Check out this interview we did with steve hartman, the former Managing Director of Marketing at Urban Outfitters. If you want to learn how going against the grain benefits your brand, this is an interview you will definitely want to watch. This video highlights what it takes to truly create a fearless brand from a decidedly logo-free retailer.

Urban Outfitters is an eclectic lifestyle retailer dedicated to inspiring customers through a unique combination of product, creativity, and cultural understanding.

Here’s some of the key takeaways from the interview:

0:53 Steve talks about how an inconsistent customer experiences helps the Urban Outfitter brand.

3:02 The reasoning behind why Urban Outfitters doesn’t have a logo.

4:10 Steve’s scariest experience with an Urban Outfitters going too far off brand.

5:23 Steve discusses the Canadian arm of Urban Outfitters and how Canadian fans have adopted the brand.

6:45 The importance of focusing to get things done.

I think there are so many things that we do in our personal lives, in our corporate lives, and what we do with our brands where we say “Yeah we’ll get to that”…just being able to focus your energy on something and be able to go after it, you’ll be able to do really, really great things.

Steve Hartman is the former Managing Director of Marketing at Urban Outfitters. Steve was respon- sible for urbanoutfitters.com business as well as all of Urban Outfitters’ creative and marketing ac- tivities in North America. Prior to joining UO, Steve spent most of his career at eBay where he held various leadership roles in both the internet marketing and technology organizations, including advertising on ebay.com and running eBay’s global affiliate marketing network. He currently sits on advisory boards for Gundlach Bundschu Winery and Sparefoot.com. Steve has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon and dual MBAs from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and Columbia Business School.

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Ryan Gill
Ryan began his professional life in digital marketing. His first company, Suitcase Interactive, was a consistent best-digital-agency award winner. And his tenacity and forward thinking also led him, personally, to being awarded a coveted place on the auspicious 40 under 40 list. (Notice that we're not telling you how many years ago that was, we're kinda attached to our kneecaps ; ) Those seminal years also led Ryan to the enlightenment that the whole concept of advertising and digital agencies was dead. From there it was a short putt to the birth of Cult, one of North America's first true engagement agencies. As Cult's President, his legacy as a pioneering thinker has blossomed from pushing pixels, to pushing forward what marketing actually means. Ryan then founded The Gathering in 2012, an annual international event to honor cult-like brands that put the generation of movements before the creation of ad campaigns. The Gathering is now widely acknowledged to be one of North America's premier annual marketing conferences. And it's an idea that has introduced Cult to brands like Keurig, Converse, Airbnb, UFC, Las Vegas Tourism and Red Bull, among many others… hey, there's only so many names you can drop in one bio. Never one to whine about the status quo, but rather put his energy into finding a better way, Ryan’s latest innovation is the founding of a whole new operating model for marketers, both on the client side and in the industry that serves them. Called Communo, this tech-enabled work model is an incomparable brain trust of talent for brands, a human resources platform for marketing professionals, and an unprecedented business development engine for both. In his "spare time" Ryan continues his strong commitment to giving back, both at home in Calgary, and around the world. He spearheads Cult's ongoing monthly commitment to Ronald McDonald House and continues to lead Project Smile, the international relief organization he founded over a decade ago. He even managed to find some spare, spare time to co-author three editions of Fix: Break The Addictions That Are Killing Brands, Cult's thought leadership book that's changing the way CEOs and CMOs see the marketing function.

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