Content & Commerce
Virtual
Virtual
Summary
Content Commerce London
This year marked the seventh year of our annual Content & Commerce conference, and although COVID-19 had put us into lockdown, we couldn’t let it stop our fun, so we decided to hold the event virtually!
The topic continues to be relevant as ever, understanding quality of content – the cadence of it in every channel – and how it will deliver the outcomes you’re aiming for.
Personalisation has brought new interactions with consumers, ensuring their needs – but most importantly their feelings – are met when creating a marketing plan to create a strong bond of loyalty.
Social is the current shop window: consumers consume content from these channels so regularly to find ideas and inspiration, they not only expect product imagery but engaging opinion to react against – encouraging the ‘instagrammable’ world we live in.
Every company is generating content that’s now more focused on the increasing understanding of their customers – rather than just filling a “gap” in their library, which shows great progress, but there’s still a long way to go!
The drive continues to be creating “content ROI”, to utilise all channels and increase brand loyalty whilst sustaining profitable demand.
At this year’s full-day conference our speakers included a diverse mix of FMCG/fashion brands and retailers, who shared their content journeys, the trends they have witnessed and their opinions on the industry.
- Journey of User-generated content (UGC) – the ‘Instagrammable approach’
- Personalisation at the heart of brand loyalty
- Memorable content vs traditional content
- Bridging the gaps within content – no competition
- Delivering an ROI within content
- The Content vs Commerce debate
- Personalising each channel and its role within the buying cycle
- Taking a traditional brand on the digital journey
Frankie Thorogood
Founder and CEO
TCARead Full Bio →
Frankie Thorogood is the Founder and CEO of sportswear brand TCA. Started aged 22 with £100 of his savings, in a few years he built TCA into a multi-million-pound company with over one million customers and a loyal fan base of both amateur and professional athletes, including cruiserweight boxer Isaac Chamberlain and UFC Fighter Nathaniel Wood.Frankie is also the Co-Founder and CEO of Kaizen, an Amazon agency specialising in managing large and complex accounts for brands and retailers to maximise their potential on the world’s largest marketplace. In less than a year operating Kaizen managed £18m in client accounts.
Elis Bebb
Change Manager
HealthspanRead Full Bio →
Elis is the Change Manager at Healthspan, currently implementing a new website for the company as they enhance their digital offering, capitalising on AI. Elis was formerly a politician in Guernsey and was responsible for a number of changes in the island’s legislation. He has a career of managing large and complex technical projects for various finance houses and retail companies.
Andrew Dick
Customer Success Manager
CoveoRead Full Bio →
As Manager of Customer Success UK at Coveo, Andrew works with a wide range of Coveo customers to ensure alignment to their business objectives, and that they get the most value out of their Coveo products. As part of this role, he focuses on deploying AI Machine Learning models and working with customers to improve the effectiveness of these to deliver relevant content to end users.
UK-based and originally from New Zealand, Andrew has over 12 years’ client-facing experience in technology companies.
Samantha Freedman
Co-Founder
Curate BeautyRead Full Bio →
Samantha co-founded Curate Beauty (previously Just Add Beauty) two years ago, the UK’s first wholesale marketplace platform to enable retailers to browse and buy indie beauty brands all in one place. Sam believes beauty needs to be more accessible and is working together with fashion, beauty and lifestyle boutiques as well as fitness studios, co-working and living spaces to provide complimentary beauty to their audience. Previously, Sam worked as a beauty journalist across titles such as Grazia, Tatler and LOOK magazine.
George Sullivan
CEO & Founder
The Sole SupplierRead Full Bio →
George started The Sole Supplier in 2014 in his parents spare bedroom and has since grown the company to a 7 figure business which helps millions of people per month find their next pair of trainers. He uses his personal channels to share things he has learned in business, inspire others and help other entrepreneurs grow their businesses.
Sophie Hamblyn
Marketing Manager
Rockett St GeorgeRead Full Bio →
Sophie has been with Rockett St George for the last 7 years, stepping into the role of Marketing Manager in 2016. Rockett St George is an online emporium of quirky homeware, lighting and furniture and is known for their fun and vibrant brand personality.
