion retailer Urban Outfitters has a mobile rewards and marketing program that looks to garner more engagement from fans and shoppers with unique photo contests and social media challenges. The social network app lets users share photos that show off their personal style. Other members can ‘like’ or shop images featuring Urban Outfitters merchandise. When users mention the company on Twitter or Instagram, they receive points, gifts, or access to exclusive events. The network and rewards program helps customers share their style with fellow shoppers while offering up valuable shopper data about social media usage and product interest.”
- PSFK Labs Report
CUSTOMERS AS CONTENT CREATORS
When I assessed Urban Outfitters' content strategy, I spotted a major opportunity—we had significant content gaps to fill and an incredibly social media-savvy customer base just waiting to be tapped. Rather than pouring more budget into traditional content creation, I led my team in developing the #UOONYOU program, which transformed our customers into our most authentic brand ambassadors.
We filled our content gaps by creating simple but effective incentives for customers to share their UO styles on social media. We made a movement that felt genuine and drove real engagement. Our customers were thrilled to see themselves featured across our platforms, site engagement increased by 45 seconds (a massive win in retail!), and conversions jumped by 15%.
This initiative perfectly demonstrates how I spot marketing challenges and turn them into opportunities by leveraging existing assets – in this case, our fashion-forward customer community.
MAKING SOCIAL MEDIA SHOPPABLE AND MEASURABLE
When I saw how our social content was driving interest but not directly connecting to sales, I quickly identified the disconnect. Our customers loved our social posts, but couldn't easily find those products on our site – a classic friction point costing us conversions.
I led the integration of Curalate across all our social channels and implemented FANREEL to create a direct pipeline from social inspiration to purchase. This smart solution allowed my team to quickly tag products in social content and link them directly to product pages, making the path to purchase seamless. Our customers were thrilled to finally be able to easily find and buy the products they fell in love with on social media.
Beyond solving the customer experience problem, this initiative delivered something crucial for our marketing strategy—we could finally trace attribution and report real ROI on our social activities. This win-win approach exemplifies how I identify customer pain points and business measurement gaps and implement practical solutions that drive both satisfaction and sales.
SOCIAL LISTENING INTO REAL-TIME BUSINESS INSIGHTS
I recognized early that our social channels weren't just marketing platforms – they were our most immediate customer feedback loop. Instead of treating social media as a one-way broadcast channel, I positioned my Social Marketing team as customer intelligence gatherers at the frontlines of consumer sentiment.
We developed a streamlined process to capture and distribute social signals across the organization, giving our product and creative teams unprecedented real-time insights into what was resonating or falling flat. This approach allowed us to pivot quickly – amplifying winning products, adjusting messaging that missed the mark, and identifying emerging trends before our competitors.
This initiative showcases my practical approach to leveraging existing resources (our social channels) to solve multiple business challenges simultaneously: improving customer responsiveness, reducing product misses, and accelerating our reaction time to market shifts. It's exactly the kind of connected thinking I bring to marketing leadership – seeing opportunities to create value across departments without requiring massive new investments.
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS THAT AMPLIFIED IMPACT WITHOUT INFLATING BUDGETS
I quickly identified partnership marketing as an untapped opportunity to extend our reach while maximizing our limited resources. By strategically positioning Urban Outfitters' channels as valuable platforms for exposure, I transformed traditional vendor relationships into true marketing partnerships.
I developed collaboration frameworks with powerhouse brands like Nike, Levi's, and Champion that went far beyond standard retail arrangements. These partners eagerly contributed marketing resources, creative assets, and in many cases, fully funded activations to support our collaborative collections. This approach significantly amplified our marketing impact while keeping our investment minimal.
This strategy was particularly effective because I structured these partnerships to feel authentic to our audience rather than overly commercial. Each collaboration told a cohesive story that benefited both brands while delivering content our customers wanted to engage with.
This initiative demonstrates my ability to identify unconventional marketing opportunities, negotiate beneficial partnerships, and stretch marketing dollars for maximum impact.
Urban Outfitters Fanreel
“Urban Outfitters plans to take it up a notch. “We’ll put the photos on our product pages,” said Moira Gregonis, senior marketing manager at Urban Outfitters. “Social-generated images are creeping up on all of our marketing channels. That’s where our customers are.” Fanreel also offers analytics that intrigue Gregonis, whose brand counts 912,000 Instagram followers. “With all we are doing on Instagram, we sometimes wonder what we’re getting back,” she explained. “For the first time, we can collect metrics that show people hashtagging photos of this product or that product.”
— CHRIS HEINE, ADWEEK
