How Draper James Built a Brand Customers Come Back To

[00:00] Piper: Human role creative leads to help with creative strategy. AI is not going to replace humans in the workforce. I think humans who don’t know how to use AI to their advantage are going to get replaced.

[00:13] Liam: If you’re working with an agency that is not AI-first and using AI tools, one, you’re spending so much money, and two, they’re just pushing you behind. And I actually think that’s a big thing that’s holding so many brands back now.

[00:23] Piper: I think it definitely opens doors for us, but it’s up to us as the brand to walk through those doors and close the deal. I really feel today with the increases in customer acquisition costs, retention needs to kind of be that new CAC.

[00:47] Liam: All right. Piper, excited for today’s episode. I feel like you have so much to share. We interview so many brand founders and people that are on the ground in brands. And I think your perspective today, so many people will either resonate with or they’ll learn something new. And so excited to fly into it. But for those who don’t know you, why don’t you give a quick introduction?

[01:11] Piper: Yeah. So I’m Piper Parsley, VP of brand marketing and e-commerce at Draper James.

[01:17] Liam: What does kind of the day-to-day look like today? How long have you been at the brand?

[01:20] Piper: Yeah.

[01:21] Liam: You’re based here in New York.

[01:22] Piper: The brand is based in New York. We’re headquartered here in Midtown East. And then, of course, we have three retail locations, two in Nashville and one in the Woodlands just outside Houston. So most of the headquarter team is here.

[01:40] Liam: Nice. I feel like it’s good to have a retail store that brings the brand that is just always online into the real world, right?

[01:47] Piper: Yes. 100%. That’s actually, we get the most insight from our Monday morning retail call because we hear what the customers are saying about the product. And you don’t get that face-to-face interaction when you’re, you know, working with the site every day. So it’s really interesting to hear favorites or, you know, suggestions.

[02:10] Liam: Nice. And just so everyone’s kind of across, what are you responsible for at Draper James today?

[02:15] Piper: So I’m responsible for all of the brand marketing, how it looks, anything that’s consumer facing. But I also oversee all the operations from an e-commerce standpoint. So there has to be that red thread of storytelling and brand visuals that, you know, really set the tone and the stage for the seasonal collection and are pulled through the website, social, CRM, in-store and out of home.

[02:44] Liam: Nice. And before Draper James, just so everyone’s across, you’ve had a pretty extensive career in this world, right? Working with some pretty incredible brands.

[02:53] Piper: Yes. I’ve been in this industry for almost 20 years. And most recently I was at ECCO, a global Danish footwear brand.

[03:04] Liam: Okay.

[03:04] Piper: And I was at Appaman, which is a kids’ clothing brand, Mark Fisher Footwear. So I’ve been on the brand side for a while. I started my career on the agency side. So it’s nice to kind of have…

[03:20] Liam: Which one do you prefer?

[03:21] Piper: If you asked me in my 20s, I would say agency, but that’s kind of how it is. You know, you first move to New York and you work at an agency and it’s fast-paced and fun and innovative. And, you know, you get to a certain point where you’re like, I kind of want to support one brand and give it my all. They’re really deep. Yeah. And I tell anyone who I mentor or interns who come through, if you have the chance to work at an agency first, do it. Because that is where you learn everything, especially in the digital world. So right now I would say I absolutely love the brand side more because you just become so integrated with the brand and you’re responsible for how it looks and feels and how it makes a consumer feel at the end of the day.

[04:22] Liam: You’ve worked at a lot of founder-led brands and then particularly today, Draper James is a founder-led brand as well. How have you found that dynamic?

[04:32] Piper: Yeah, I didn’t actively seek out to work for founder brands. It just happened. Every brand I’ve worked on has been founder-led and still involved. So I haven’t worked for any brand where the founder was not part of the operation. They are incredibly passionate and you really understand all the blood, sweat, and tears that they’ve put into making this dream a reality. And I think when you understand that and you’re patient with them and you work really with them to just further make their vision come to life and scale that vision, it’s really rewarding. You know, it’s been really great to work with that founder-led sort of environment because it is rewarding to see your work.

