Modern Fashion: Dan Cassidy of Brandhopper Digital On The 5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion Brand Today
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
At the end of the day it comes down to creating a plan specific to the brand while accounting for budget, testing performance along the way, and making intelligent changes based on what the data is showing.
Many in the fashion industry have been making huge pivots in their business models. Many have turned away from the fast fashion trend. Many have been focusing on fashion that also makes a social impact. Many have turned to sustainable and ethical sourcing. Many have turned to hi tech manufacturing. Many have turned to subscription models. What are the other trends that we will see in the fashion industry? What does it take to lead a successful fashion brand today?
In our series called, “5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion Brand Today” we are talking to successful leaders of fashion brands who can talk about the Future of Fashion and the 5 things it takes to lead a successful fashion brand in our “new normal.”
As a part of this series I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Dan Cassidy.
Dan Cassidy is a digital marketer specializing in growing e-commerce brands on Shopify. Dan has led media buying and optimization teams that drive results for businesses ranging from Fortune 500 companies to start-up e-commerce sellers. Dan is the CEO and Founder of Brandhopper Digital, an e-commerce growth agency helping brands launch and grow on Shopify.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood “backstory”?
Can you tell us the story about what led you to this particular career path?
I’ve always been interested in creative branding, storytelling and consumer psychology, along with analytics, so digital marketing has been a natural fit. I began working in digital marketing and advertising in NYC in 2004 and since then have been able to work with some incredible companies, from Fortune 500 businesses to small e-commerce brands.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I hung out with William Hung — American Idol star — at an online advertising conference in the late 2000’s. That was pretty fun.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
- Consistency. Showing up every day and moving my business, along with my client’s businesses, forward.
- Beginner mindset. Digital marketing is a fast paced industry with change happening constantly, so it’s critical to learn, adapt and apply new technologies and strategies.
- Empathy + care. It’s a bit cliche but I really care about my team, my clients and their business. I show up every day with the goal of helping everyone around me be better than we were the day before.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
We work with our clients to grow their revenue and profit any way we can, and that can involve doing shipping analysis to help reduce cost for our clients, connecting e-commerce brand owners with 3PL’s to improve their operations, or providing management and leadership advice. If we can help a client solve a problem, no matter what that is, we aim to help.
Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story of how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Don’t worry, just train.”
I train martial arts and this quote references that when you run into an obstacle, no matter what it is, you should put your effort back into your training. The same idea can be applied to work — just focusing on the process and daily improvement can lead to an incredible career, just like martial arts training can lead to so many benefits in life.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Do you see any fascinating developments emerging over the next few years in the fashion industry that you are excited about? Can you tell us about that?
There’s two emerging areas of fashion that I’m excited about. First, leveraging VR/AR to allow consumers to get a better sense of style and fit before purchasing online is a big opportunity for fashion brands and retailers, because the more info we can share with consumers before purchase, the more likely we are to reduce returns.
Second, digital fashion and NFT’s within a VR environment can allow brands to extend their designs beyond their current physical footprint, while allowing designers to expand their creativity beyond current limitations.
Can you share how your brand is helping to bring goodness to the world?
The results we get for our e-commerce brands has a real impact on the livelihood of our clients, so our team feels great when we break past any revenue targets or goals our clients had before working with us. We also love design and improving the digital world by enhancing the aesthetic look and feel of an e-commerce store.
At the end of the day, our team knows that the work we do boosts the economy and brings joy to consumers when we match them with a great product.
Thank you for all that. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion Brand”. Please share a story or example for each.
When we advise fashion retailers, it’s specifically from the viewpoint of increasing their online revenue.
Growing e-commerce sales efficiently often requires a combination of strategies and approaches that can be determined by starting with the goals of the business and understanding where the target customer is. Selling t-shirts to teenagers? TikTok can be a great place to drive awareness and sales. Selling luxury home decor products to women in their 30’s and 40’s? Organic Pinterest content and influencer marketing could be the way to go.
Most online retailers will want a well designed e-commerce store that speaks to what the brand is about, and does a great job of converting visitors to buyers. Marketing automation should also be part of the foundation, whether that’s email marketing, SMS, or some combination of both.
At the end of the day it comes down to creating a plan specific to the brand while accounting for budget, testing performance along the way, and making intelligent changes based on what the data is showing.
Every industry constantly evolves and seeks improvement. How do you think the fashion industry can improve itself? Can you give an example?
More sustainable materials, sourced and supplied locally can cut down on some of the waste the industry creates. 3D printing is also an exciting area that’s evolving rapidly and could lead to better-fit fashion for consumers along with expanded reach for designers.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
We should create subsidies and programs for people who want to adopt shelter dogs…I’ve seen time and time again how dogs have the power to change a person’s life.
That, and free beer and donuts for everyone on Sundays, because, why not???
How can our readers further follow your work online?
E-commerce businesses can apply to work with our team at Brand-hopper.com, or can connect directly with me here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassidydan/
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Modern Fashion: Dan Cassidy of Brandhopper Digital On The 5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.