The emergent metaverse is forcing consumer-facing brands to confront it. Crate & Barrel (Northbrook, IL) is doing so by tapping its head of visual merchandising, Sebastian Brauer, to spearhead the brand’s strategy as it concerns this untilled digital realm.
“My passion leading teams to enable transformation – especially by bridging the physical and digital worlds through design thinking, collaboration and creativity – will allow us to explore new mediums, dimensions and technology to effectively introduce [Crate & Barrel Holdings] to a new, modern and experiential marketplace,” said Brauer, who received a promotion to Senior Vice President for Product Design, Development and Metaverse.
Given that Brauer doesn’t come from a marketing background, Crate & Barrel’s choice to lead its metaverse charge may have caught some retail pros by surprise. Indeed, his appointment prompted Retail Wire to ask: Which executive role should be responsible for the metaverse?
Dave Bruno, Director of Retail Market Insights at Aptos, said, “Crate & Barrel’s decision to appoint Mr. Brauer, head of product design and visual merchandising, to lead up metaverse strategy is an interesting choice. … Perhaps Crate & Barrel is on to something, as I suspect how products come to life visually in the metaverse will play a significant role in determining retailing success there. I will be very interested to see how Crate & Barrel proceeds given this unique approach to leadership.”
Carol Spieckerman, President of Spieckerman Retail, said, “Like most things in retail, it depends. For now, many retailers see the metaverse as a branding exercise, so tucking it under marketing makes sense. Crate & Barrel’s decision to add metaverse explorations to existing responsibilities demonstrates the cautious curiosity phase that many retailers are in now.”
Read more reactions at Retail Wire.