[05:28] Liam: Do you see similarities across every founder-led brand? Like the passion and the energy and the drive?

[05:34] Piper: Absolutely. And another thing that you notice in founder-led brands is one week there can be a certain subject or category within the business that is the most important thing. And you stop everything you’re doing and you focus on it. And then that can shift week to week. And so it really is balancing act and spinning plates sort of and wearing multiple hats.

[06:05] Liam: You have to get used to the founder’s like mindset of, all right, we’re going to do this. Now we’re doing this. Now we’re doing that.

[06:10] Piper: Yes. You start to learn what they’re looking for. It’s like when you’re in school and it takes a couple months in that new semester to figure out what your teacher’s teaching style is and what’s going to make them tick. And it’s very similar.

[06:29] Liam: So Draper James was founded by Reese Witherspoon.

[06:32] Piper: Correct.

[06:32] Liam: Who must have, you know, she has an incredible brand, personal brand. Um, how do you think that has impacted the business positively very, you know, well in the early days?

[06:45] Piper: Oh, absolutely. So Reese is the soul of the brand and she’s the filter. So, you know, getting to know her and getting to know the brand, you really understand. It all starts with why she started the brand in the first place, which is the reason why she started the brand is she wanted to create a women’s lifestyle brand where women can come in, find something to wear that makes them feel put together and pretty and confident with little, little thought process. She wants things to be easy and effortless, but the end result and that end feeling is being just, you stand a little taller because you feel a little more confident and she gives that too.

[07:40] Liam: Where did that drive come from?

[07:41] Piper: From her, from her female, um, you know, leaders and role models. Um, the, the brand is named after her grandparents, Dorothea Draper and William James Witherspoon. So Draper James and, you know, her grandmother taught her a lot about Southern hospitality and all of the beautiful things that make Southern culture so charming. And part of that is, you know, um, just feeling put together and just, you know, she, she references that, you know, her grandmother didn’t have many dresses, but she, she really took pride in the ones she had. And she really feels, um, proud when, when she’s wearing them. So she kind of took a spinoff of that feeling and wanting to, um, you know, when you, you look good, you feel good and you do good. You know, that’s something her grandmother used to always say. And it really is part of the DNA and how we design the line and how we, um, shoot campaigns. You know, everything kind of goes through that Reese filter.

[08:56] Liam: You know, a big part of your role today is the way the brand appears and the way that people feel when they see the brand. Are you spending a lot of time with Reese, especially in the early days of the business, really just understanding her perspective to then follow that through?

[09:10] Piper: So I’ve been with the brand for about two years and the brand turned 10 last year.

[09:17] Liam: Okay.

[09:17] Piper: So I was not a part of the early days, but I know she worked very closely with the designer, um, at the time. And, you know, she has done such an amazing job, um, just expressing the reasons for starting the brand, what she wanted the aesthetic to be, that it has carried through. And it is why the brand is still here today because everyone understands her, her point of view and we continue it today.

[09:50] Liam: Do you think that there’s been a push to keep her, the, the, the front, the face in the front of the brand? Or is, do you feel like the brand has started to evolve into being its own confident brand?

[10:02] Piper: So she’ll always be the soul of the brand and she’s still very involved in the brand. And as you can see in seasonal campaign assets, but people might, you know, hear Draper James and think of Reese, but they buy Draper James and they continue to buy Draper James because of the dress and the feeling. And so to answer your question, you know, you can feel her, her presence and her brand and personality throughout, but they really are savvy shoppers who have come to know the product line and know that we are going to have something for them. And they, they, they, they come in because of the product and they know that we will make them feel a certain way when they enter the store and when they’re looking for something, you know, you have an occasion, we’ll absolutely help you find the perfect dress for that occasion. And so that’s really what keeps them coming back.

