Building Brands Rooted in Mission with Fjällräven’s VP of Brand Experience, Jean-Marie Shields

Marketing Trends

There is one simple tip to keep in mind when it comes to brand building: know who you are and what your mission is. That’s advice from powerhouse brand builder and VP of Brand Experience for Fjällräven, Jean-Marie Shields. As she explains it, when you have those core tenants down pat, the rest of your marketing can flow naturally.

“We're a 60-year-old company and our whole mission is very simple — it's to inspire people to walk with nature. In marketing or branding, we use that message for everything we do.”

Throughout her career, Jean-Marie has worked with some of the world’s most well-known brands, from Nike to Lululemon, with a stop at Starbucks in between, and she’s helped grow some of the world’s most loyal customer bases through the power of storytelling and mission building. On this episode of Marketing Trends, Jean-Marie tells us those stories, and she delivers key insights on why branding and messaging is a two-way conversation between brands and consumers. Plus, she explains how Fjällräven’s ability to be flexible in its messaging paid off big time in 2020 and she gives a look at what’s ahead in 2021.

Main Takeaways:

• Two-Way Conversation: The role of branding and marketing is to be an enabler of two-way conversations between the consumer and the brand. While it’s never been more important to understand who your customers are and to meet them where they are, brands must also remain consistent in their values and purpose as to what brought consumers to them in the first place.
• Messaging Matters: When you are brought on to manage any type of product crisis, you need to keep in mind a few things; No. 1, the messaging you deliver to your consumers must remain honest and open so that they can understand the shift in philosophy; No. 2, the messaging that you are delivering to your team members must remain consistent, and you need to allow for participation and include them in the conversation as to why things are happening and how they can help.
• The Power of A Good Story: Your partnerships should not only align with your brand’s mission and values but also allow you to build deeper relationships with your user base. For example, when Fjällräven partnered with REI, that partnership served a dual purpose of telling a product/brand story, and also bringing customers closer to a retailer that was already a consumer favorite.

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