Discounts Are Killing Your Brand | Kiera Ganann, Ralph Lauren | PI Apparel

Hi everybody, good morning. Who got caught in the rain this morning? I did, and I dried my hair, which was really disappointing. Thank you for having me. As Steve mentioned, I am the SVP and Global GM for the Ralph Lauren brands for Delta Galileo. For those of you who are not familiar with Delta, Delta is a manufacturing company. Whose superpower is really building private label brands, design and production, and they also do some licensing, and they have 3 global licenses. They have the Ralph Lauren brands, which are specifically the Polo Women's Sleepwear and Polo Women's Intimates, and then we also have the Lauren Women's Intimates brands around the world. In addition, they have a Woolford Global license for intimates and Adidas. So we have a lot of brands in the stable. It's a large organization. And then I also get to work with another large organization in Ralph Lauren. But I'm— so I'm constantly dealing with this retail landscape of discounts and promotions, as all of you are. I have an interesting and unique opportunity to focus in on not necessarily a transactional vibe as most licensing partners do, but also to build a brand with Ralph Lauren. Maintaining the brand integrity and really being their ambassador is something that is a real struggle, and it's a real struggle for all of us as we're trying to figure out how to maintain that integrity in a very discounted world. So I wanna explore some of this, and anything that I say to you guys today should not be new. I think everyone in the audience feels the same. It's really about reminding each other that this is our target, this is our goal. And when we're stuck in a rut, we try to like think back to these ideas. And it was great for me to put this together because it made me really rethink how we're doing things, particularly in the United States, but then also I would say around the world. So some questions that were posed to me when I was talking to the team at PI about this were, How do brands engage consumers without diluting their identity? And the question was price. And I was like, uh. So how can we do things other than pulling the price lever? And how do they ensure that brands can align creative and commercial goals and targets and still achieve profitability? So that's what we're all doing here every day. That's why we get up and come to work. That's why we get passionate about consumer. That's why we think about what the next step is gonna be with brands. So I wanna explore how to build long-term brand positioning that really drives sustainable growth. And as all of my planning partners in my career will say, and drive profit. Satisfy consumer expectations and not just be about what the creative wants or what the commercial wants, but putting it together so that we're really giving the consumer what they want, 'cause that's really ultimately what we're doing here. So my background is in strong brands. I've had some really unique opportunities to work with really incredible global brands that all of you are familiar with. These brands are really focused on capturing the consumer for the long term, not necessarily capturing the sale of tomorrow. And so this is what's instilled in me as I've led commercial teams, both in buying and in wholesale, and I've also led merchandising teams, and this is the target. How do you keep that consumer coming back for more and not just think about what we're doing tomorrow? Now that doesn't mean that I'm not like marred with quarterly recaps and monthly report outs and this, that, and the other, but it does mean that I think about the long term more than I think about tomorrow's business. And as I mentioned, brand building is a balance of commercial and creative, but my experience has been it's also a real dose of authenticity. So what are you really standing for? And there's a lot of brands out there that don't really stand for a lot of stuff, and we know it. I have two young daughters. They think the world rises and sets, the sun rises and sets with Lululemon and Sephora. It's all I do all day long is listen to Lulu and Sephora. And it's super interesting because now when I go to Sephora, I prefer an experience online than I do in stores. I look and see what the brands that are marketing to my children are, which is kind of crazy, and I really think about like how they're building their brand equity. One of my earliest memories of brand strength is James Perse. It's a smaller brand, but they're not so small today. But when I was working with James, he had one store, one retail store in LA, and a medium-sized wholesale business, I would say. And what was interesting about James is that his, from the very beginning, and he grew up in the industry, his father owns a very famous retail store in LA, what his focus was is building this California cool aesthetic that didn't really exist in any major major brand statement in the categories. He got commercially successful with a t-shirt, but that was not his focus. His focus was how do I build this brand, and one of his— he idolized the Ralph Lauren effort. By that point, I'd worked for Ralph Lauren in the mansion in New York, but I hadn't worked in their corporate offices yet. James's focus was building a lifestyle. And so everything we did was about that. He actually hated the wholesale model. And