Welcome to the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, Season 1, Episode One, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with CommerceNext and presented by Wunderkind.
How do you stay ahead in a highly-saturated eCommerce space? How do you prepare yourself for leadership?
Speaking to the company’s unique and differentiated product, Joe Megibow, CEO of Purple, talks about their success when he says “this is not a convenience play of a digitally-native company.” He underlines, however, that the other essential part of D2C success is conveying the uniqueness of your product to the marketplace - and almost more importantly - setting and aligning the right culture.
In our debut episode of Conversations with CommerceNext, Joe offers key pointers to retail marketers about educating the market on different and disruptive products, the importance of word-of-mouth awareness, and what he’s learned in his transition to Purple, as well as leadership lessons learned from the Purple turnaround.
Let’s listen in now with my co-host, Veronika Sonsev
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Thanks for tuning into this episode of Conversations with CommerceNext. Please follow us on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music or your favorite podcast platform where we’ll be sharing career advice and marketing strategies from eCommerce and digital marketing leaders at retailers and direct-to-consumer brands each and every episode. CommerceNext is a community, event series and conference for marketers at retail and direct-to-consumer brands. Through our online forums, interviews, webinars, summits and other in-person events, we harness the collective wisdom of our community to help marketers grow their businesses and advance their careers. Join CommerceNext events to meet other industry leaders and learn the latest ecommerce and marketing strategies. You can find upcoming events at CommerceNext dot com
Have a fantastic week everyone!
Joe Megibow
Joe Megibow has been at the forefront of e-commerce since the early 1990's and brings nearly 30 years of experience in technology and business. Since October 2018, Joe has served as CEO of Purple, a digitally-native vertical brand with a mission to help people feel and live better through innovative comfort solutions. Joe has also served as a board member of Red Lion Hotels Corporation since April 2017. Most recently, Joe was an advisor for Advent International, the global Private Equity firm, focused on digital best practices for their consumer businesses. Prior to that in 2016 he served as President of Joyus, Inc. and between 2012 and 2015 he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer at American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. where he oversaw the transformation and growth of American Eagle’s $550+ million direct-to-consumer business. In this role, he built out a global omni-channel strategy and infrastructure, and led all digital marketing, customer operations, engineering and product management efforts. Prior to that, Joe held several senior roles with Expedia, Inc., including VP and GM of Expedia.com, where he had P&L responsibility for the US business with direct ownership of marketing, merchandising, and operations. During this time, he launched Expedia’s mobile business and was named Chairman of Mobiata, an Expedia, Inc. company. In 2000, Joe was an original employee of TeaLeaf Technology, now an IBM company. He has also held roles at Ernst & Young Management Consulting, and EDS in their Advanced Technology Group.
Joe was honored in 2021 as a Utah Business CEO of the Year, and was recognized in 2011 as Practitioner of the Year by the Digital Analytics Association where he served 4 years on the DAA Board. He earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University.
ABOUT US:
Scott Silverman
An ecommerce veteran, Scott Silverman has been active in the industry since 1999 and is passionate about digital retail and the innovation driving the industry. Scott Silverman is the Co-Founder of CommerceNext. Previously, he spent 10 years as Executive Director of Shop.org where he launched the Shop.org Annual Summit. Scott co-invented “Cyber Monday” in 2005 and was the founder of Cybermonday.com in 2006, a shopping site that has generated more than $2.5 million for Shop.org’s scholarship fund.
Veronika Sonsev
Veronika Sonsev is the Co-Founder of CommerceNext. She also leads the retail practice for Chameleon Collective and is a contributor for Forbes on how to grow retail and ecommerce in the age of Amazon. Having spent the last 10+ years working with some of the largest retailers and direct-to-consumer brands, Veronika has intimate knowledge of the challenges facing retail and ecommerce today. She is also an advocate for women in business and founded the global non-profit mBolden, which is now part of SheRunsit.
Michael LeBlanc is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience, and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael is the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. You can learn more about Michael here or on LinkedIn.
About CommerceNext
CommerceNext is a community, event series and conference for marketers at retail and direct-to-consumer brands. Through our online forums, interviews, webinars, summits and other in-person events, we harness the collective wisdom of our community to help marketers grow their businesses and advance their careers. Join CommerceNext events to meet other industry leaders and learn the latest eCommerce and marketing strategies. You can find upcoming events here.
About Us
Jennifer Marlo
Head of Content, CommerceNext
Jennifer Marlo drives industry-leading programming at CommerceNext, drawing on experience from Ascendant Network and iMedia Connection, where she spearheaded content strategies to inspire retail, brand and agency marketing leaders. Guided by the belief that “a rising tide lifts all boats,” Jennifer uses in-person and digital platforms to educate and foster industry collaboration.
Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.
Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.
Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.
Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.
