Charlie Cole: Balancing Creativity With User Experience

Charlie Cole is a statistically-focused marketer that brings a mix of entrepreneurial and institutional knowledge and success to Tumi.

As the person responsible for overseeing the brand’s national and international e-commerce and digital platforms, Charlie has successfully built a team that thrives on analytics as much as he does.

Previously an entrepreneur in residence at venture capital firm Maveron and chief executive officer of The Line, a multibrand retailer of home and fashion goods, Charlie has long succeeded at the tricky act of balancing creativity, leadership, and innovation. His skills can be seen from his time on an executive team that grew an online ad agency to more than $200 million in online revenue and when he led Lucky Brand Jean’s e-commerce to become the fastest-growing part of their business.

It’s clear that Charlie knows what he is doing when it comes to team building, driving growth, and fostering innovation.

Listen in as we discuss the creation of structures that empower creativity driven by energy and objectivity.

In This Episode

• Why 97% of conferences are a waste of time and how to make the most of that that last 3%
• How butting heads professionally can cultivate creativity and a whole new way of thinking
• The importance of creating demand through unique experiences
• Why your biggest strengths can take distract from developing your leadership capabilities
• How the rise of video leads to a usability nightmare
• Why starting over means reconnecting with past teachers

Quotes From This Episode

“I’m a big believer in having a core network.” —@CharlieCole

“Person to person networking has become bastardized as we become so digitally focused.” —@CharlieCole

[Tweet ““Tension points are a positive thing.” —@CharlieCole”]

“Millennials don’t see the definition of luxury as access. They see it as being more experiential.” —@CharlieCole

“It becomes a real pressure on us to enable technologies that allow our creative folks to be creative without negatively impacting the user experience.” —@CharlieCole

“You never know when you can have a truly emotional interaction with someone about your brand and the only way to do it is to throw yourself out there.” —@CharlieCole

[Tweet ““Accept the fact that you can’t multitask.” —@CharlieCole”]

Resources

• Charlie Cole on Twitter: @CharlieCole
• Tumi
• TechCrunch
• Pando
• PitchBook