there was constant arguments with him. And the reason why is because he didn't see it as a vehicle to build his brand. He just saw it as a place that we dumped product and we drove a transaction. And it made him angry. And so he put all of his resources into building a retail network and has done an incredible job. Many years later— I won't tell you how many— I walk into a department store, let's say, and I see his aesthetic. Very clearly, and he's really built an environment across wholesale and retail that I understand and I can point out. I spent time with Ralph Lauren, with Polo amongst other brands within their stable. The original lifestyle brand, right? Ralph Lauren has a very consistent identity across all of his brands, and it's funny how I'm talking about two founders that are still involved in the business, And that wasn't intentional. But Ralph Lauren, we used to say, we used to use the word Polo or the word Ralph Lauren in ways other than a noun, right? So it's very Polo, or that's so Ralph, you know, when we're walking down the street and we're seeing someone's rig, or when we look at a home expression in bedding or whatever, it's so Ralph. So he was about aspirational lifestyle and still is. And timeless design, which timeless design is a theme in my experience, and very focused on the future. My experiences at Ralph Lauren were about launching or relaunching brands under the RL umbrella, which included Denim Supply, Polo Sport, RLX. We also had the unique opportunity to launch Polo Women's, which didn't exist. Obviously I'm dating myself, this is a few years ago, but it was really interesting because throughout all of the brands there was that common thread. And when I moved on to Levi's, we used to call it the red thread, 'cause we had a red thread through all of our products. At Levi's, that red thread was a category killer that developed into a brand. And so our focus in building brand at Levi's was lean into the icon, lean into the denim lifestyle. As the inventor of the blue jean and creating timeless American fashion, this is what we had to like build. And Levi's was tough because it was a promotional vehicle for a lot of retailers. But while I was there, we really focused in on how to build the center of culture, how to keep that brand moving forward, how to take the opportunity to build new categories because we enjoyed the market share of a blue jean that we did. So how could we mess up? But one of the things that we worked on a lot that is relevant to whether or not we drive strength through price was we had to build a segmentation strategy at Levi's. So I bet you everyone in this room has, or current, has, at some point owned a pair of Levi's jeans, or has bought somebody a pair, or has found a pair of vintage that you still wish that you could fit into 'cause you bought it 25 years ago. But you may have found it at a vintage store, you could have bought it at Kohl's, or you could have bought it at Bergdorf's. And so there was a big challenge for us to really drive price value and to get away from the discounting of Levi's, because we built it on a promotional model. The best way that we could do that during the time I was there is watching and, I shouldn't say watching, we intentionally drove through the center of culture. We had an incredible marketing team, an incredible design team that really drove that focus. And so when Beyoncé walks onto the Coachella stage in cut-off 501s, it changes everything. So now all of a sudden Shopbop and Revolve wanna like blow it up. Galleries Lafayette wants to put cutoffs on the front table in there. These were not about pricing decisions. This was about really driving brand strength in the right retailers and building it through a segmentation strategy. So that's my baseline as I think about what the future looks like. So without the strength of a brand, all you have is pricing. To really get the consumer excited. Think about what the long-term value of your brand is and if it's driving margin and consumer engagement. Not— yes, and we all deal with the Band-Aid problem of, oh, I bought too much, or I thought it was going to resonate and it didn't. And we all have those opportunities that we need to work through. But without the strength of the brand, that's all you have. And so let's think about how to drive margin and profit for the future. Let's build a brand that has strength. And while you're— when you're in licensing like I am now, I know there's a few people here from Delta Galileo, but I have to lean into the brand strength side of it even though I'm in a transactional nature with licensing. So this gets really complicated, but I still think about what it all means. So what's brand identity? This is the first pillar of brand strength, which you should all know. Brand identity is what they remember. Right? So at Levi's, this is about rugged individuality and self-expression. This is what I'm gonna take away. This is what I'm gonna remember about this brand. And if I'm delighted and surprised by new ideas that don't really feel like rugged individuality, I'm gonna lean into self-expression. But this is the thing that they remember. The brand purpose or the mission. So this is what you would do or what you wanna promise. To your consumer. So Ralph Lauren promises a dream of the aspirational lifestyle, a better life through authentic and timeless