[11:07] Liam: You mentioned off air before we started that you really love working for a women, woman led brand.

[11:14] Piper: Yeah.

[11:15] Liam: Obviously you have a reason for that. And it’s a, it’s something that comes up so commonly for women CEOs or women leaders in businesses. And they, a lot of people that work for them or work for the brand truly love it. Yeah. What’s your perspective on that?

[11:31] Piper: So, um, you know, I’ve worked with a lot of different founders and a lot of different CEOs and presidents and we are, um, uh, predominantly women employed. It just so happens to be, that’s how it is right now.

[11:47] Liam: Yeah.

[11:47] Piper: That changes over time. We have a woman CEO who’s amazing, Jeannie Yu. And, you know, it, it really does kind of take a page out of Reese’s business playbook and how her whole purpose of starting Hello Sunshine was to give women, um, directors, writers, producers that, that opportunity. You know, um, she also has Reese’s book club where she has women authors. And so it’s, it really is that brand, um, ethos that we carry on through, through Draper James. And it’s been a really positive experience. And it’s, I just see it as, as part of the, the brand ethos and just kind of giving women those opportunities and leadership.

[12:36] Liam: Nice. What do you think is something about working for Draper James that a lot of people wouldn’t expect?

[12:41] Piper: People might assume that our customers are here because it’s Reese Witherspoon’s brand.

[12:47] Liam: Sure.

[12:47] Piper: And a lot of people obviously associate that with, um, with being founded by Reese, but they are also just huge fans of the product. And they have helped us evolve the product over years because they’re very vocal. Um, we were talking off air about how it’s really interesting just to kind of hear about the consumer feedback and they come in and they tell us, oh, we love this. We love this dress. Um, would you ever think about, um, doing it in this color or this color? And so I really think it is, uh, surprising to most people to hear. It’s a draw card, but the product is also just great.

[13:30] Liam: Yeah. And there’s a lot of celebrity led brands that are just hype machines and they go up like this and then they come straight back down. But that’s not the reality.

[13:37] Piper: No, it’s not. You know, and I think that’s obvious given we’re in our 11th year and we have people who talk about, um, a lot of customers or consumers will tell us that, oh, I bought my first Draper James dress when I needed a dress for my bridal shower. Or it’s very, um, occasional and moment making the brand. And so there’s always going to, you already have that emotional tie to it and, and you hold on to that.

[14:11] Liam: And do you think that’s driven through product? Like, would you agree that a lot of celebrity led brands just like, you know, for the first like two or three years, they just like formulate this hype machine. And then all of a sudden it’s like, well, we, everyone’s kind of forgotten, you know, that. Is it the product that’s really made that stand out?

[14:29] Piper: Absolutely.

[14:30] Liam: Yeah. That’s not just a rip off from some other, um, you know, XYZ kind of brand.

[14:36] Piper: Yeah. That’s exactly right. And, you know, we, we’re not trend chasers. We really do fit, um, the needs of our customer and they also, you know, listening to them, they influence category expansion. And that has been really, really fun because I do think that saying lifestyle brand is a bit of a buzz term. Sure. And this is truly a lifestyle brand. It’s evident with all the categories that we play in.

[15:12] Liam: What do you think having a celebrity founder enables Draper James to do compared to a brand that maybe doesn’t?

[15:19] Piper: I think it definitely opens doors for us, but it’s up to us as the brand to walk through those doors and close the deal.

[15:30] Liam: Right.

[15:30] Piper: You know, so it really is.

[15:32] Liam: What does that mean? What’s an example of that?

[15:33] Piper: Sure. So, you know, if we would like to get a meeting with a certain brand for a collaboration or a retailer, the, the name definitely opens those doors. You know, we’re not asking Reese to make phone calls for us or anything. It’s just being associated with Reese and Reese as the founder. People are willing to hear what you have to say.

