Sara Tervo's guest appearances

Sara Tervo

Women In Retail Talks

The Modern Retail Podcast

The CMO Podcast

Conversations with CommerceNext

OwlTail

Express was a ubiquitous mall retailer, but it's now trying to become much more than that. CMO Sara Tervo gave some insight into this brand.This week, on the Modern Retail Podcast, Tervo spoke about the Express's evolution. The apparel retailer first began in 1980, and was known as a mall mainstay. Now, Tervo has spent the last three years trying to refresh the retailer's image."When I joined the brand, we were needing a transformation," she said. Slowly but surely, that change has started to happen."What we really had to do was rebuild our approach to content, understand what was most relevant and connected across all the different platforms, rebuild our budgets and constantly iterate, learn and generate more content -- in an effort to connect and create conversation [as well as] to create a more relevant brand," Tervo said.Much of this focus was about livening up the company's social presence, as well as figuring out the types of inventory that worked best with Express's customers. Additionally, Tervo realized the company couldn't be considered a retailer dependent on promotions."We needed to pull back and drive value in different ways than just discounting," she said.So far, said Tervo, things have been going well. At its second-quarter earnings released last May, net sales increased 30% year-over-year to $450.8 million and e-commerce revenue grew 21%. Right now, said Tervo, the company is focused on growing its e-commerce revenue to over $1 billion. "We have bold goals for that channel," she said.Beyond that, Tervo is laser-focused on figuring out customer acquisition in this wonky marketing environment. The big thing she's learned over the last few years is to be authentic -- even tapping store associates -- and to try out everything. "We're always curious about beta partnerships and different ways to test and try new ways to connect with customers," she said.In the end, Tervo has unveiled a new Express -- one that's focused on digital and resonating with customers. Even so, Tervo doesn't think malls or in-store retail is dead. "I'm sure you've heard a lot of different people say that you can never replace an in-person experience. There's just absolute value in that," she said. "What's dying is probably bad in-store experiences or malls."

Express was a ubiquitous mall retailer, but it's now trying to become much more than that. CMO Sara Tervo gave some insight into this brand.This week, on the Modern Retail Podcast, Tervo spoke about the Express's evolution. The apparel retailer first began in 1980, and was known as a mall mainstay. Now, Tervo has spent the last three years trying to refresh the retailer's image."When I joined the brand, we were needing a transformation," she said. Slowly but surely, that change has started to happen."What we really had to do was rebuild our approach to content, understand what was most relevant and connected across all the different platforms, rebuild our budgets and constantly iterate, learn and generate more content -- in an effort to connect and create conversation [as well as] to create a more relevant brand," Tervo said.Much of this focus was about livening up the company's social presence, as well as figuring out the types of inventory that worked best with Express's customers. Additionally, Tervo realized the company couldn't be considered a retailer dependent on promotions."We needed to pull back and drive value in different ways than just discounting," she said.So far, said Tervo, things have been going well. At its second-quarter earnings released last May, net sales increased 30% year-over-year to $450.8 million and e-commerce revenue grew 21%. Right now, said Tervo, the company is focused on growing its e-commerce revenue to over $1 billion. "We have bold goals for that channel," she said.Beyond that, Tervo is laser-focused on figuring out customer acquisition in this wonky marketing environment. The big thing she's learned over the last few years is to be authentic -- even tapping store associates -- and to try out everything. "We're always curious about beta partnerships and different ways to test and try new ways to connect with customers," she said.In the end, Tervo has unveiled a new Express -- one that's focused on digital and resonating with customers. Even so, Tervo doesn't think malls or in-store retail is dead. "I'm sure you've heard a lot of different people say that you can never replace an in-person experience. There's just absolute value in that," she said. "What's dying is probably bad in-store experiences or malls."

'We were needing a transformation': Express CMO Sara Tervo on evolving the mall brand

