Building Brand Advocacy Paul Archer and Verity Hurd

Pair ‘fun’ with ‘leading fashion’ and a handful of brands come to mind. Add ‘community-built’ to the mix, and there’s only one – Never Fully Dressed.

Join Verity for today’s exclusive episode, as she sits down with Lucy Aylen (Founder @ NFD). This is your chance to learn from an industry titan, levelling up your career savvy and brand strategy in the process.

From the brand’s first days in her parents attic to sell-out drops, packed events, and a ride-or-die community that spans the globe, Lucy walks us through the moments that transformed Never Fully Dressed’s trajectory. The CEO, entrepreneur & training Doula stops at Spitalfields Market, a first NYC pop-up (you and Kendall Jenner’s memorable t-shirt know the one), and more from the last 15 years along the way.

Tune in to hear Lucy’s Founder story, and her practical advice on…


The Power of Long-Term Relationships: Establishing long-term, meaningful connections with customers, employees, and partners is an essential part of NFD’s sustainable brand growth. By taking the ‘spikes’ caused by short-term success out of the business, these enduring relationships are built on trust, foster loyalty, and ensure consistent support. Each is key to navigating market fluctuations, to drive continuous development and innovation.




Making Customers Your Influencers: When it comes to community-building, NFD lead the industry for good reason. Creating the fun and empowering culture the brand is known for has fostered belonging and loyalty with superfans. Bonus: it naturally turns loving customers into genuine Brand Advocates, too. Building these deep bonds passes on the power of influence, as each Advocate leverages their authentic voice to promote the brand and enhance its credibility.




Amplifying Brand Voice: Encouraging this user-generated content, as well as implementing loyalty programs and rewarded referrals, has created a strong sense of belonging among NFD’s customers. As the brand expands to new markets, Lucy is looking to further amplifying the brand's voice through community projects and charitable support. Everything is done in favor of the heroes behind the brand (aka their customers), and never product-first. 



Expect brand lessons, expert-but-humble entrepreneurial know-how, and the first-hand Advocacy tactics you can only learn from Lucy.

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Connect with Lucy:


Lucy’s Instagram


NFD on Instagram


NFD on TikTok


NFD’s Website

People are the fuel that keeps brands going. Without them, you simply don’t have a brand.

That’s why it’s more important than ever to build companies that connect with customers on a personal level. Lucy Toone knows this intimately. 

Join Verity in this episode of Building Brand Advocacy to hear from a Brand Builder who perfectly practices what Brand Advocacy marketing preaches. Lucy (Founder & CEO @ Tomm Jewellery) shares the importance of creating a community, the power of founder-led marketing, and the value of working with micro-influencers over the megas. 

By making difficult calls to optimize for sustainable, long-term growth – opting out of $190k+ months and downsizing in the process – Lucy is a Founder with heart in all the right places. 

Tune in to hear…


The Value of Vulnerability: Embracing vulnerability as a brand fosters genuine connections with your audience, creating a sense of authenticity and trust. By sharing real stories, challenges, and behind-the-scenes moments, Tomm Jewellery humanizes themselves and engages more deeply with their customers – ultimately building stronger loyalty and community.




How To Harness Livestreaming’s Potential: Leveraging the power of Livestreaming on TikTok has significantly boosted Tomm’s engagement and reach, Lucy has found – allowing for real-time interaction and immediate feedback from her viewers. An agile team is crucial to capitalize on this potential, as they can quickly respond to trends, interact with viewers, and adapt content on the fly to maintain relevance and maximize impact.




Finding Balance: To prioritize your company, you have to prioritize your personal well-being. Having learnt this lesson through live experience, Lucy knows you can avoid burnout, maintain a positive mindset, and enhance your creativity by stepping away to step back stronger. 



You won’t forget what you learn here. 

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Connect with Lucy:


Lucy’s LinkedIn


Tomm Jewellery on Instagram


Tomm Jewellery on TikTok


Tomm Jewellery’s Website 

Giving up brand control to creators can be frightening. Now though, it’s one of the last near-assured ways to grow.

