If you’re a teenage girl, then you definitely know this global retail brand that specializes in ear piercing, affordable jewelry, and fashion. Today on Clicks 2 Bricks, we learn about the dynamic retail brand, Claire’s, as we welcome its Global Head of Marketing, Chris Duncan. Our conversation begins with exploring Claire’s complex retail network and unique marketing challenges. Then, we discover how the brand performs in malls and online, how and why it prioritizes attracting Gen Z and Gen Alpha customers, and how these youths have influenced the way the brand appears on digital media channels. We also learn about the work that Chris and his team are doing in virtual reality spaces, why Claire’s is happy to keep its more traditional brand associations, how it interacts with its local store representatives, and how it approaches marketing locally, nationally, and internationally. To end, Chris details the role of AI at his company, how his previous jobs prepared him for this one, and his advice to young marketers who wish to follow a similar career path as his. 

Key Points From This Episode:

• Global Head of Marketing, Chris Duncan walks us through the history of Claire’s.
• Claire’s current (and complex) retail footprint, and its unique marketing dynamics.
• How the brand performs in malls nationwide, and how it uses social media. 
• Chris explains how he and his team connect with younger generations. 
• How the youth have influenced the way the brand uses digital media channels.
• Tracking customer loyalty. 
• The plans he has for Roblox, the Metaverse, and other similar spaces. 
• Why Claire’s is happy to maintain its reputation as “the ear-piercing place”.
• The relationship between Claire’s and its local store representatives. 
• Diving deeper into the brand’s local, national, and global approaches to marketing and receiving feedback. 
• Claire’s marketing and AI, and Chris’ unpopular yet strongly held opinion on marketing. 
• How Chris’ previous roles have prepared him for this one. 
• His advice to young marketers who aspire to be leaders, and job vacancies at Claire’s. 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Chris Duncan on LinkedIn

Claire’s  

Claire’s on LinkedIn 

Shimmerville

Roblox

Metaverse 

OfficeMax 

Kohl’s 

SOCi

Wild Coffee Marketing

Clicks 2 Bricks 

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