style. And so every brand that he's ever put out in the market, you see that at every level. We always used to say, and I still do, you want to be the most elevated brand, the most aspirational wherever you trade. And if you can get that, no matter what the price is, then the consumer believes you. They start giving you their loyalty. They start aspiring to be a part of that brand. Your brand message. So this is the voice of the brand, and it's not just in marketing, although it does definitely start with that. It's the connection point of how your message is across product, experience, customer service. It's about everything. And Apple's brand message is to leave the world better than we found it. Empower others to do the same. I'm an Apple person, so I know not everybody is. I know there's a big debate. But when I get a new Apple device, it feels like my world improves. When I open up that new phone, I'm like, it's a sigh of relief. When I pull a new keyboard out and it works magically, it's amazing. So I think they've done a really good job of making sure that we understand that their world is in a better— that our world is in a better place with them in it. Brand differentiation. This is obviously your unique selling proposition. I think about James Perse when I think about this, because really since James, the best t-shirt option out there has now been The Row, right? And they didn't start with the t-shirt, but James started with the t-shirt. And his differentiation was about that minimal aesthetic and warm West Coast living. This is all he wanted to achieve, and you feel that when you go into his stores. And brand experience. I feel this with passion, right? And this is not just a branded store, it's also a multi-branded store. When you walk in and you don't have that great experience, this is how consumers connect with you, whether it's digital or in person. If you don't make it simple for them to transact, if you don't make it simple for them to return, they leave, they go somewhere else. Because at the end of the day, none of us in this room especially need another t-shirt or another pair of jeans or another bra. We're just buying into the brand at this point, and we're lucky for that. Tesla has a brand experience, and I'm— I don't drive a Tesla, just to be clear. I feel like, I feel like I have to put that out there. But it's interesting because they've developed such a brand statement for, for an automotive company. And it's about that frictionless buying experience. So you can effectively pull out your phone right now, buy a Tesla, it's in your driveway by the end of the day, loaded. Very cool. And they do it through their digital expression, but also their gallery showrooms. If you've ever walked into one, it feels like a museum, but it's accessible. It doesn't feel like you can't touch and feel anything. And so there's something Apple-y about the way that they've approached their brand. So without brand strength, pricing is key. But with it, you're driving long-term loyalty from your consumer. And we're gonna talk about what they really need and believe. I see retailers and brands making pricing decisions all the time that don't necessarily attach itself to their brand strategy. And they're doing it because they've made too many mistakes, or they're doing it because they're not really focused on the long-term growth. They haven't invested in it. It takes time. The apparel market is currently not a darling of the investor world, but so much of it is because it takes us so long to punch through. And I think that there are certain companies that do it well, and then there are certain that are really focused just on the transaction. Consumers are price sensitive. I know that, obviously. But I don't think that they're discount-driven. I'm waiting for everyone to moan. I actually think most consumers are value-driven. They're waiting to be educated. They're hungry to understand. They want to be a part of something. And we give them markdowns and red signs and slashes. And bad experiences. So when I think about if we focus on a few things, if we focus on regionalized assortments as an example, if we focus on broadening our price ranges within our positioning, if we focus on improving the experiences, we'll capture a different side of the consumer that's better for your long-term growth. Prove that your brand has value. Focus on all of these pieces and it will win, but you have to have the patience, and I know that a lot of us work for companies that don't have patience. So this is the balance. So you need to figure out how you do a little bit of this and a little bit of that, but ultimately thinking about the long term. So localization. I've worked for brands that have heavily invested in this and brands that have not at all, and I know that this is a difficult one from a planning perspective. You're dealing with MOQs, you're dealing with visual positioning of the product. You're dealing with what you can market and what you can't. Are we gonna market something that's only sitting in Europe? No, we need to market a global statement. So how do we do localization that speaks directly to the consumer with maintaining that brand integrity? This is also just— this is not just about the assortment itself, but it's also about size integrity. So each region has different sizing focuses. We were— I was just I was with