January 10, 2013
Mickey Drexler Talks Creativity, Retailing Success
When Mickey Drexler speaks, people listen. The man who successfully led the Gap and then turned J. Crew around has picked up a few things since he started his career as a buyer for Bloomie’s many years ago.
At this week’s WWD CEO Summit, Mr. Drexler told attendees, "Creativity drives growth in any business."
Interestingly, a new study by Futurestep found that only 21 percent of retail companies see creativity as among the most valuable competencies.
Jonathan Brown, EMEA RPO operations director at Futurestep, said in a statement, "The creativity crisis that we are seeing in retail is being heightened by the economic climate. … The economic situation, however, makes creativity increasingly vital as competition for consumer spend is greater and the expectation of those consumers is higher. Apple is a prime example, reinventing the store in an approach admired by competitors. Retailers that are attracting top creative talent by maintaining a focus on innovation are reaping the benefits by differentiating themselves and creating a competitive advantage, not only in store but across multiple channels including mobile."
So where do retailers find new, creative talent?
Mr. Drexler said he looks in unusual places, and that most people offering resume advice for kids coming out of college should be fired. (Editor’s conclusion: Perhaps some of the people at retail companies make talent evaluations on factors that have little to do with success in the real world.)
"Titles don’t matter. GPAs don’t matter, nor does what school you go to. What matters is hard work, and emotional intelligence. … I hire a lot of waiters, waitresses. Someone who’s successful has a background that’s not predictable."
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Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
What lessons can other retailers learn from Mickey Drexler’s outlook and career? What is your assessment of the creativity gap at retail?
Poll
I don’t always agree with Micky Drexler, but I do on this. The point is that the “fast-follow” strategy (let someone else invent and if it works, you copy) that worked alright for centuries doesn’t work anymore. Organizations need enormously creative people (and these are rarely the CEOs) to be taking the brand well ahead into the future, without waiting for customers, competitors or the market to show them what it looks like.
If anyone is interested, I cover the topic of radical innovation in retail in my new book, “The Retail Revival.”
It’s very hard to stimulate creativity among retail managers. Consolidation has led to fewer, bigger and more risk-averse companies with an eye on the next month’s sales report or the next quarter’s earnings. Middle managers (such as buyers) end up being caught up in the atmosphere of “avoid mistakes at all costs.”
While Mr. Drexler may not always be able to identify creative risk-takers from their resumes, he has done a great job at every stage of his career creating the kind of risk-taking environment where retail can grow.
Mickey Drexler is, in the minds of many, including me, the last of the true merchants in the retail world. He never forgets that to succeed in retailing, you must surprise and delight the customer, must understand what in the current environment will surprise and delight them, and anticipate what will surprise and delight them in the future. Secondly, he never, ever, holds his customers in contempt and tries to cut corners on value in order to increase profitability. Steve Jobs took the same approach and it is one of the reasons these two were such good friends. Unfortunately there seems to be fewer and fewer of these individuals today. Too often, retailers focus on computer screens and focus energy internally.
These two never stop “looking out the windows” at what their customers want, not what they’ve bought.
I don’t believe a young, creative person has a future in retail if they want to follow their dreams. Retail as it is today simply does not allow for it.
Creativity is critical to success. But what IS creativity and which types contribute to growth at retail? This quick summation leaves open room for massive misperception to drive wasted creative investment.
What’s not stated here is the tremendous danger of dumping huge volumes of money into agency-led efforts that end up alienating consumers.
So let’s take this concept, then keep very focused on what needs to happen to make retail work.
Whether Mr. Drexler “successfully led the Gap” is/was a matter of dispute. Despite Gap’s meteoric rise during his tenure, the Fisher family saw fit to oust him when things went a bit south. From there, he went on to create undeniable success for J. Crew. Drexler’s story validates the power of finding the right (mutual) fit.
Clearly, he is referring to store-level personnel or entry-level positions since J. Crew’s executive offices are filled with folks who either grew up in the company or came from other retailers. It will be interesting to see who elevates to the higher echelons.
We recently reviewed Target’s new supermarket dept. campaign, focusing on their TV ads. I endorsed it, but there were several sour comments in the discussion. I just received the print campaign insert in my Best Food Day newspaper, and am equally impressed.