Welcome to the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with CommerceNext and presented by Bloomreach.With career origins in PR, Sara Tervo is now CMO of EXPRESS, where she is busy executing their  EXPRESSway Forward Strategy that includes a digital transformation goal of growing the digital channel to $1 billion in 2024.Sara shares how her career took her from PR to marketing leadership. She describes the four pillars of EXPRESS’ digital strategy and how its digital team is organized. Finally, we also hear Sara’s take on the evolution of PR from depending on running ads and articles in a few key publications to creating authentic connections with thousands of influencers and brand ambassadors. If you’re enjoying this interview, you may want to join us for the CommerceNext Summit on June 21st &amp; 22nd at the New York Hilton Midtown. Hear execs from companies like GoPuff, American Eagle Outfitters, Kate Spade, Ralph Lauren, Alo Yoga, Neiman Marcus, Olaplex and more. We’ll be gathering our community of trailblazers and change-makers to talk about the future of digital commerce and share the latest strategies for ecommerce acceleration. The theme of the summit is Seizing the Next Wave of Growth and we’ll be covering everything from how to set up shop in the Metaverse to scaling performance marketing strategies with 1st party data. We hope you will join us in June. Learn more and register at commercenext.com.Thanks for tuning into this episode of Conversations with CommerceNext.  Please follow us on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music or your favorite podcast platform where we’ll be sharing career advice and marketing strategies from eCommerce and digital marketing leaders at retailers and direct-to-consumer brands each and every episode.   CommerceNext is a community, event series and conference for marketers at retail and direct-to-consumer brands. Through our online forums, interviews, webinars, summits and other in-person events, we harness the collective wisdom of our community to help marketers grow their businesses and advance their careers. Join CommerceNext events to meet other industry leaders and learn the latest ecommerce and marketing strategies. You can find upcoming events at CommerceNext.com About SaraSara Tervo has served as executive vice president and chief marketing officer since September 2019. Tervo joined Express from Justice, where she was executive vice president and chief marketing officer from 2016 to 2019. From 1998 to 2016, she held multiple leadership positions at L Brands across marketing, creative services and public relations, including executive vice president, marketing for Victoria’s Secret and senior vice president, marketing for PINK. ABOUT US: Scott SilvermanAn ecommerce veteran, Scott Silverman has been active in the industry since 1999 and is passionate about digital retail and the innovation driving the industry. Scott Silverman is the Co-Founder of CommerceNext. Previously, he spent 10 years as Executive Director of Shop.org where he launched the Shop.org Annual Summit. Scott co-invented “Cyber Monday” in 2005 and was the founder of Cybermonday.com in 2006, a shopping site that has generated more than $2.5 million for Shop.org’s scholarship fund.Veronika SonsevVeronika Sonsev is the Co-Founder of CommerceNext. She also leads the retail practice for Chameleon Collective and is a contributor for Forbes on how to grow retail and ecommerce in the age of Amazon. Having spent the last 10+ years working with some of the largest retailers and direct-to-consumer brands, Veronika has intimate knowledge of the challenges facing retail and ecommerce today. She is also an advocate for women in business and founded the global non-profit mBolden, which is now part of SheRunsit. Michael LeBlanc  is the Founder &amp; President of M.E. LeBlanc &amp; Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice.   He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing &amp; eCommerce leadership experience, and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career.  Michael is the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts including Canada’s top retail industry podcast,       The Voice of Retail, plus        Global E-Commerce Tech Talks  and       The Food Professor  with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.  You can learn more about Michael       here  or on       LinkedIn. 

