Page 4 - #184 September 2023

WHO’S RLI MEETS

WHO
IN RETAIL

Kenny Wilson

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AT
DR. MARTENS

What are the company’s key objectives for the next 12-18 natural instinct or intuition comes into play and over time as a leader,
months? you begin to listen to it more. In effect intuition is a form of data as your
Our main objective over the next 12-18 months is to continue to build and intuition is informed by years of experience.
grow our brand – expanding our share across our seven priority markets
of UK, US, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and China. This will, as always, Do you feel that CEOs and company leaders can continue to
be led by our tried and tested ‘DOCS’ strategy (Direct-to-consumer first; be transformational in the new retail landscape and will this
Organisational and operational excellence; Consumer connection; Support actually be more important than ever now?
brand expansion with B2B) which will continue to be our guiding force over Company leaders will always have an important role in shaping the
the coming years. Geographically, we have seen exceptional growth in Japan vision and how we get there – but I firmly believe it’s also about the
over the last year, with the country leading the way in DTC (Direct-to- strength of the team too. I don’t believe in superstar leaders I believe in
consumer). We’ve grown all product categories, and opened four new superstar teams. At Dr. Martens we focus on getting diverse perspectives
stores, as well as increasing our e-commerce capabilities in the region. We around the table to make the best decisions in a changing world.
will continue growing in the region by continuing to open our own stores.
What do you make of social media and its importance in
Would you say events around the world in the last few years the world of retail and how prominent is e-commerce and
have affected the business at all and has it had any effects on online activities within the business?
future plans? Social media’s impact on retail has been immense. For Dr. Martens
There’s no doubt that the past few years have been very different I think it has given us the ability to directly engage with our wearers,
to what anyone could have expected, between the pandemic, supply create conversations and a sense of community and to reach brand new
chain shocks, war in Europe and the rising cost of living. It hasn’t audiences. In terms of e-commerce and its ability to offer consumers
altered our core strategy, but we’ve had to be very agile throughout: global accessibility and a convenient way to shop, it has become a hugely
and we’ve done this by being responsive to all these things, but also important channel for Dr. Martens.
acting with a custodian mindset, meaning that we’ve continued to take
long term decisions even when times are tough. It’s our job to look Taking a step back from right now, what would you consider
after the company so that it is here for another 63 years and another your career highlights to date to be?
generation of Docs wearers. We’ve been pleased to see the strength of My time at Dr. Martens has been some of the most interesting
our ‘conversion markets’ strategy where we’re converting key countries and fulfilling years of my career. It’s an iconic global brand and
to a DTC model as distributor agreements come to an end, giving us I’m extremely fortunate to play a part in shaping its history. I’m
much more brand control. Even though the worst of the pandemic also very fortunate to work with some great people, and there’s
and lockdowns seem to be behind us, it’s clear that e-commerce is massive satisfaction in seeing them develop and succeed. Aside
here to stay. The pandemic massively accelerated the global growth from Dr.Martens, I would also say that a highlight was becoming
of e-commerce, and we have continued to improve our e-commerce EMEA Brand President of Levi’s when I was 34 – it was definitely
offering. It’s a hugely important channel for us, so it is only right that we exciting and daunting looking after a $1.6bn business at that time, but
make sure the strategy is geared towards it. hugely influential for me. I learned so much and that experience was
formative in shaping the rest of my career.
What key leadership skills do you feel are the most
important in the current retail climate? With everything that has happened in recent times, how are
Resilience is key and businesses like ours are about long-term vision, you feeling about the 12-18 months that lie ahead?
which is where our custodian mindset comes into action – i.e. every We’re definitely on a journey – it’s a really exciting time for us.
member of the team is a custodian of a brand and has to think and The brand is very strong, we are seeing great growth in fascinating
act long term whilst balancing short-term results. Leaving the brand markets such as Japan, as well as really strong performance across our
stronger than we found it requires a mixture of belief in strategy – European markets. I’m feeling good about everything we’re working
which we’re very pleased has been proving itself – with creativity and towards at the moment.
innovation. We’re hugely fortunate to have so many talented people
in the business. If we look at the retail industry as a whole, do you have any
words of warning for the industry or advice from your own
As a leader who makes key strategic decisions, do you experiences?
prefer to rely on facts and figures, your natural instinct, or a I’m not one for giving advice per se, but if the last few years
combination of the two? have shown us anything it’s the cliché that we should ‘expect the
It has to be a combination of the two. I’m a believer in data-informed unexpected’. Given that’s impossible by nature, perhaps it can be
intuition. Facts and figures provide valuable insights - historical trends, boiled down to being flexible and adaptable, as this will best help you
market research, and performance metrics. Making decisions based get through everything that can be thrown at you.
on this information helps ensure that choices are well-informed and
evidence based. However, facts and figures don’t always paint the full Lastly, any final thoughts or anything else you would like to
picture; there are situations where data may be limited or unavailable, add for our readers?
or that simply quick decisions are required. I would say this is where my Be yourself. People relate to authenticity.

04 RETAIL & LEISURE INTERNATIONAL SEPTEMBER 2023