About this event
From online-first brands launching brick-and-mortar pop ups to grocery stores venturing into the metaverse—the future of retail is phygital. In this webinar we will explore what consumers want to see from their physical and digital shopping experiences—and how brands can blend the two for optimal omnichannel experiences.
Join Katie Gross, Chief Customer Officer at Suzy for a retail-focused edition of our State of the Consumer series. She’ll be joined by Webb Knudsen, CEO & Co-Founder, Playper and James Melucci, Director of Insights, Beam Suntory in a conversation about:
- How consumers are engaging with brands online vs. in-store
- What people want from phygital retail experiences
- How brands can stay ahead of the retail curve during economic uncertainty
Hosted by
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Guest speaker
Katie Gross Chief Customer Officer @ SuzyG
A long-time MRX veteran, Katie Gross knows the importance of bringing your consumer into every business decision. Her deep understanding of the full market research value chain stems from 18 years of international experience across every facet of the industry — working with insights agencies Mintel and Stylus to individual brands at Avilton Foods, and even within the world of programmatic survey sampling at Cint and Toluna. Now in her role as Chief Client Officer, she manages the Sales, CS, and Market Research Center of Excellence teams to provide best-in-class customer service for Suzy’s impressive roster of enterprise clients. Outside of work, Katie tirelessly advocates for women in the workplace, with an added focus on fostering financial independence. She counts herself a member of Women In Research’s WIR exec program, all-female leadership network Chief, and the Financial Gym. She can be found kayaking and stand-up paddle boarding on the lakes of Northern New Jersey.
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Guest speaker
James Melucci Director of Insights @ Beam SuntoryG
James Melucci is Director of Insights at Beam Suntory where he is working diligently to build out state-of-the-art Shopper Insights capabilities for his Off/On-Premise partners. He is a thoughtful, entrepreneurial problem solver who mitigates complexity and is fearless in advocating for the value of shopper research. Interestingly enough, James began his career in the semiconductor industry with stints in CPG and Hardware before ultimately taking his love for food and drink into leadership roles with US Foods, Kraft Heinz and now Beam Suntory. James graduated with honors from Arizona State University before earning his MBA from Northeastern University in Boston. Born in New York, James has also spent time in Arizona, Massachusetts and now resides in Chicago with his wife, son and two Boston Terriers. He continues to enjoy food-based travel in his personal time and holds numerous powerlifting records at the state and national level.
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Guest speaker
Webb Knudsen CEO & Co-founder @ PlayperG
Webb Knudsen is the CEO and Founder of Playper, a planet-friendly toy startup uprooting the prevailing plastic paradigm while delivering exceptional play. He also runs a family office (Knudsen Capital or KC) through which he's led investments in over 30 consumer companies and works at a private equity firm (Partnership Capital Growth or PCG) that invests in healthy living companies - primarily food & beverage, supplements, and fitness brands. He has a background in entertainment, social media, and mobile driving profitability and optimizing market strategy for movies, brands, and apps and previously led Sales & BD teams at Silicon Valley startups.
Suzy
Smarter insights, faster decisions. With Suzy’s AI-powered, connected research platform, test more and guess less. In other words: assume nothing.