Time to face the fear, place your trust in authentic Advocates, and achieve maximum growth through the creators that love you; like Victoria’s Secret, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Brooklinen already do. 

Join Paul & Verity LIVE from the last of the Social Commerce Summit: New York sessions, where they’re joined in conversation by Taylor Cameron (Director of Public Relations @ Victoria’s Secret), Stacie (@ Abercrombie & Fitch), and Janna Neinken (Head of Brand @ Grüns, ex-Director of Influencer Marketing & Partnerships @ Brooklinen).

Here, they reveal the strategies their brands utilize to harness aligned influence for growth. Each one is built around developing engaging and creative content that actually converts. 

From staying ahead in the rapidly evolving social media landscape and quickly adopting new content formats (Alpha and Beta tests with the platforms included), to leveraging new algorithm updates, the guests’ advice is as insightful as it is tactical.

Listen on to learn about…


Creating Viral Content through Customer Feedback: Brands like Abercrombie & Fitch and Victoria’s Secret are making successful comebacks for a reason. By directly engaging their actual customers, and the creators in their networks, they’ve been able to rebrand and own it – creating entirely new product lines from customer preferences and signing contracts with creators who previously avoided them.




Balancing Brand Guidelines with Creator Freedom: This is key to maintaining authenticity in creator marketing (but you already knew that). Learn how these iconic brands give up control of their aesthetic, image, and storylines to reap the rewards in community love and awareness. Case studies from all three names highlight the how-tos of successful creator partnerships.




Differentiating Content Streams & Creator Tiers: Knowing the destination of your content is crucial. Like Victoria’s Secret has, your brand will benefit from practicing differentiating levels of content curation depending on intended audiences. By tailoring creator activities to appeal to niche markets and specific customer segments, these brands tap into the power of micro and nano-influencers to drive engagement and conversion.



Tune in. Take note. Grow. 

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Connect with Taylor, Janna & Abercrombie:


Taylor’s LinkedIn


Janna’s LinkedIn


Abercrombie’s Website

Abercrombie & Fitch are blazing trails in Brand Advocacy.

Having seen their shares grow 222% this year, compared to the fashion industry’s average of 12%, the brand is onto something. They’ve been busy leveraging the dynamism of Social Commerce and the authentic voices of their community to win. 

Join Paul & Verity LIVE from the Social Commerce Summit: New York, as they delve into Abercrombie’s remarkable transformation story with the team.

Uncover the tactics Abercrombie applied to deliver a strategic brand pivot – one that empowers their customers and creators, giving them the freedom to tell the brand’s story through their own eyes.

Tune in to discover…


Listening to Customers & Taking Action: Feedback from Abercrombie’s brand community informs every move these marketers make. In fact, this feedback informs every single team in the business. By listening to their customers closely – and actually taking action on the thoughts, feelings, and ideas they share – Abercrombie has launched hyper-successful new lines, collections, and activations.




Choosing Authentic Advocates: Authenticity is key when selecting Advocates, as the brand looks for influencers who entirely align with their brand purpose. Working with creators across various niches – from weddings, to workouts, to everyday staples – Abercrombie taps into their insights to drive brand awareness in new ways. 




Tapping into Unexpected Audiences: Abercrombie is now built around the idea of outfitting their customers for the perfect long weekend. Every product is an answer to a customer's direct needs. That’s how the brand has found success tapping into unexpected audiences to expand their reach. You can, too.





Listen. Learn something. Apply it. Evolve.

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Connect with Abercrombie & Fitch:

On Instagram

On TikTok

Via their website

As Social Commerce evolves, so do the roles and skill sets needed to drive it. 

This transformation is fast reshaping the landscape of fashion & beauty marketing.



Collaboration between social and eCommerce teams, and sharing technologies to utilize, is crucial for crafting a seamless and connected customer journey; one rich with remarkable experiences. 