Susan Azari
Mobile App Commercial Lead
The Very GroupRead Full Bio →
Susan oversees the app growth strategy for The Very Group, the UK’s largest integrated pureplay digital retailer and financial services provider, with annual sales of £2 billion and over 4m customers. Susan was recently nominated for App Marketer of the Year at the App Growth Awards and is an experienced marketing professional with over seven years of industry experience working within fashion, beauty and tech verticals.
Laurent Antoine Faboumy
Creative Director
Kwaleo FashionRead Full Bio →
A social and fashion brand aiming to empower people to embrace their authenticity. Kwaleö quickly made a name for itself among the modern youth culture by building a strong community and feeding its members with unique experiences that they can relate to. Laurent blends creativity and strategic thinking which proved to be valuable assets for the brands he worked with so far: Facebook, Adobe, Umbro, Axel Arigato, Ace Hotel London and more. Now established in the UK, Laurent lived in Switzerland, Benin and Canada before.
Mark Demeny
Director of Content Management Strategy
ContentfulRead Full Bio →
Mark over the last 16 years, has been involved in Content Management and Commerce consulting projects at numerous clients worldwide, including Microsoft, Nationwide Building Society and the UK Ministry of Defence. At Contentful, Mark consults with brands in order to learn and craft best practices around Content Management that can be used to accelerate larger organizational B2B and B2C commerce and digital transformation efforts.Based in Ottawa, Canada, Mark has lived and worked in London and Vancouver and holds an MBA from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Brie Read
CEO
Snag TightsRead Full Bio →
At Snag we believe is size inclusivity and acceptance. Since launching just two years ago we’ve gained over a million customers and reached a £24m run rate. We do everything differently and don’t believe you can be extraordinary by doing things the normal way.Brie is a tights obsessed data nerd with 15 years of e-commerce experience. Although she’s worked in companies big and small - startups have her heart.
AGENDA
09:00 - 09:15
Welcome - Commerce Futures
09:15 - 09:45
Frankie Thorogood, Founder and CEO - TCA
‘From £100 to 1m customers: The principles that helped build TCA into a major sportswear player’
09:45 - 10:15
Fireside Chat - Coveo & Healthspan
‘AI for commerce disrupt or evolve.’
10:15 - 10:30
Refreshment Break
10:30- 11:15
‘On a journey - Content that drives demand’
Panel Q&A Session moderated by Jamie Hancox, MD -Commerce Futures
- Samantha Freedman, Co-Founder - Curate Beauty
- Sophie Hamblyn, Marketing Manager - Rockett St George
- George Sullivan, CEO & Founder - The Sole Supplier
11:15 -11:45
Susan Azari, Mobile App Commercial Lead - The Very Group
‘Launching your app marketing strategy & harnessing the power of mobile shoppers’
11:45 - 12:45
Lunch Break
12:45 - 13:15
Laurent Antoine Faboumy, Creative Director - Kwaleö Fashion
‘How to build a community around your brand?’
13:15 - 13:45
Mark Demeny, Director of Content Management Strategy - Contentful
'Accelerating the Customer Experience imperative in the COVID-19 era'
13:45 - 14:15
Brie Read, CEO - Snag Tights
‘The power of a co-owned brand’
14:15
Final comments from Commerce Futures
14:30
Event Closes
Frankie Thorogood
Founder and CEO
TCARead Full Bio →
Frankie Thorogood is the Founder and CEO of sportswear brand TCA. Started aged 22 with £100 of his savings, in a few years he built TCA into a multi-million-pound company with over one million customers and a loyal fan base of both amateur and professional athletes, including cruiserweight boxer Isaac Chamberlain and UFC Fighter Nathaniel Wood.Frankie is also the Co-Founder and CEO of Kaizen, an Amazon agency specialising in managing large and complex accounts for brands and retailers to maximise their potential on the world’s largest marketplace. In less than a year operating Kaizen managed £18m in client accounts.