the team the other day looking at some size analysis, and it is very different, just even in the United States, and now I'm talking about very technical intimates sizing, which gets very specific. Different in the United States than it is across Europe, than it is in Latin America, so lots of opportunity for localization and how can we work with each other to make sure that we're attacking that. There are brands that do this really well. Zara, Nike, these obviously I'm talking about multi-billion dollar brands who are investing in this infrastructure Uniqlo, they all use data science to determine this. And I debate this with people a lot. You cannot drive brand strength through data science. You also have to have the creative side in the mix. So there is something about both sides of it. If you invest in this granular level, you will understand your consumer better. You will eliminate the need for as many markdowns. So I was recently— and you have to be in stores, and if you don't go to stores, you're doing it wrong anyway. But I travel a lot. I was in Mexico recently. I was reviewing a couple of big global brands that looked exactly the same in Mexico City that they did in New York City that they did in Paris. What? Exactly the same. It was 95 degrees in Mexico City. I'm looking at Fair Isle sweaters on the front table. So this to me is, it's a failure of our attachment to consumer, understanding brand integrity, building for the future. This is just get it in, transact, sell in. And if we did it better, we would have less markdowns. Obviously improving store experience, this is like a no-brainer, but this doesn't necessarily need to be about investment. It's about empowering store associates. It's about making sure that you have what I would call brand ambassadors, right? People who live and breathe the brand. Even within vertical retailers, it's amazing to me how many people don't understand their brand when you walk into the store. So who's the one person in the store that can be that champion for you? These localized assortments that are going into the stores create a good brand experience. Sizing integrity, that's a brand experience. How many times do I walk into a store and want to buy something and I don't because they don't have my size? Ugh, hate going there. I mentioned Sephora earlier. I pivoted to digital on Sephora because going into their stores is not a very fun brand experience for me. I have a lot of thoughts about that, but, and I know it's not just the 10-year-olds running around, there's something else going on that I feel like they could improve that experience. 80% of our business is still transacted in brick and mortar, so how is that not as much of a focus for us as the digital experiences? So I was recently in Munich, Germany. I go to, I don't know, hundreds of stores a year, and it's boring, right? You walk into the— you don't even know which department store you're in around the world or which specialty store. They definitely run together. But I had like a moment of real clarity on how much I love this business. I walked into a store called Lodenfry. Has anybody heard of Lodenfry? Yes. Gorgeous. This changed the way that I was looking at retail in that moment because it was doing all the things that I thought were important. It was beautiful. They clearly had invested in the aesthetic of the store. They represented global brands, but then they also represented local. They had an entire floor dedicated to traditional Bavarian costumes, which sounds ridiculous when I say that out loud, but it was gorgeous. The dedication to craftsmanship, customer service, there was just enough people in the store where you weren't lost, but they weren't pushy. Even their cash wrap was gorgeous. And everything about it was like, this is why we do what we do. Not so that we can build tons of vertical stores, not so we can sell into multi-billion dollar department stores, but so we can help businesses and entrepreneurs create the best curated option for their consumer. And it was just very inspiring. So if you're in Munich, Lodenfrei is the place to go. Obviously digital experience is another important thing to drive that consumer focus. Simple navigation, consistency of the message, aspirational imagery. Loyalty, loyalty programs, which kind of annoy me. I also at one point worked for a company called iFit, and they own NordicTrack and ProForm, and they drive a subscription business. And I went in to build them a merchandising function, and it was fascinating because I didn't really know the business model of subscription and loyalty. There's a few people that do it really well, I think Bloomingdale's is continuing to evolve their loyalty program and they message consistently with their brand, they offer great things. I'm not gonna bring, I had Sephora written down, but I brought it up a few times, but they definitely have a very strong loyalty program. So these are pieces on the digital experience that make it consumer-friendly. Nike does it best. Nike balances experience, product, loyalty, and they have multiple entry points. So whatever you're focused on with Nike, they're making sure they're talking directly to you. They're driving consumer loyalty with you so you come back. Nike has some markdown challenges, but it's interesting that their focus is driving consumer engagement for the halo products that