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By Sonal Gandhi
The Lead
Image via: Retail Dive
Etsy goes after Prime Day with ‘Shop Other Jeffs’ campaign
Etsy launched “Shop Other Jeffs” to rival Amazon Prime Day, spotlighting its 5,000+ sellers named Jeff. The campaign includes limited-edition merchandise and features artisans like woodworker Jeff Zabriskie and potter Jeff Brown. (Retail Dive)
Liquid I.V. sponsored Prime Video’s “Off Campus,” featuring a four-episode plot integration and shoppable ads. Reaching 36M viewers in two weeks, the campaign is surpassing awareness and conversion goals. (Marketing Brew).
Fast-fashion retailer Cider is entering physical retail with a Los Angeles store and three more California sites planned for this year. Valued at $1 billion, the brand uses trend-driven “moods” to differentiate itself in a crowded market. (Business of Fashion)
Target and Hollister are launching a multi-season collaboration, marking a major milestone in Abercrombie & Fitch Co.’s domestic growth strategy. The partnership will debut with a curated range of dorm essentials, home goods, and apparel. This initiative follows Abercrombie & Fitch Co.’s recent wholesale expansions with Dick’s Sporting Goods and various department stores. (Retail Dive)
Oatly has launched a new “barista strategy” using experts in top cafes to introduce the product. As beverages become customized fashion accessories with “drops,” the brand has adopted fashion-style lookbooks. By predicting trends in flavor and texture, Oatly moved from billboards into real-life events and experiences. (WSJ)
Market Defense data reveals that heritage beauty brands owned the entire top 10 list on Walmart.com over the past 30 days. Facial skincare is the retailer’s leading category, featuring top products from Neutrogena and Cetaphil. Recent arrival La Roche-Posay joined the top 10 with its Toleriane moisturizer. (WWD)
Heaven Schydlowsky (D60 NEXT ‘25) named Senior Director of Ecommerce at natureofthings (formerly at MERIT Beauty).
Cyntia Leo (Direct 60 ’24) named CMO at Knix (formerly Urban Outfitters, Nike, & The Walt Disney Company).
Pressed, a 90-location wellness brand, used Digioh to replicate the personalized in-store experience online through a Flavor Quiz that delivers tailored product recommendations — quiz buyers show 46% higher average order value and 35% share their email. The bigger unlock, though, was Digioh’s identity resolution layer, which persists visitor identification across sessions to power abandoned cart recovery and CRM flows through Klaviyo.
Knitwell Group COO Patrick Walsh shared at The Lead Summit 2026 how Talbots used an AI-powered Concierge tool to reach 92% of its customer contact list, up from roughly 40%, while keeping outreach in each associate’s own voice. The strategy treats AI as an amplifier of Talbots’ relationship-driven selling culture, not a replacement for it.
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The Lead’s weekly signal for brand and retail leaders. Subscribe Below! The Indicator | June 12th, 2026 By Sonal Gandhi & Kim FoxThe Lead THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS World Cup marketing is trending this week as Nike and Adidas tap into nostalgia and beauty brands go after female football
The Lead’s weekly signal for brand and retail leaders. Subscribe Below! The Indicator | June 5th, 2026 By Sonal Gandhi & Kim Fox The Lead THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS Creators are taking over traditional newsrooms and driving category growth in mass beauty. Steph Curry leaves Under Armour for Li-Ning.
Inside The Lead Summit 2026: The ideas redefining the future of brand and retail By Sonal Gandhi Chief Content Officer at The Lead The Lead Summit 2026 highlighted a pivotal shift in retail, where successful brands are moving beyond AI hype to focus on practical, human-centric strategies. Simultaneously,