Ok! Welcome back to my podcast: The Marketing Playbook with Mark Friedman! Presented by Details Interactive. Here, you’ll take away 3 game-winning marketing plays every episode to take back to your team. I’m your host, Mark Friedman, and my career has been focused on direct-to-consumer marketing; direct mail, physical retail, and digital commerce.
This is Episode #16 and today’s guest is Pano Anthos. He’s the Founder and Managing Director of XRC Labs. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and your other favorite podcast spots – subscribe and leave a 5-star review if you have your playbook!
What is The Marketing Playbook with Mark Friedman?
Mark Friedman (that’s me) knows direct-to-consumer marketing. The 30+ year industry veteran has served as the President of eCommerce at Steve Madden, Chief Marketing Officer of Brooks Brothers, mentor to dozens of startups, and even youth sports coach. You’ll take away 3 fundamental tips every episode to help your team knock it out of the park, and draw up strategies for digital marketing, eCommerce, customer monetization, and pivoting with the brightest all-stars in business. Do you have your playbook?
Podcast Episode #16: Pano Anthos – Founder and Managing Director of XRC Labs
Pano Anthos, the Founder and Managing Director of XRC Labs, adds his page to the Marketing Playbook. Hear how to use available tools and resources to your advantage, how to sacrifice short-term profitability for long-term innovation, how to provide the best shopping experience possible, what the future of retail will look like, and Pano’s business lessons from the tennis world. This episode covers everything from what XRC does to Pano’s in-depth knowledge of the retail landscape. Here’s a small sample of what you will hear in this episode:
- How do entrepreneurs fight loneliness
- Why are retailers slow to react
- The Customer Contract
- How has retail reacted to COVID-19
- What will the future of retail look like
- What kind of companies does XRC Labs invest in
- How XRC Labs embraces diversity
- If Pano had one superpower what would it be
Connect with Pano at Pano@XRClabs.com.
Let’s open the playbook. Ready? Break! Check out the episode, show notes, and pictures below for much more detail.
Show Notes
- Intro
- [0:19] The Marketing Playbook with Mark Friedman
- [0:21] Details Interactive
- [0:27] Connect with Mark at Mark@DetailsInteractive.com, on Twitter at @DetailsInteract, and on LinkedIn
- [0:34] Connect with Pano at Pano@XRClabs.com
- [0:41] Thank you as always to Max Branstetter of the Wild Business Growth Podcast at Hippo Direct for producing this podcast. You can reach him at max@hippodirect.com to bring your podcast to life
- Pano’s Page of The Marketing Playbook with Mark Friedman
- [1:05] XRC Labs
- [1:40] How Pano and his family are handling COVID-19
- [2:01] His first story
- [2:32] Associate’s Degree
- [3:31] SoftBank, Masayoshi Son
- [3:44] SAP, Oracle
- [4:02] Unity
- [4:20] US Open
- [5:08] How do entrepreneurs fight loneliness
- [6:18] VR (Virtual Reality)
- [6:42] Slack
- [7:25] What is XRC Labs
- [7:41] Venture Fund, Accelerator
- [8:04] Techstars
- [8:14] Planogram
- [8:35] Children’s TV Workshop (Sesame Workshop), JCPenney
- [9:03] Wellesley, MA
- [9:14] COBOL, Python
- [9:43] Markdowns, Assortment
- [9:55] iPhones
- [10:19] Kurt Salmon, Analytics, Digital Marketing
- [10:32] Bed Bath & Beyond, Amazon app
- [10:54] Amazon Prime
- [11:42] Scan and go
- [12:04] CEO (Chief Executive Officer), Target, The Wall Street Journal, Showrooming
- [12:32] Brian Cornell
- [13:21] HBS (Harvard Business School)
- [13:45] Pac-Man
- [14:04] Supply Chain, Logistics
- [14:20] Facebook
- [14:59] Parsons School of Design
- [15:31] C-Suite
- [15:58] TJX
- [17:20] Why are retailers slow to react
- [17:38] Hal Lawton, Tractor Supply Co
- [17:51] eCommerce
- [18:45] The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen
- [19:22] Store-to-consumer
- [19:38] The Customer Contract
- [20:25] Curbside Pickup
- [20:34] How has retail reacted to COVID-19
- [20:51] Best Buy
- [23:02] Omni-channel
- [23:27] Walmart
- [23:52] What will the future of retail look like
- [24:05] The Barbell Effect
- [24:26] Macy’s
- [25:31] Consumer Reports
- [25:51] On-Demand Manufacturing
- [26:32] Chanel, Hermès
- [26:46] Nike, Foot Locker
- [27:20] Direct-to-Consumer (DTC)
- [27:36] Vineyard Vines
- [27:52] At Details Interactive, you can discuss your business with a seasoned direct-to-consumer marketing executive who’s helped launch and grow web businesses and integrate multi-channel marketing initiatives. Learn more at DetailsInteractive.com
- [28:40] SaaS (Software-as-a-Service)
- [28:43] What kind of companies does XRC Labs invest in
- [29:49] AI (Artificial Intelligence)
- [30:04] Fulfillment
- [31:06] Blockchain, FinServ
- [31:35] RBC (Royal Bank of Canada), UBS (Union Bank of Switzerland)
- [31:58] What help does XRC Labs provide companies
- [32:13] Startup, Design Thinking
- [32:34] B2C (Business-to-Consumer), B2B (Business-to-Business)
- [33:38] Success stories from XRC Labs
- [33:46] Billie, P&G (Procter & Gamble)
- [34:05] OrthoFX
- [34:36] Series A
- [35:20] How XRC Labs embraces diversity
- 2-Minute Drill
- [37:05] Lululemon
- [37:12] HotelTonight
- [37:31] Red Wing
- [37:41] Something Pano wishes he were better at
- [38:02] COO (Chief Operating Officer)
- [38:22] Fellowship of Christian Athletes
- [38:46] If Pano had one superpower what would it be
- [39:06] 1997 Land Cruiser
- This Week’s 3 Game-Winning Plays
- [39:38] Connect with Pano at Pano@XRClabs.com
- [40:15] This week’s 3 Game-Winning Plays are as follows:
- Use available tools and resources to your advantage
- Sacrifice short-term profitability for long-term innovation
- Provide the best shopping experience possible
- [41:32] If you want to check out more pages of The Marketing Playbook, make sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast spot and leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts
- [41:42] Connect with Mark at Mark@DetailsInteractive.com, on Twitter at @DetailsInteract, and on LinkedIn
- Theme Song: Jazzy Man Funk Rock – Auditone Music Library – provided by Jamendo
How can I work with Details Interactive?
That’s it! Today’s game ball goes to Pano Anthos. Thank you, Playbook Marketers, for listening. If you want to check out more pages of The Marketing Playbook, make sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast spot and leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. You can also follow us on Twitter at @DetailsInteract and learn more at DetailsInteractive.com. Until next time, The devil is in the details.