they drive so that they can do transactional business under the covers. Staying relevant, I was just talking about this. So stay relevant but be consistent. It's like an oxymoron a little bit. Stay relevant to what's happening today with your consumer, but be consistent in your brand message. Evolve your approach. Social influencers is a hot topic. We talk about it a lot in our current business. I think I recently came across an interesting one, which was a traditional brand, the Hilton brand, that has some great nameplates underneath it. And I don't know how it showed up on my TikTok feed. That's a whole 'nother conversation, right? But I got Paris Hilton asking me to watch a 10-minute TikTok, and I thought it was hilarious and really relevant. All of a sudden because she was speaking to a different group of people than the Hilton Rewards group typically is. So being relevant, staying relevant with your consumer, but being consistent with your brand. And that consistency is, as it relates, I wanna bring this up to markdowns. Create a model that focuses on clear, tentpole moments. Try it. A lot of brands can do it, a lot of brands cannot do it. Rather than consistent discounting, don't overbuy, don't oversell. Build a model that's focused on consistent discounting. Partner with channels. Make sure that your vertical channels and your wholesale channels are speaking the same language. Make sure that they're all in service to building the brand for future growth. My goal is always seasonal liquidation. Can we get to a place, and there's a lot of places around the world that do, and there's even some retailers that do this in the United States as well, just drive through the season with consistency, with relevance, with experience, and liquidate at the end of the season? So what does that take? That takes really good planning, which we can all improve on. But even if you have all of this, you're still driven into obstacles, right? So the consumer is not, in my opinion, discount-driven. They're value-driven. So if we give them all of this and we start creating their value, what obstacles do we have in front of us? Well, we still have a lot of obstacles. So that effort is not thrown away, but it's not alone going to drive success. We know we have to improve the value of our product. We know we have to give them great product, great fit. That's kind of a no-brainer, but we also have to give them all of these things. Transparency. Gen Z wants to connect. And in my category, a big focus for us is around what's going on with Skims. Skims has done an incredible job in a very short amount of time to connect with their consumer. And how have they done it? They've done all the things that I just mentioned. They've been consistent, they've been relevant, they've given great product, they've had transparency, they have good brand experience. And they're not, you know, who knows the future for Skims, but I find it a fascinating study on how to build a strong brand. Discounts happen when you don't give 'em all this stuff. Unprofitable discounts happen when you don't give them all of this stuff. So what are the things in front of us that are preventing that too? Okay, so I am guilty of this, overbuying. I get very excited about a product, about a story, about a marketing opportunity, and I convince people to overbuy it because I can be very forceful in that. But you can avoid it with clarity on your consumer and GTM alignment. When are you buying? What's the optimal time to buy? How much information do you need? Can you pivot? What's the platform of your product so that you can pivot? How are you building your product strategies for future growth through that go-to-market calendar? Because if you overbuy, then you don't sell. Right? You have slow sell-throughs. You— and you've probably oversold into the market. And so avoid it with a sell-out approach to the plan. Drive a profit plan, not a revenue plan. That's really hard. Don't dump the product. If you dump the product out there and listen, I know how— I work at Ralph Lauren. We have rules around how much product we can dump into the market. But oh my goodness, is it really hard to avoid the opportunity with said off-price retailer, or even full-price department stores around the world who are saying, no, no, I need to put that in all doors. Avoid it if you're not 150% sure that you're going to be able to drive the sell-through plan. Test it, stair-step it, build profit. Because if you have so slow sell-throughs, you're going to have that inconsistent discounting that dilutes your brand equity. And inconsistent discounting is the result. And how can you avoid it? You avoid it with strong partnerships cross-functionally and externally and an upfront plan. It's all words. I know it's words on a page. It's really hard. But I'm here to remind you of what to do so that you can question yourself and how you're building your strategy. Okay, so if we have all these obstacles in front of us, overbuying, overselling, inconsistent discounting, let's just go through again like what is the focus key strategies. Create product that tells a story and is authentic to your brand. At Levi's, we were all things to all people. That's impossible. That's an impossible product strategy to build. So we said, okay, we're all things to all people in denim. Let's start there. Let's just do that. So be authentic