[15:58] Liam: Right.

[15:59] Piper: And, but it’s up to us to say it. And the product has to speak for itself. Our team is small, but very mighty. And I think that’s how we’re able to close deals and make things happen. And, you know, it just takes that initial meeting for the door to open. And then we’re able to kind of come in there, speak to the vision, the activations, the marketing, the product. And it’s.

[16:30] Liam: It’s up to the team.

[16:31] Piper: Yeah, it is.

[16:32] Liam: The next thing I want to talk about is just storytelling. I think that storytelling is something you’re really passionate about and, you know, strongly believe in as a, as an edge. Why do you feel that way?

[16:43] Piper: I mean, I think today’s world is incredibly consumed. I mean, there’s just so much going on. It’s so hard to stand out. We definitely have a mix of storytelling. You know, there’s times and places for different types of assets and storytelling. You know, you need those big campaign moments and those editorial shoots to really breathe life and emotion into a collection. But then, you know, there’s, there’s a halo effect from that where you want to, you know, lean into the aesthetic of a line. And, you know, we just shot, we shot our spring campaign in February at the Colony Hotel in Palm Beach. And that was, we had a lot of fun leaning into the personality of kind of the, the nostalgia of that Palm Beach society, you know, leaning into the pop culture of the, the popular show, Palm Royale that’s on right now. And, you know, storytelling with, with the product and just where she would wear that and, you know, telling the customers, giving them ideas on occasions that they would wear the product to, how to dress with, you know, accessorizing.

[18:06] Liam: And are you doing most of this storytelling through social or right, right through the brand?

[18:11] Piper: Both. Both. So social, we do a lot of organic content in house. We, we do a lot of storytelling with our, with brand ambassadors. Online, of course, is a big, you know, online is our, our digital window into the brand. And there’s a lot of place to put copy. Email marketing is, is a big one. Just in the, in the voice, the brand voice itself is a great way. And then the most important way to do storytelling is interacting with the customer in person. So we bring those campaigns to life in store through events, through activations. We let the consumer really feel the story that we’re trying to tell.

[18:58] Liam: Yeah. Do you, you mentioned email marketing. Um, I mean, a lot of people put their effort behind social and you guys do. Um, and they forget about some of these underlying in-person activations, email, SMS. Do you think those channels are still very important?

[19:14] Piper: I think it’s important to continue to analyze the emails and looking into what works for you and what doesn’t. And I think there’s, there’s moments where a long, a long-form, editorial, heavy storytelling email makes sense when you’re launching a campaign or a collection. And then an HTML email that lets you know a product’s back in stock works very well too.

[19:42] Liam: Yeah.

[19:42] Piper: It, it really is a media mix.

[19:44] Liam: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. What do you think good storytelling, like if you had to summarize it into, you know, three points for people that are listening, what does good storytelling actually mean?

[19:54] Piper: You know, storytelling to me, you can relate it to the, the funnel. So the hook would be at the top for someone who hasn’t heard your brand before. So you need a story that’s going to hook you and bring you in. That middle ground is kind of that consideration point. So that storytelling is more evolved and it tells you why you should invest your hard earned dollars with this brand versus another. So that could be, you know, why we started the brand, what the features and benefits are. The fact that we are a Southern lifestyle brand makes us stand out. And then there’s that lower funnel storytelling that tell that storytelling is why you should come back.

[20:45] Liam: Mm-hmm.

[20:46] Piper: I really feel today with the increases in, you know, customer acquisition costs, retention needs to kind of be that new CAC, if you will.

[20:58] Liam: Yeah.

[20:58] Piper: And if you just look at all of your customers and you kind of put them in those, those different groupings, if you could turn a one-time purchaser into two, a two-time purchaser into three and so on, that is going to scale the business and build longevity. But you can’t do that unless you have stories to tell.