The sour comments the campaign received are prime examples of why creativity is stifled in retail. I’d like to see the creative efforts of those who were less than impressed by Target’s new food marketing effort, and their credentials for evaluating it. “I’m no expert, but I know what I like.” Who is the “target” audience for this campaign, and what do THEY think?
What’s most important is simply trying, as some have commented. Don’t be afraid to stray from the old ways. Comments were also made that even though top retail management may not have personal creativity, at least they can create an environment or culture that encourages it. Right on.
It’s hard to argue with Drexler’s success or his formula: there is no doubt that hard work and emotional intelligence (i.e., treating people right) are a great combination that outshine a lot of paper credentials.
Being in the customer loyalty field, one related thing that has always struck me about Drexler is his obsession with people—particularly his store-line employees and his customers. While it sounds painfully obvious, it takes people to sell things, people to buy things and people to understand the why and how.
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I don’t always agree with Micky Drexler, but I do on this. The point is that the “fast-follow” strategy (let someone else invent and if it works, you copy) that worked alright for centuries doesn’t work anymore. Organizations need enormously creative people (and these are rarely the CEOs) to be taking the brand well ahead into the future, without waiting for customers, competitors or the market to show them what it looks like.
If anyone is interested, I cover the topic of radical innovation in retail in my new book, “The Retail Revival.”
It’s very hard to stimulate creativity among retail managers. Consolidation has led to fewer, bigger and more risk-averse companies with an eye on the next month’s sales report or the next quarter’s earnings. Middle managers (such as buyers) end up being caught up in the atmosphere of “avoid mistakes at all costs.”
While Mr. Drexler may not always be able to identify creative risk-takers from their resumes, he has done a great job at every stage of his career creating the kind of risk-taking environment where retail can grow.
Mickey Drexler is, in the minds of many, including me, the last of the true merchants in the retail world. He never forgets that to succeed in retailing, you must surprise and delight the customer, must understand what in the current environment will surprise and delight them, and anticipate what will surprise and delight them in the future. Secondly, he never, ever, holds his customers in contempt and tries to cut corners on value in order to increase profitability. Steve Jobs took the same approach and it is one of the reasons these two were such good friends. Unfortunately there seems to be fewer and fewer of these individuals today. Too often, retailers focus on computer screens and focus energy internally.
These two never stop “looking out the windows” at what their customers want, not what they’ve bought.
I don’t believe a young, creative person has a future in retail if they want to follow their dreams. Retail as it is today simply does not allow for it.
Creativity is critical to success. But what IS creativity and which types contribute to growth at retail? This quick summation leaves open room for massive misperception to drive wasted creative investment.
What’s not stated here is the tremendous danger of dumping huge volumes of money into agency-led efforts that end up alienating consumers.
So let’s take this concept, then keep very focused on what needs to happen to make retail work.
Whether Mr. Drexler “successfully led the Gap” is/was a matter of dispute. Despite Gap’s meteoric rise during his tenure, the Fisher family saw fit to oust him when things went a bit south. From there, he went on to create undeniable success for J. Crew. Drexler’s story validates the power of finding the right (mutual) fit.
Clearly, he is referring to store-level personnel or entry-level positions since J. Crew’s executive offices are filled with folks who either grew up in the company or came from other retailers. It will be interesting to see who elevates to the higher echelons.
We recently reviewed Target’s new supermarket dept. campaign, focusing on their TV ads. I endorsed it, but there were several sour comments in the discussion. I just received the print campaign insert in my Best Food Day newspaper, and am equally impressed.
The sour comments the campaign received are prime examples of why creativity is stifled in retail. I’d like to see the creative efforts of those who were less than impressed by Target’s new food marketing effort, and their credentials for evaluating it. “I’m no expert, but I know what I like.” Who is the “target” audience for this campaign, and what do THEY think?
What’s most important is simply trying, as some have commented. Don’t be afraid to stray from the old ways. Comments were also made that even though top retail management may not have personal creativity, at least they can create an environment or culture that encourages it. Right on.
It’s hard to argue with Drexler’s success or his formula: there is no doubt that hard work and emotional intelligence (i.e., treating people right) are a great combination that outshine a lot of paper credentials.
Being in the customer loyalty field, one related thing that has always struck me about Drexler is his obsession with people—particularly his store-line employees and his customers. While it sounds painfully obvious, it takes people to sell things, people to buy things and people to understand the why and how.