Vol. 1 - Raine Peake, New Look
It's Raine-ing knowledge. Today we sit down with New Look's Head of Marketing & Customer Growth, Raine Peak, who is serving up insight bombs!
Meet Raine:
Today, I have the pleasure of sitting down with the immense Raine Peake, a marketing powerhouse with a career that spans some of the most iconic brands in the fashion space.
Having held senior leadership positions with brands like Farfetch, Mint Velvet, Jigsaw all the way to her current role as Head of Marketing and Customer Growth at high street staple and industry giant New Look, Raine has built a reputation for crafting campaigns that not only captivate but also deliver meteoric results.
Raine’s journey is one of evolution—adapting to the ever-changing landscape of consumer behaviour and digital innovation while staying rooted in a passion for empowering brands to connect deeply with their audiences and create genuine connection.
She is at the forefront of digital innovation in the fashion marketing space so take note. This is one you are going to want to bookmark!
The Interview:
What do you wish you knew before entering the fashion industry?
I think an interesting insight is that you need to be malleable to change and that after many years, you will still be in the industry, using the skills you have learnt but sometimes you will be doing a very different job to the one you started in.
So when I started out, I was very clear that I wanted to do merchandising, And I did, and I really really really enjoyed it. However now i am in a more digital, paid media role however i am using all of those super transferable skills from my earlier days.
So I guess what I wish I knew was to not be blinkered by a particular function but instead find a role where you can learn as much as possible, refine your skills and find what you are good at and enjoy. Because then you can transfer them to other areas of the industry.
Best piece of advice you have received?
So this is one I quote quite a bit, actually. So the MD of Monsoon at the time, an incredible, incredible guy called John Spooner. Unbelievably intelligent, funny, kind and a very straight talker. The kind of guy that if you did something really well, you'd know. And if you did something really badly, you’d also know but with a few more expletives thrown in. But you always felt supported by him.
I remember one day i was working on a big project and was reporting back to him and i said ‘oh we just need more people in order to do this’. To which he replied…
‘you absolutely do not need more people. You need to change the process’.
And that’s always stuck with me because there is so much that can be achieved by simply changing your mindset and the way you approach things. Too often people just want to throw more humans at tasks. By knowing what we have to do and by knowing what we want to achieve, it is often better to reframe the way we do things rather than who does them.
Moment you are most proud of in your career to date?
I think probably setting up and working with the team at Farfetch. I think for a couple reasons.
Firstly, it was amazing to be a part of such a monumental growth journey at a really fun time in the company’s journey. Farfetch was a tech business that does fashion but my department was made up of mostly people from the fashion industry. So we learned a ton about how to scale a company while operating like a fashion brand.
But I really enjoyed taking Farfetch from relative obscurity to IPO! That was a hell of an experience.
Secondly I think it was the impact I could have on team members. I took a lot of pride in supporting, developing and empowering the team. For example, one of the things i most proud of was promoting a member of the team who was pregnant. She didn’t want to go for promotion because of her pregnancy but she was by far the best person for the job. So things like that and the environment to be able to do so was a proud feeling for me.
A book you think all aspiring fashion leaders should read?
Invisible Women - Caroline Criado-Perez
I've been recommending this tons recently - it’s all about data bias, and it's really interesting. You know, it's that whole thing about crash test dummies, medicines and more are tested on men, all of those things. It kinda gets you a bit fired up on it and then makes you understand things and makes you think, actually, what do I wanna do to change?
A good reminder that you don't have to be a twat. You can talk to someone directly but kindly while actively helping them and developing them.
A bonus recommendation is not a book but Patty McCord’s TedTalk on the “8 lessons on building a company people enjoy working for”. Patty is, or was - i’m not sure, the Chief People Officer at Netflix and this talk is an amazing reminder on how to cultivate a great culture and set people up for success. I watch it whenever i go into a new role as they are great leadership lessons!
Marketing campaign you wish you had come up with?
Oh god. The first one that comes to mind is Never Knowingly Undersold - John Lewis
That's just their tagline but it is the 100 years since the tagline’s birth so there is a big campaign surrounding it currently. I think it is really good. Reason being is because they're price match and this is there way to get around the fact that they're more expensive than most in their space.