to your brand. Don't take every opportunity that comes your way. The most important lesson to learn, I think, in life is to say no. No. We're gonna do it differently. No, we're gonna wait. No, I'm not gonna jump ship and pull the lever on price because I understand my consumer. I invest in it, I listen to people, I travel the markets. I'm listening to that consumer. I was telling this story last night, but not all the time last night here on a panel. Sometimes you go into the market and people tell you things and it's not actually what's happening. It's just their feeling of that moment. So you have to take tons of data to be able to really understand your consumer and invest in it. At many of the companies that I've worked for, we've had dedicated consumer insights teams. That's very rich and lovely and it was super helpful to build future. What do you do in a smaller company? You probably don't have a dedicated consumer insight, but there's lots of ways that you can get after it. And use your retail partners, whether they be vertical or wholesale, to really understand the transactional nature. What's happening? What's happening online? Who are they? Get to know them. Establish a brand position and a strong distribution strategy. Don't stray from that. I had somebody the other day in my own company ask me why we don't just dump Polo into Costco. And I was like, well, it's not a part of our brand strategy or our positioning. So stay firm on how you build your brand position and really invest in an appropriate distribution strategy. Develop partnerships out there in the market with real estate agents, develop partnerships with wholesalers. Build thoughtful assortments driven by a sell-out analysis. This is like the dream always, right? Nope, we're only gonna plan for that to sell at 3% a week. So no, you cannot buy all that, Kira. You have to buy it like this. Thoughtful assortments. Execute engaging environments both in-store and online. This is everyone's job. Because if you have nothing to do with what's happening in store or online from a visual aesthetic, what you do have is information that you have to arm the people in the stores or online with. You have information about what your expectations are, you have product knowledge information, you have to execute these engaging environments in all of the divisions around it. Service the customer and the consumer without disruption. So my 14-year-old asked me what this meant 'cause she saw these slides sitting on the kitchen table. She's like, "What does that mean, without disruption?" And I said, "Okay, let's talk about an experience that you've had when you have walked into Lulu and they don't have the Align Tight in a size 4." She was like, "Well, that sucks." And I said, "Exactly, so now you've been disrupted. Now you have to go online or you have to go to a different Lulu store to get it." That is, avoid the disruption. Service the customer. And then intentionally build value drivers rather than broad discounting. So this is like speak for, can we have a margin builder program? Can we build a program that intentionally is supposed to drive value for your consumer at whatever level or segment it is. Can we think about that differently to bridge that landscape so that you are speaking to their need for value, but you're not diluting your brand equity? Do not overbuy, do not oversell, and drive the sellout. There are people that do this. I know it seems impossible. I'm not sure where everybody is from in here. Maybe some of them are from these organizations. Louis Vuitton. Louis Vuitton is the most valued luxury brand in the world, and they don't have a single outlet. So don't tell me that the consumer is only focused on discounts, right? They have figured out how to drive brand equity. They have simplified their brand message. They have dedicated themselves to craftsmanship and quality and fashion, and they have been able to drive like a significant portion of the luxury market. I've talked about Apple. Apple's business model is based on profit, not revenue. How many of us in this room have a business model based on revenue? Our focus is transactions. But Apple's transactions are all hardware— their, their profit is all hardware-based, so it doesn't make sense for them to really drive discounts, and they don't. They very specifically put just enough into the market to do what they wanna do with it. They don't discount it, they move it out, and they put something new in, and it all makes you feel like the world is a better place. Patagonia. Patagonia is, you know, we're all brand fans of Patagonia, I would say. It's the smallest, biggest business that you've ever heard of. Patagonia goes on sale 2 times a year, and everybody who shops at Patagonia knows that. And so they've developed brand value by not diluting their message with discounts when things don't work. I love the little blue box, right? Tiffany has been in business for 100 years and never had a sale. And they figured it out. And Sephora, I mentioned them now 4 times, drives a lot more sales, but it's very specifically 3. I mean, I think, I'm not under the covers, but this is what I understand about their company. 