[21:21] Liam: And back to what you were talking about with those celebrity brands that spike and fall. Do you think the repeat purchaser is really important?

[21:32] Piper: Extremely important. And in order to get that person to come back, you need to give them a reason to come back. You know, whether that is new product that they are interested in, new category, same product in a different maybe color way. But that’s…

[21:54] Liam: Also just the story, right? Like they need to love the product and love the brand.

[21:59] Piper: Yes.

[21:59] Liam: And feel something, like you said, wearing it.

[22:01] Piper: Connection to the brand. And they need to understand that when they buy the brand, it makes them feel a certain way because we hear it all the time, why they bought the brand, why they come back. So using those tidbits in the storytelling has been really helpful for us and for our brand ethos.

[22:21] Liam: And getting that storytelling right has, you’ve seen that follow through into things like repeat purchase rates, but also performance marketing as well.

[22:30] Piper: Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. You see it with, you know, we have brand super fans that, you know, as soon as we drop the holly dress in a new color for summer, we have a whole list of people ready to snatch her up, you know, and that’s just one example.

[22:49] Liam: You continue to do a lot of collaborations at Draper James. Why is that something that you continue to put so much emphasis behind?

[22:58] Piper: For sure. So we are a true lifestyle brand and doing collaborations is a way to test the waters into new categories. But you have to make sure that the collaboration makes sense for both brands.

[23:11] Liam: Sure.

[23:12] Piper: Because a forced collaboration is a waste of everyone’s time. And it also is just not going to.

[23:19] Liam: What are the biggest boxes that you try to tick to make sure it’s right?

[23:22] Piper: Customer crossover. Customer crossover. So you can see that with data.

[23:28] Liam: Yeah.

[23:29] Piper: I would say looking at if, you know, making sure it’s a category we don’t already have is an obvious box, but that has to be checked.

[23:40] Liam: Sure.

[23:41] Piper: And then who’s in the room? Who’s in the room? Is everyone aligned on this collaboration? Is everyone equally invested? Because the last thing you want is for 50% to be invested and the others not. Otherwise it just doesn’t work.

[23:59] Liam: Correct.

[23:59] Piper: And you have to be aligned on everything going into it. Even before you make that first pitch deck, everyone on both sides has to be aligned on what that KPI is. Is this collaboration mainly to generate revenue? Is it to test a new category and see if it’s something that we should do in scale? Or is it a brand awareness buzz play? So you just have to get.

[24:26] Liam: Do you think alignment is the number one thing for making a collaboration work?

[24:31] Piper: A hundred percent.

[24:32] Liam: Yeah. It’s interesting because I think a lot of people just go in, cool brand. All right, let’s whip something up together. And then it ends up not working, right?

[24:40] Piper: Yes.

[24:40] Liam: Yeah. And I guess you would have had lessons around that previously. Or how did you kind of learn that to have that take?

[24:47] Piper: By taking time and not rushing. There are certain things that, you know, I’ve seen or been part of where I’m just like, this just doesn’t feel right. But you have to do it anyway. Right. And then, you know, unfortunately you have those days where you’re kind of thinking like, told you so. But so you learn just over time. And luckily I work with a team and we’re all aligned on this. So it’s strength in numbers. And we’ve come out with some really amazing collaborations this year and have had to replenish multiple times because everyone is loving it.

[25:25] Liam: Love it. Really fun too. It’s really exciting when that happens, right?

[25:28] Piper: It’s so exciting. You know, this Laura Geller collaboration that we launched in time for Mother’s Day came about because myself and the head of marketing at Laura Geller met at a Shakira concert. So random. So random. And it was at an, you know, an industry event, Shakira concert. But we met there and we started talking. We’re like, are you thinking what I’m thinking? Like, this would be really good. And we just launched Soludos for Draper James yesterday. And that’s been really amazing.

[26:03] Liam: So what are the collaborations you normally do? Is it with a person and the brand or another brand and another brand? Like which kind of, what do you prefer most?