The emergence of more specialized roles within Social Commerce, and teams entirely dedicated to it, are a significant symbol of this shift. Social Media Managers and their wider teams are increasingly held accountable to sales goals. Research shows this trend will only intensify, making it essential for marketers to adapt swiftly.



In this episode, Paul is joined by Doug Foulkes (Social & Creator SME, Team Lead @ Bazaarvoice) LIVE from the stage of the Social Commerce Summit: New York. Together, they piece together a playbook for navigating this fast-approaching future.

Listen up to learn about…


Demonstrating the Business Value of Content: Social Media teams need access to accurate, impactful data and the keen analytical skills to translate these insights into proof of tangible value. Social content can, and should, live far beyond the realms of social to influence customer purchasing decisions. The further into the right analytics you lean, the faster you prove worth. The faster you prove worth, the faster your budgets can expand.




Opportunities for AI in Brand Safety: The potential impact of AI on content creation and brand safety is a hot topic. While there’s concern, there’s opportunity for helpful innovation here, too. AI is helping streamline creative processes in marketing, but it could also be used in influencer & Advocate approval. Take a peek into the not-far-off future.




Utilizing User-Generated Content Effectively: Doug’s research has found fresh user-generated content (UGC) can make all the difference. 74% of consumers say it’s a prerequisite for them to see social proof on product pages, to help them make up their mind before buying. Of this on-page social content, recent UGC works 4x better for sustaining high conversion rates. Find out why. Learn how to optimize. 



This episode is presented by Bazaarvoice – a MarTech solution making magic for thousands of brands & retailers, growing sales through authentic social content on their websites. 

Find out more about these good folk here: https://www.bazaarvoice.com/ 

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Connect with Doug:


Doug’s LinkedIn


Bazaarvoice’s LinkedIn 

Social Commerce has evolved. Once simple shopping destinations have transformed into entirely new channels for brands to reach their consumers; to purchase, to take part in meaningful experiences, and to be entertained. 

The entire practice of marketing has to grow with this landscape.

Tune into this conversation, LIVE from the Social Commerce Summit: New York, to hear Paul tackle the tried-and-tested approaches to mastering this marketing synergy with some of beauty’s best. 

He’s joined by Anna Vale (Modern Marketing & Communications Expert), Jessica Riffle (Senior Manager of Social Commerce @ Coty; including Kylie Cosmetics, SKKN by Kim & Philosophy), Amanda Griffiths (Director of Digital Marketing & eCommerce @ Davines), and Djalal Lougouev (CSO & President @ Ometria). 

Listen up to learn about…


The Evolution of Social Commerce: A strategy for the integration of digital marketing and Social Commerce with traditional retail experiences is essential in 2024. No brand can create a seamless customer journey, connecting in-house and out-of-house commerce, without one. Perfecting your ‘B2C2B’ approach is the next horizon. Hear the experts advice for doing so.




Data & AI to Personalize the Customer Experience: Every customer experience that can be, should be personalized. That’s why the use of first-party data and AI is crucial for elevating the customer experience, and communicating with your brand fans in the most effective way possible. Almost everyone is now aware of AI’s advantage, and the consumers of tomorrow are coming to expect a personalized experience as standard. Don’t get left behind. 




Generational Shifts in Marketing Strategies: Gen Z is here. Gen Alpha is coming into the Advocacy picture, faster than you think. The impact of these generational shifts on spending and marketing strategy require brand builders to be savvy. Focus on ethical marketing practices and targeting the right segments within these mass audiences to win.



This episode is presented by Ometria, a customer experience data platform that helps deliver scroll-stopping marketing across multiple channels.

Find out more about these good folk here: https://ometria.com/ 

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Connect with Anna, Jess, Amanda & Djalal:


Anna’s LinkedIn 


Jess’ LinkedIn


Amanda’s LinkedIn


Djalal’s LinkedIn