3 sales a year, and they're marketed to their loyalists. And they do 1 sale a year, where everybody gets an additional discount around Christmas. There's lots of brands that do this around the world, but these ones show up, and everybody knows them, and I think that we can all learn something from the way that they've approached it. So what are we learning here today? What are our takeaways? Everybody should be focused on brand strength, no matter how small or big that brand is. Everybody should be focusing on consumer value for the long term. Keep them coming back without making them expect sale. Avoid the obstacles. Make your planning partners your best friends. But also make sure that the, the market understands what you're trying to do. Build partnerships out there. Make sure your consumer is clear on your message so that it's easier to avoid some of these obstacles. And execute your focus strategies. All of those things that I had mentioned that we all know that we probably don't put on a piece of paper and look at the way that I just did. Don't stray from who you are. The importance of brand strength is real. It's not just a marketing conversation. What makes you different? Be consistent. Understand how to drive that long-term value, and I truly believe that you will have less dilution in the market, and that we can get away from the, how do you drive profit if you have to mark down every time? If the biggest department store in the United States of America is on sale every other week, how do we drive profit? Manage it. Find other ways to retail. Build relationships with them. Make sure your consumer comes in and they're actually buying the new thing, that they're excited about it. Market it. Be smart about it. All of this results in brand equity. And maintaining brand equity, in my opinion, is staying competitive. You're able to stay competitive, and it's the key to success. I know, it's really easy to say and really hard to do. And I appreciate that. We have like 3 minutes for questions. Questions or comments or compliments or complaints? I can take all of them. Well, I'm gonna tell you guys one more thing before we like move to that moment. For those of you in the room from Ralph, the Ralph CEO had a quote that I like lived by for a little bit. His name is Patrice. And this is what he said. We've been on a multi-year journey regarding our brand elevation. Brand elevation means storytelling, product, and the shopping experience. And the outcome is the ability to price. Okay. So that's easy. You have a $7 billion company and you get to invest in all of these things. But there's something really pure about it. Make them believe, and then you don't have to discount, and it takes a little while. Okay, comments? Hi, that was fantastic, by the way. Thanks. I've seen some conversations from you know, local professors and stuff about the death of the brand. And I was just curious, as you— Yes, right? As you go through this, this is great, by the way, but as you go through this, is it more difficult to build brand in an omnichannel world where you have different competing purchase behaviors and different platforms? I don't know if it's difficult. I mean, I think it's— I don't think it's any more difficult than building your brand in a single-channel world. I think omnichannel is a lever to use to improve your brand equity. You're talking about competition. There's more competition out there. But I don't think that they all cut through. So the death of the brand, yeah, you walk into a store or you walk down Broadway and there's 3,000 stores. Which one do you walk into? I don't know. You have to be able to cut through, and I think all the things that I just mentioned is your willingness and dedication to trying to cut through. And if you don't do that, then you're just transacting and you're just, you know, it's for tomorrow, which by the way, if you can build a brand in like 2, 3 years and you sell it, great, good for you too. I mean, I don't think that there's any like shame in that, but I think that if you want to leave something, if you want to leave a footprint, if you really want to understand and get into the hearts and minds of consumers, then you're going to do all of those things. Those things that I mentioned. Anybody else? Like a countdown clock here. Yes. Really just a comment. Awesome, awesome presentation. Thank you. Oh, just a comment. I love that. OK, question, comment, complaint? That was an awesome session. I actually have a question. I'm from Anaplan. We're a global planning software. We work with brands like LVMH, Uniqlo, across the board, right? And something I'm talking to a lot of my customers about is if they're vertically integrated and they're trying to go into a new region, how do you think about that licensing model and how do you support the brand in that licensing model? I think the trick there is working with licensees or franchise partners that truly believe in brands. And I, I have recently experienced many that don't. They believe in a category or a way of retailing or a particular region, but they're really not that interested in like what you're trying to do as a brand. So I think that that is the trick, is finding those partnerships, and there are some incredible licensing partners around the world. But if you don't put the time and effort in investing in that upfront, it's kind of just a domino effect of you're not gonna see the result that you want. I think that's the hardest piece. Okay, I hit zero. So, is that it? So thank you guys very much. Enjoy the rest of your day.