CASE STUDY — Heritage & Reinvention
Roots
Leading a fifty-year-old icon through its biggest moment and rebuilding how its Marketing department worked along the way.
Fractional SVP Marketing · 2023
THE TURNING POINT
Three months to fifty.
As Roots was approaching its 50th anniversary, it was also transitioning its Marketing leadership. With a full year of special product on the way and high expectations from the business, there was no plan to support it.
I stepped in to lead the department with just a few months to make it happen. The year that followed produced the best work in years, a stronger department and the results to prove it.
THE STRATEGY
A fiftieth, told in three chapters.
We built the 50th program as three connected chapters in a story we called Deep Roots. Each chapter evolved in narrative, identity and activation, connected through the same idea: celebrating Roots' cultural legacy while giving people new reasons to love it.
01
Deep Thanks
A look back with gratitude for the people, products and moments that define its legacy.
02
Deep Style
A more expressive side of Roots, anchored by the FW collection and Barbie collaboration.
03
For The Ones
A celebration of chosen families, meaningful gifting and the people we hold close.
BEHIND THE WORK
The other half of the assignment.
Behind the scenes, I rebuilt the foundations that made the work possible, including new formats, tools and ways of working across department planning, budgeting, integrated marketing and go-to-market.
The timelines were tight, so I led the team and agency partners through iterative changes — steering the work through the inevitable growing pains without letting them derail us.
In the end, my goal wasn’t just to deliver the 50th. It was to leave the brand and the department better than I found them.
- Chief Product Officer, Roots
THE SHIFT
Sell-through on featured styles against a ~1.65% brand average
Of Barbie-collaboration buyers were net-new to Roots
eCommerce revenue on launch day — a single-day high
The anniversary helped Roots step into a more contemporary expression of its brand, reaching new audiences through content, collaborations, partnerships and events. It supported strong results against all commercial priorities and signalled a step change that was praised by the founders, the board and the leadership team.
SERVICES
Fractional Marketing Leadership
Brand & Product Marketing
Calendar Planning
Seasonal Investment Strategy
Marketing Operations
Integrated Channel Planning & Go-to-Market
Team & Agency Management
CREDITS
Brand — Roots
Creative Partners — Roots Internal, CLOSER
Photography — Roots Internal, CLOSER
Production — Roots Internal, CLOSER, Cruel