Welcome to the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, I’m your host <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeleleblanc/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Michael LeBlanc</a>, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with CommerceNext and presented by Bloomreach.With career origins in PR, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-tervo-a7a5a8/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sara Tervo</a> is now CMO of EXPRESS, where she is busy executing their  EXPRESSway Forward Strategy that includes a digital transformation goal of growing the digital channel to $1 billion in 2024.Sara shares how her career took her from PR to marketing leadership. She describes the four pillars of EXPRESS’ digital strategy and how its digital team is organized. Finally, we also hear Sara’s take on the evolution of PR from depending on running ads and articles in a few key publications to creating authentic connections with thousands of influencers and brand ambassadors. If you’re enjoying this interview, you may want to join us for the CommerceNext Summit on June 21st &amp; 22nd at the New York Hilton Midtown. Hear execs from companies like GoPuff, American Eagle Outfitters, Kate Spade, Ralph Lauren, Alo Yoga, Neiman Marcus, Olaplex and more. We’ll be gathering our community of trailblazers and change-makers to talk about the future of digital commerce and share the latest strategies for ecommerce acceleration. The theme of the summit is <a href="https://commercenext.com/cn2022/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Seizing the Next Wave of Growth</a> and we’ll be covering everything from how to set up shop in the Metaverse to scaling performance marketing strategies with 1st party data. We hope you will join us in June. Learn more and register at <a href="http://commercenext.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">commercenext.com</a>.Thanks for tuning into this episode of Conversations with CommerceNext.  Please follow us on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music or your favorite podcast platform where we’ll be sharing career advice and marketing strategies from eCommerce and digital marketing leaders at retailers and direct-to-consumer brands each and every episode.   CommerceNext is a community, event series and conference for marketers at retail and direct-to-consumer brands. Through our online forums, interviews, webinars, summits and other in-person events, we harness the collective wisdom of our community to help marketers grow their businesses and advance their careers. Join CommerceNext events to meet other industry leaders and learn the latest ecommerce and marketing strategies. You can find upcoming events at<a href="https://commercenext.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> CommerceNext.com</a> <h2>About Sara</h2>Sara Tervo has served as executive vice president and chief marketing officer since September 2019. Tervo joined Express from Justice, where she was executive vice president and chief marketing officer from 2016 to 2019. From 1998 to 2016, she held multiple leadership positions at L Brands across marketing, creative services and public relations, including executive vice president, marketing for Victoria’s Secret and senior vice president, marketing for PINK. ABOUT US:  Scott SilvermanAn ecommerce veteran, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottrsilverman/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Scott Silverman</a> has been active in the industry since 1999 and is passionate about digital retail and the innovation driving the industry. Scott Silverman is the Co-Founder of CommerceNext. Previously, he spent 10 years as Executive Director of <a href="http://Shop.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Shop.org</a> where he launched the <a href="http://Shop.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Shop.org</a> Annual Summit. Scott co-invented “Cyber Monday” in 2005 and was the founder of <a href="http://Cybermonday.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Cybermonday.com</a> in 2006, a shopping site that has generated more than $2.5 million for <a href="http://Shop.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Shop.org</a>’s scholarship fund.Veronika Sonsev<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/vsonsev/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Veronika Sonsev</a> is the Co-Founder of CommerceNext. She also leads the retail practice for Chameleon Collective and is a contributor for Forbes on how to grow retail and ecommerce in the age of Amazon. Having spent the last 10+ years working with some of the largest retailers and direct-to-consumer brands, Veronika has intimate knowledge of the challenges facing retail and ecommerce today. She is also an advocate for women in business and founded the global non-profit mBolden, which is now part of SheRunsit. Michael LeBlanc  is the Founder &amp; President of M.E. LeBlanc &amp; Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice.   He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing &amp; eCommerce leadership experience, and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career.  Michael is the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts including Canada’s top retail industry podcast,       <a href="https://the-voice-of-retail.simplecast.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Voice of Retail,</a> plus        <a href="https://global-e-commerce-tech-talks.simplecast.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Global E-Commerce Tech Talks  </a>and       <a href="https://the-food-professor.simplecast.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Food Professor  </a>with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.  You can learn more about Michael       <a href="https://www.meleblanc.co/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here  </a>or on       <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeleleblanc/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn. </a>

Retail Transformation From The Office of the CMO: Sara Tervo, Express

Sara Tervo is the EVP and CMO at Express, a dual gender apparel and accessories brand. Express has been the quintessential shopping mall brand for most of its 42-year history. The brand is putting that image and legacy behind it as Sara and team give it a total makeover. Express has a fast-growing e-commerce business, with a goal to reach $1 billion in sales by 2024. Sara has worked in the fashion business for nearly 20 years–12 of those with Victoria’s Secret, rising to become EVP of Marketing. Sara left Victoria’s Secret to become CMO at the tween brand Justice, before becoming CMO at Express in September 2019.In this episode, Jim and Sara discuss the lessons she took from past experiences and how she applies them to current role at Express, what goes into re-imagining a brand and the importance of purpose and empowering your team.CMOs often hold one of the most innovative and challenging roles in business today. Those who excel can operate at the highest level to drive growth and create value for their organizations. To learn more how Deloitte helps bolster the value CMOs deliver, visit www.cmo.deloitte.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-tervo-a7a5a8/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Sara Tervo</a> is the EVP and CMO at Express, a dual gender apparel and accessories brand. Express has been the quintessential shopping mall brand for most of its 42-year history. The brand is putting that image and legacy behind it as Sara and team give it a total makeover. Express has a fast-growing e-commerce business, with a goal to reach $1 billion in sales by 2024. Sara has worked in the fashion business for nearly 20 years–12 of those with Victoria’s Secret, rising to become EVP of Marketing. Sara left Victoria’s Secret to become CMO at the tween brand Justice, before becoming CMO at Express in September 2019.In this episode, Jim and Sara discuss the lessons she took from past experiences and how she applies them to current role at Express, what goes into re-imagining a brand and the importance of purpose and empowering your team. CMOs often hold one of the most innovative and challenging roles in business today. Those who excel can operate at the highest level to drive growth and create value for their organizations. To learn more how Deloitte helps bolster the value CMOs deliver, visit <a href="http://www.cmo.deloitte.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">www.cmo.deloitte.com</a>.See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

Sara Tervo (Express) | Re-Imagining Your Brand

In this episode of Women in Retail Talks, Women in Retail Leadership Circle Senior Editor Marie Albiges interviews Sara Tervo, executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Express. Tervo discusses her role and responsibilities at Express, how she knew she was in the right positions during her career, the things she looked for when moving to a new job or brand, and how she worked to thrive in each new role.