The second day of Brandweek rolled out (pun intended) with a fireside chat with Away co-founder and chief brand officer Jen Rubio. The dynamic conversation, led by Adweek managing editor Stephanie Paterik, touched on many facets of the launch and early evolution of the disruptive direct-to-consumer luggage and travel lifestyle brand.

The company was born in 2016 out of Rubio’s personal insight after a piece of her luggage broke. There was space to play, she said, between high-end, expensive luggage and cheaper products that were lower quality. But Rubio said Away really took off—OK, last pun, I promise—when “we identified a more exciting gap in building a brand around that.”

Rubio and her co-founder, Steph Korey, veterans from disrupter darling Warby Parker, found that their early forays into book publishing and in-house produced magazine Here in service of the product line paid significant benefits in creating tighter bonds with consumers. Those connections shifted the brand’s value proposition from a commodity people purchased out of necessity to a lifestyle passion point that people craved.

Following Rubio, the morning shifted to the Call to Actions track where four brand marketers issued challenges on four macro topics—emerging tech, the human factor, the future of media and commerce and the role of brands in society— to be tackled by Brandweek attendees in breakout sessions.

Babs Rangaiah, executive partner, global marketing at IBM iX, who focused his emerging challenge on blockchain, quipped that blockchain is everything you don’t understand about computers and finance. His challenge: Where else can blockchain provide solutions?

For the human factor, Jeanine D. Liburd, chief marketing and communications officer at BET Networks, asked the summit to take a hard look at diversity and change the culture of their organizations to be more inclusive. “Are you looking at your company with a colorful lens?” she asked. “Great cultures are built on diversity.”

Leesa Eichberger, head of brand marketing at Farmers Insurance Group, took on the future of media and commerce challenge with a call to action that centered on the move away from brand commoditization to a high connection with consumers. “Be memorable and relevant,” she said. “Get yourself into culture and the business value that comes with it.” Her breakout challenge: How can brands continue to tell stories and differentiate themselves in a rapidly evolving landscape where mass marketing opportunities are dwindling?

Finally, Danielle Lee, global vp of partner solutions at Spotify, asked what roles brands play in society. “In many respects, we are just getting started, but we need a more inclusive and diverse ecosystem. … Spotify is dedicated to democratize its platform, and other brand marketers need to embrace that notion in a much more pervasive way,” he said.

Brandweek’s second day ended with a performance by Grammy winner Anthony Hamilton at the Empire Polo Club in nearby Coachella Valley.

Day 3’s agenda will be packed with a fireside keynote discussion with Bozoma Saint John, CMO of Endeavor, and Tiffany Warren, svp, chief diversity officer at Omnicom and founder of ADCOLOR; the CMO track and a special session with Tony Robbins.

James Cooper
Editorial director, Adweek