Elis Bebb
Change Manager
HealthspanRead Full Bio →
Elis is the Change Manager at Healthspan, currently implementing a new website for the company as they enhance their digital offering, capitalising on AI. Elis was formerly a politician in Guernsey and was responsible for a number of changes in the island’s legislation. He has a career of managing large and complex technical projects for various finance houses and retail companies.
Andrew Dick
Customer Success Manager
CoveoRead Full Bio →
As Manager of Customer Success UK at Coveo, Andrew works with a wide range of Coveo customers to ensure alignment to their business objectives, and that they get the most value out of their Coveo products. As part of this role, he focuses on deploying AI Machine Learning models and working with customers to improve the effectiveness of these to deliver relevant content to end users.
UK-based and originally from New Zealand, Andrew has over 12 years’ client-facing experience in technology companies.
Samantha Freedman
Co-Founder
Curate BeautyRead Full Bio →
Samantha co-founded Curate Beauty (previously Just Add Beauty) two years ago, the UK’s first wholesale marketplace platform to enable retailers to browse and buy indie beauty brands all in one place. Sam believes beauty needs to be more accessible and is working together with fashion, beauty and lifestyle boutiques as well as fitness studios, co-working and living spaces to provide complimentary beauty to their audience. Previously, Sam worked as a beauty journalist across titles such as Grazia, Tatler and LOOK magazine.
George Sullivan
CEO & Founder
The Sole SupplierRead Full Bio →
George started The Sole Supplier in 2014 in his parents spare bedroom and has since grown the company to a 7 figure business which helps millions of people per month find their next pair of trainers. He uses his personal channels to share things he has learned in business, inspire others and help other entrepreneurs grow their businesses.
Sophie Hamblyn
Marketing Manager
Rockett St GeorgeRead Full Bio →
Sophie has been with Rockett St George for the last 7 years, stepping into the role of Marketing Manager in 2016. Rockett St George is an online emporium of quirky homeware, lighting and furniture and is known for their fun and vibrant brand personality.
Susan Azari
Mobile App Commercial Lead
The Very GroupRead Full Bio →
Susan oversees the app growth strategy for The Very Group, the UK’s largest integrated pureplay digital retailer and financial services provider, with annual sales of £2 billion and over 4m customers. Susan was recently nominated for App Marketer of the Year at the App Growth Awards and is an experienced marketing professional with over seven years of industry experience working within fashion, beauty and tech verticals.
Laurent Antoine Faboumy
Creative Director
Kwaleo FashionRead Full Bio →
A social and fashion brand aiming to empower people to embrace their authenticity. Kwaleö quickly made a name for itself among the modern youth culture by building a strong community and feeding its members with unique experiences that they can relate to. Laurent blends creativity and strategic thinking which proved to be valuable assets for the brands he worked with so far: Facebook, Adobe, Umbro, Axel Arigato, Ace Hotel London and more. Now established in the UK, Laurent lived in Switzerland, Benin and Canada before.
Mark Demeny
Director of Content Management Strategy
ContentfulRead Full Bio →
Mark over the last 16 years, has been involved in Content Management and Commerce consulting projects at numerous clients worldwide, including Microsoft, Nationwide Building Society and the UK Ministry of Defence. At Contentful, Mark consults with brands in order to learn and craft best practices around Content Management that can be used to accelerate larger organizational B2B and B2C commerce and digital transformation efforts.Based in Ottawa, Canada, Mark has lived and worked in London and Vancouver and holds an MBA from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Brie Read
CEO
Snag TightsRead Full Bio →
At Snag we believe is size inclusivity and acceptance. Since launching just two years ago we’ve gained over a million customers and reached a £24m run rate. We do everything differently and don’t believe you can be extraordinary by doing things the normal way.Brie is a tights obsessed data nerd with 15 years of e-commerce experience. Although she’s worked in companies big and small - startups have her heart.
Partners
Want to know more?
Check out our frequently asked questions