Their products are more expensive. The brands they sell are more expensive. So this little phrase tells the customer that was they are getting is quality and great value for money. I like it.
What’s one skill, or area, you are actively working on to improve? And why is it important to you?
One area I think I’m already good at but trying to hone further is looking at data through a human lens.
As brands, we have never had more data than we do right now, with hundreds upon thousands of touchpoints at our fingertips. And I think there is so much more that can be understood and therefore done if we look at it through that human lens.
Take New Look for example. We're doing a loyalty program. We've got millions of customers. How can we use the tons of numbers and metrics from those individuals in ways which can create the best possible experience. The data tells us loads but without human centric application, it is possible to lose that human first approach.
So what’s important to remember is the ways in which you can cut it, incentivise it and develop it that will actually make the difference both on a company level but at individual customer level as well.
So I think that's what I'm really looking at in terms of how I can most appropriately digest all of those numbers and make it easier and make the data sing.
1x resource you use to stay ahead in this rapidly evolving industry?
I was lucky to have a great coach, a gentleman called Gary Crotaz. I specifically wanted a male coach as i work with some many amazing women I wanted to kind of see things from a male perspective as well.
With him I took and interpreted the Gallup’s CliftonStrengths assessment which was an great resource that helped me better understand my way of working. It’s a test that, through a series of questions, analyses your approaches and provides actionable insights into your traits and ways of working.
It gave me tools, mechanisms and reasoning that help me to be my best self at work and attack challenges in a way that will compliment my personality. It’s also a really good thing to know when applying for roles as it can inform you as to the focuses that will bring you the most fulfilment in a position. It’s super helpful and i think everyone should do it. It’s like £50.
Beyond this i read Business of Fashion a lot. They have a more innovative lens and are way more interesting than a lot of the other publications out there. They also have a very good way of tying together fashion and tech which I think provides a really unique insight into the way in which we have to think in the industry these days.
Also Drapers. It’s been going for about 3000 years and it is just an authority on the sector i am in. It’s relevant in terms of who’s moving where and which companies are combusting but beyond that it doesn’t really tell me anything. Business of Fashion is more informative and their reports are excellent.
With regards to events, i attend a lot. I think of it in a way that if I meet one person that provides me with a different viewpoint , new insight or way of looking at things, then it is a good use of my time.
Like i went to this Shopify event the other day and met the MD of the UK. Fun story, she said they had recently put a monetary value on their internal meetings. It helped inform them if the meeting was worthy of the time and people who were on it. Found that interesting and a good reminder about bias for action.
Your one to watch? An individual in the space killing it?
I have to say Sian-Louise Pilkington over at Mint Velvet. She recently got promoted to Head of Marketing.
When i was at Mint Velvet years ago, she was very much like ‘i just want to work in social’ but now she has grown, developed and expanded so beautifully and is an incredible all round marketer.
She’s really great and is going to continue to do amazing things!
Brand / product you can't live without?
This is a hard one!
Aesop. I just love them.
But also M&S. They’re my nearest food shop. So sorry! Hah! They are just nailing it at the moment. They have had an immense strategy and just stuck to it.
Also, their clothing departments, led by Maddy Selim and Mitch Hughes, are just killing it. Their designs are amazing and have had some amazing collabs recently like with Bella Freud. Love my Nature jumper.
I just think they've just got a vision, and then I think that really shines through everything they do and across all areas of business.
Industry hot take?
If somebody else mentions AI again, I'm gonna murder them!
How are you feeling about the world of fashion right now?
There are so many pressures for brands and retailers. Inflationary pressures. Government budget pressures. Competition pressures. The list goes on.
But i think the resell market is one we need to be paying attention to. Marketplaces like Vinted, eBay and others as well as some of the rental marketplaces are super exciting at the moment and we, as retailers, are somewhat neglecting them.
We need to look at the customer need. Take New Look for example. We have products on Vinted being sold for £5 which we are selling for £20 in store. We need to figure out how to create some sort of symbiotic relationship that serves the customer but also ensures brand interest. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
Follow Raine
A massive thank you to Raine for sitting down with me and sharing some of those invaluable and insightful snippets. I think you will agree she is a legend.
If you have a question for Raine, feel free to leave a question in the comments below or reach out to her on Linkedin where i am sure she will be more than happy to connect.
Til next time x