How Rebecca Minkoff built a deeply personal connection with her customers 

American designer Rebecca Minkoff is known for her ability to understand what consumers want and effectively translate that into products.

Speaking at the recent Retail Innovation Conference and Expo in Chicago, Minkoff credited this ability to the fact that she and her customers have moved through life at the same pace. 

“I think what helped me [fully understand my consumer base] was that I was the same age and sex as my customer,” Minkoff told NBCUniversal reporter Daniella Pierre Bravo. 

“As I was moving to the city looking for love, trying to find the right partner and being an entrepreneur in New York City in 2005, I was just naturally mirroring what my customer was going through. I could easily and authentically, as much as I know that’s an overused word, connect with her because we were sharing the same life experience. 

“As I had kids, she had kids, and as I was struggling with work-life balance, so was she. I think it was that constant honesty and talking to her that allowed her to continue that journey [with the brand].” 

However, Minkoff said she nearly lost this deeply personal relationship with her customers when she sold the company to diversified apparel company Sunrise Brands, for a reported $13-19 million, in 2022. 

After the sale, Minkoff remained in her role as chief creative officer while her brother and fellow co-founder Uri Minkoff transitioned from his role as chief executive officer to an advisory role. 

On the advice of the CMO, Minkoff stopped using the brand to give customers glimpses into her personal life, and this is when she felt a sense of imbalance within the business. 

“There was a period of time where we didn’t do that [connect closely with the customer] and it really hurt us,” Minkoff explained. 

“There’s a period of about two to three years where the chief marketing officer, who thought they knew better expressed that [the customer] doesn’t want to hear about your kids and your family and whatever, and that this is just a brand. We stupidly listened and that was when we saw a dip in that connection.”

After returning from maternity leave and parting ways with the CMO, Minkoff vowed to stay true to her original plan of connecting with customers on a personal level and engaging with them face-to-face and via a screen.

“Now, I will fight to the tooth to follow what I know as a founder, especially when it comes to our customer,” Minkoff declared. 

Creating her own media network 

Today, the designer and retail entrepreneur has a full media ecosystem, including a podcast featuring female executives, Superwomen with Rebecca Minkoff, Substack and a popular LinkedIn profile, where she shares her honest experience of balancing motherhood with entrepreneurship. There is also the Female Founder Collective, an organisation Minkoff started to help provide resources and awareness to female entrepreneurs. 

Even before Rebecca Minkoff, the founder, launched these organisations, Rebecca Minkoff the brand was known for its unconventional approach to connecting with customers. The company joined Snapchat in 2013 and implemented QR codes before most people had even heard of them.  

“We introduced QR codes in our bags, way before the pandemic and people were looking at us and asking ‘Why would you do that?’,” the brand founder recalled.

“It unlocks content and loyalty. We could now capture the customer’s info, even though they bought it at a department store. It took a pandemic to make that a worthwhile thing to do, but you just never know until you try and you learn so much when you do that.” 

While it is important to tap into new technological opportunities, be they new social media apps or omnichannel solutions, at the end of the day, as Minkoff explained, human connection is key. 

“Obviously, I think that there are tons of social listening tools that you can plug into, but nothing beats meeting your customers and seeing them face-to-face,” Minkoff said.

“You might not want to schlep to multiple cities like I used to do and meet my customer, but that is what it takes. AI can solve a lot of things, but it is still not a human and it will never take the place of that human connection.”

Even though Minkoff no longer has time to travel to multiple cities to meet her customers in person, she credits her ongoing success to the many years she spent building up those connections, which gave her a clear picture of her customers in her mind’s eye – what their lives looked like, what products they were looking for, and how they shopped.

“Going back to old-school marketing and being in that community with her, you will learn so much,” she said. “I think that that’s key for any brand. It doesn’t matter how big you are. You have to be in-person with them, get to know them and dive deep into their interests, even if it’s a tough thing to do.”

It’s also helpful to remember that it doesn’t have to be perfect. 

“Gen Z hates the brands that have it all perfect and if it’s a little bit imperfect, and it doesn’t go the way you want, it’s fine,” Minkoff noted. It’s more important for brands to think: “How do I push the boundary?” 

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