In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, host Brett Stapper interviews Amy Carr, Chief Marketing and Digital Officer at ThirdLove. With a unique background spanning from auditing at Arthur Andersen to leadership roles at Gap and Sephora, Amy brings an analytical mindset to the creative world of marketing. At ThirdLove, she’s transforming their approach by balancing data-driven performance marketing with emotional brand storytelling while simplifying their technology stack. Amy shares insights on how ThirdLove differentiates itself in the intimate apparel market with innovative sizing (including half-cup sizes), solving real fit problems, and creating marketing that moves beyond transactional promotions to emotional connections.

Topics Discussed:

• Transitioning from finance (CPA) to marketing leadership in retail
• Differences in ecommerce strategies between beauty and apparel
• Building a comprehensive marketing team with the right agency partners
• Leveraging personalization technology to enhance customer experience
• The challenge of considered purchases in DTC marketing
• Moving away from feature-focused marketing toward emotional brand storytelling
• Future of consumer marketing becoming more circular and less linear with AI

Lessons For Consumer Marketers:

Start with Product That Solves Real Problems

ThirdLove’s core differentiation comes from genuinely solving customer pain points – uncomfortable bras, poor fit, and limited sizing options. Their innovation of half-cup sizes addresses a fundamental problem, similar to how shoes come in half sizes. This product-led approach creates natural word-of-mouth and emotional connection that transcends typical marketing.

Balance Analytical and Creative Marketing Approaches

Amy’s background as a CPA gives her unique credibility with finance teams when advocating for brand marketing budgets. She emphasizes that modern marketing requires both analytical rigor and creative storytelling, noting “The Don Draper days are over, and it’s really about a lot of numbers now.” Successful marketers must be bilingual in both creative and data languages.

Simplify Technology Stacks and Team Structure

Upon joining ThirdLove, Amy streamlined their marketing technology, processes, and agency relationships. She emphasizes “simplification is my mantra” and recommends regularly mapping processes to identify unnecessary complexity. Her team structure is intentionally lean (4-6 people per function) but complemented by carefully selected agency partners who function as extensions of the internal team.

Shift from Feature-Focused to Emotion-Driven Marketing

Amy highlights how many DTC brands have fallen into competing on features and discounts rather than emotional benefits. She references the historical example of Pampers winning market share not by emphasizing diaper absorption capacity but by showing babies sleeping peacefully – connecting with the emotional benefit parents actually care about. ThirdLove is now “taking the high road” to focus on how their products make women feel.

Create Considered Purchase Journeys for Premium Products

For high-consideration purchases like premium bras ($50-80), Amy notes that conversion typically requires multiple touchpoints: “I can’t throw an ad up in front of someone and on the first time she’s like ‘I’ll try that.'” ThirdLove’s marketing acknowledges this reality by creating content and experiences that support longer decision journeys rather than expecting immediate conversion.

Allocate Budget for Brand Building Without Direct ROI Attribution

Amy advocates for setting aside a percentage of marketing budget specifically for brand building that won’t be directly measured for ROI. This requires building trust with finance teams and executive leadership. Her finance background helps her make this case: “I had to say I want a percent of the budget to go to brand and we’re just not going to measure it and we’re going to have to all get comfortable with that.”

Prepare for AI-Driven Changes in Consumer Shopping Journeys

Looking to the future of consumer marketing, Amy predicts AI will transform how consumers shop: “We’re not too far from a world where you’re like, ‘Hey Siri, go get me a 32B 24/7 T-shirt bra from ThirdLove.'” This shift will require brands to think differently about how their digital experiences are structured and how they interact with AI shopping assistants.