[26:10] Piper: Um, it’s been brand.

[26:12] Liam: Right.

[26:13] Piper: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I mean, Laura Geller, of course, is the face of Laura Geller. And she was very excited about this collaboration, but I worked with her team.

[26:20] Liam: Okay.

[26:20] Piper: So I would say brand to brand has been.

[26:23] Liam: There’s even a huge brand in Australia. I’m not sure if you’ve come across one called Hismile. And they’re like a toothpaste brand randomly. I mean, there’s a million toothpaste brands.

[26:32] Piper: No, I know exactly.

[26:34] Liam: I think my kids use it. And they ended up just like doing all of these collaborations with, you know, whoever, like different flavors of ice creams and lollies. And then they just cracked into the kids market. And so you’ve taken a toothpaste. I mean, there’s a million toothpaste brands. It’s so hard to stand out.

[26:53] Piper: Yeah.

[26:53] Liam: Through collaborations, they’ve just stood out like no tomorrow.

[26:56] Piper: Exactly.

[26:56] Liam: All of a sudden, they’re one of the biggest toothpaste brands in the world.

[26:58] Piper: Exactly. And maybe the objective of that collaboration initially was for Buzz because the toothpaste industry is so crowded. They got the Buzz. Now-

[27:10] Liam: They have a great product. We’re talking about it.

[27:12] Piper: Yeah. Everyone’s talking about it because of these different collabs. But, you know, they were probably aligned on that objective going into their first collaboration.

[27:21] Liam: Yeah. The trick is you’ve got to have a good product. Otherwise, it’ll just up, down, up, down.

[27:27] Piper: Yeah.

[27:27] Liam: The future of AI is a big topic for marketers, e-com right now. I imagine you’re spending either a lot of your time already. And I expect you’d probably spend even more of your time as time goes on just in the world of AI.

[27:42] Piper: Yeah.

[27:42] Liam: What are kind of the things that are really top of mind for you at the moment? Where are you spending some of your time?

[27:47] Piper: Yes. This is-

[27:49] Liam: What’s your take on it, maybe to start? Is it like a hypothetical still or is it like it is here?

[27:54] Piper: Oh my gosh. It was here three years ago. Right. But I am never one to, at least I try not to shy away from new technology because it’s always going to win. So it’s kind of, if you can’t beat them, join them sort of mentality. But what I find super helpful with AI in the workplace is how do we use AI to make things more efficient? You know, that can be, what can be automated that is, you know, has been QA’d already? And we know it’s okay. We can automate these tasks and it will free up our time that humans need to be strategic thinkers and creative planners and really think about how do we make the brand better for our customer? How do we improve on product? So if you’re able to free up two hours a day by using AI to automate some of these tasks that were super manual, then you can make the argument that you have more time to be a strategic leader and take that brand to the next level. Work on these collaborations that need human-to-human interaction. You can’t just have Claude build a collaboration between two brands. You need to sit in a room and see if you vibe.

[29:28] Liam: Well, that’s the other thing, right? Like I think a lot of marketers are going down the route of thinking that Claude is just going to do their job. I just think that’s so wrong. I mean, Claude might help you analyze the performance of the collaboration or analyze the conversion rate of your website and where you could improve or maybe put together the legal contract for the collaboration, but it’s not going to roll it out.

[29:51] Piper: That’s right.

[29:52] Liam: It’s not going to have any of the, I mean, if you rely on it for creative thinking, you’re just going to end up like every other brand. I think I read something where Anthropic is actually looking for creative leads, human role creative leads to help with creative strategy. Like it’s not, AI is not going to replace humans in the workforce. I think humans who don’t know how to use AI to their advantage are going to get replaced.

[30:23] Piper: Yes. One hundred percent. I mean, that’s the way it’s already going.

