Lululemon exec on turning brand insights into storytelling

The deadline for Ad Age’s annual 40 Under 40 feature is just two days away. Ahead of its publication on Sept. 19, we are asking former honorees to share career advice, including how they got to where they are today. Don’t forget to nominate your own rising stars for this year’s list ahead of the July 15 final deadline. You can do so at AdAge.com/40u40. Deb Hyun was featured on Ad Age’s 40 Under 40 list in 2020, when she still headed global marketing at Headspace. There, she worked on campaigns such as Headspace Minis, a partnership with Snapchat that offers users in-app meditation, and other offerings designed to help consumers with anxiety brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Last year, Hyun joined activewear brand Lululemon as senior VP of global brand management. In recent months, she has been involved with a series of campaigns for new product offerings. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs In January, the Canadian retailer launched a campaign for its first running shoe collection, Blissfeel, with a 75-second film “Meet the blissfeel running shoe." The company has also been boosting its menswear offerings, and ran a short film last summer entitled "Being well is a journey." Both pieces were created in partnership with Droga5, the brand’s creative agency of record as of two years ago. Consumers continue to gravitate toward Lululemon. First-quarter revenue surged 32% to $1.6 billion. Ad Age recently caught up with Hyun to talk about her career as well as some of Lululemon's recent marketing campaigns. Responses are lightly edited. What was the shift like from your previous role at Headspace to your current role at Lululemon? Lululemon is on an incredible growth trajectory, and we continue to have a huge opportunity ahead of us. So it’s an exciting time to be a part of the brand. It was important for me to learn, as quickly as possible, how we’re perceived by our current and future guests, where we have opportunity to drive deeper engagement, and hear from the teams [about] what’s working and not working, before I started to form my own POV on what’s next. What are your responsibilities and goals at Lululemon? I’m the senior VP, global brand management and operations, which spans across a few different teams including global brand insights and global social. Collectively, we’re responsible for setting a global brand strategy that increases preference and overall demand for our brand and products over time. And in order to do this in a way that feels resonant and relevant to our guests, we work in deep collaboration with our regional brand and community teams to bring the global brand strategy to life. What do you find most surprising about where you are now? For me, I don’t find where I am to be surprising as I’ve always been a believer of setting big goals and going after them with intention. There are times when my journey has not been a traditional straight line. If anyone looks at my resume they’ll see that it includes everything from media to sports marketing to digital marketing to integrated marketing to brand across a number of different industries, and they might scratch their heads and wonder how I got here. But that was and continues to be my own intentional journey to understand how consumers engage with brands and demonstrate how effective it can be to drive value back to the business. Can you talk about one of your favorite projects/campaigns that you worked on this past year? Oh, it’s so hard to pick just one. Truly! I am lucky enough to work with some of the best people and marketers I’ve come across in my career. And I really believe that every piece of work we’ve put out has been a reflection of the team’s commitment to deeply understanding our guests’ needs and delivering against our brand purpose. The best ones for me have been work we’ve put out that has felt risky or “big” because we’ve never done it before or because we’re launching a new product. These give us an opportunity to learn something new and get ready for the next one. The most recent example of this was the Blissfeel launch, which was our entry into the footwear category this past spring. The Blissfeel shoe was designed and developed with her foot in mind, which is not something the footwear industry typically does. Generally, women’s running shoes are built off men's [feet.] This was a great jumping-off point to help our teams create “Lululemon for your feet. Made for women first.” I’m proud of how the team leveraged insights to deliver a powerful story that resonated with so many people. What advice would you give a younger version of yourself just starting out in the industry? I would tell myself to be more present, to write down more of what I learned along the way, and to have fun doing it! Time is a funny thing. Looking back on the last few years, it feels like it flew by in the blink of an eye. But when I was first starting out, it always felt like time was moving so slowly and I wasn’t getting the most out of my experience. I always felt a need to jump into the next thing and probably missing some moments and learnings along the way. So looking back now, I’d tell myself not to rush the process and enjoy the journey versus only celebrating the outcomes. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs

Lululemon exec on turning brand insights into storytelling

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