[30:27] Liam: Yeah. You need to be the best at what you do. You can’t kind of hide behind spreadsheets anymore. Claude can do that. You need to actually be the best at what you do.

[30:35] Piper: Yeah.

[30:37] Liam: Let’s end on this note. I think it’s incredible that the journey you’ve been on, I’m excited to see what else kind of happens over the next couple of years. What’s your take on what’s most overhyped with AI at the moment?

[30:53] Piper: You know, I think anyone who claims like to be fully autonomous is a red flag. And a lot of people will kind of lead with that as a selling point. And in that respect, I feel like that’s overhyped. And so I would be a little cautious of those types of labels. And I think what’s not hyped enough to answer your question in a different way is how important it is to learn the proper skills with AI to help you do your job better. And so I think just in general, AI is hyped in a negative way, especially in our industry. But I think what should be more focused on is understanding which AI tools are going to make you more valuable in your role.

[32:05] Liam: And I think there’s so many questions to be answered, right? I mean, the world of, we used to talk in like, what’s happening in, we’re just talking about this on the last episode, like, what’s happening in five years time? What’s that? What do you, what’s your plan in the next two years? Now things are changing every two months. I’m like, what’s happening in six months?

[32:23] Piper: I know, right? Like, it’s crazy. I don’t know. You know, you can plan for what you can plan for.

[32:27] Liam: It was like, everyone was stoked with copy creation 12 months ago. Now it’s image and image. Everyone was hating images six months ago. Now it’s pretty good. And now everyone’s like, oh, we don’t really like video. That’s probably going to be great in three months time. You can build a whole website in a couple of days now easily with no agency. I think that’s actually the biggest thing that’s on my mind is I always use the example of like, when Canva was, when Canva first came out, every digital agency in the world hated Canva. Canva was stealing their job. Canva wasn’t enabling them to be a good designer. Now the best agencies in the world just use Canva.

[33:06] Piper: Exactly.

[33:06] Liam: And that’s going to be the same with AI. I think there’s still a lot of agencies where they’re putting up resistance to AI. They think it’s going to kill their agency. They’re still charging brands hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Yeah. The reality is that if you’re working with an agency that is not AI first and using AI tools, one, you’re spending so much money. And two, they’re just pushing you behind. And I actually think that’s a big thing that’s holding so many brands back now.

[33:31] Piper: 100%.

[33:32] Liam: Yeah.

[33:32] Piper: No, and we’re certainly not afraid of new technology. We just are very thoughtful in how we use it. And you have to be.

[33:39] Liam: Yeah. Yeah. Love it. Well, thanks for coming on today’s episode, Piper. And incredible to hear your story. We’ll catch up in 12 months time. And we’ll, I mean, maybe everything we’ve said is correct. And maybe everything we said is wrong. And time will tell, right?

[33:51] Piper: Yes.

[33:52] Liam: But thanks for sharing your story with us.

[33:54] Piper: Thank you so much for having me, Liam.

[33:58] Liam: Thank you.

They cover:

• How to scale a founder’s vision without making the brand dependent on one personality
• Why product and customer experience determine whether a celebrity-founded brand lasts
• How storytelling should change across awareness, consideration and retention
• Why repeat purchases matter more as acquisition costs rise
• How to evaluate collaborations through customer overlap, category fit and a shared goal
• Where AI helps marketing teams and where human judgment still matters

0:00 Teaser

0:47 Meet Piper Parsley

2:09 Leading marketing and eCommerce at Draper James

4:21 Lessons from founder-led brands

6:28 Reese Witherspoon and the story behind Draper James

9:03 Turning a founder’s vision into a lasting brand

12:36 Why customers stay for the product

15:19 Celebrity opens the door, the team closes the deal

16:32 How Draper James approaches brand storytelling

19:45 Why retention is the new CAC

22:48 How to make brand collaborations work

27:27 AI and the future of marketing

30:36 What marketers get wrong about AI

33:40 Final thoughts