At Snipes, marketing is not a tug-of-war between brand and sales, according to CMO Kelley Walton. It starts with culture and community, then proves itself at the register.

Snipes first established itself as a cultural player in sneakers and streetwear in Europe, then in the United States. Its Pull Up Fresh back-to-school campaign brings that positioning into focus with a multi-generational cast that includes DJ Khaled, streamer Reggie, influencer Azzy, and rapper JT. The work leans into social platforms and creator storytelling while still relying on traditional channels to meet customers where they are.

In this Q&A, Walton explains why she rejects the idea that creative and performance are at odds, how she thinks about creators as both partners and media channels, and why CMOs need to “loosen up the reins” to let younger consumers participate in the brand.

Chief Marketer: You have said marketing at Snipes lives at the intersection of culture, community and commerce. What does that mean for your role as CMO?

Kelley Walton: The objectives and goals of our marketing team here at Snipes align with how I think about marketing overall: marketing lives at this intersection of culture, community and commerce. We can embed ourselves in culture, build a community around our brand and use that to drive commercial impact.

The opportunity has been to add additional rigor to use that cultural credibility to drive commercial impact, both across campaigns and in how we scale our operational sophistication and measure how our work drives both brand and sales impact.

CM: There is a belief that great creative and commercial performance are at odds. How do you think about that tension?

KW: I push back against that notion.I have always been a marketer who believes, and has been able to prove, that really sound creative work creates great commercial impact. Creative work that resonates with your customer and is built on insights that really resonate with them will create the most impactful work. Just because you are trying to sell something does not make it bad, and you do not always have to hit people over the head with a sales message to drive it.

We start with an insight. We put our customer at the center of everything that we do, and we try to speak authentically to them in the tone of voice and in the way that our brand would speak to them from a Snipes perspective, which is culturally forward.

CM: For Pull Up Fresh, how did you approach talent and reach both younger audiences and their parents?

KW: We start with the consumer first. We think about who the consumer is, what they are interested in and which talent we think will resonate with them.

With this back-to-school campaign, we know we have a multi-generational customer. We have the kids who are shopping for back-to-school, but also their parents, who are often the ones buying the things. I have two of those in my own house. I have a Gen Alpha and a Gen Z. They want to buy things, but I am the one spending the money, so when we are thinking about the customer, we have to appeal to them.

That is how we got to this multi-generational cast of talent. You have DJ Khaled, who will appeal more to parents. Then you have Reggie the streamer and Azzy the influencer, who will appeal more to a younger audience, and JT is that fashion It girl right now who will cut across demographics.

Gen Alpha and Gen Z have been raised in an era when they are digitally native and social media is so prevalent. They are going to social media first to search, figure out what to buy, get their news and connect with their friends, so we have to speak in the language of that customer. We think about these channels first when we are thinking about campaigns.

CM: What does your media mix look like, and how does that tie into your idea of being “hyper local at scale”?

KW:  We are thinking about ways to reach that younger audience, so we are putting a lot of emphasis on social, but we also have audiences that are still later millennials and even some young Gen Xers, and we need to reach them where they are as well.

We do digital out-of-home, paid digital and paid social, and we even have some interesting partnerships where we leverage media to bring our brand to life. We are, for example, a sponsor of the New York Liberty. As part of that partnership, we run ads on traditional linear TV. We also partner with local and terrestrial radio, such as Hot 97 in New York.

We like to say at Snipes that we are hyper-local at scale, so we can have our finger on the pulse of what is hot in Detroit, Atlanta, New York, DC, you name it. We use targeted out-of-home and local radio to really get specific about reaching those audiences. We tap hyper-local creators in different markets to talk to consumers there, then partner with Liberty and the Sixers to tap into that local community, let them know we are here for them, and bring that into our stores as well.

CM: You treat creators as both partners and media channels. How does that play out in your work with streamers and other talent?

KW: When you look at their following across social platforms, they are as much a media channel as they are a creator. We think not only about the creators as talent, but also about how we can leverage their media audience through their social handles to target our audience in a meaningful way.

The best partnerships, whether with a streamer, a hip-hop artist, or an athlete, are ones where you share common interests and have an authentic affinity for your brand. I always ask the team, when we are thinking about talent, “Would this person really shop in a Snipes store?” Do they feel like they wear this gear? Are they aligned with our brand? That makes it easy.

CM: What advice would you give other CMOs who are trying to connect creative ideas to business outcomes, especially when working with creators?

KW: I always start with the ultimate objective in mind, and then everything we do, we go back to that.

I spent most of my career at big, long-standing brands at LVMH, NBA and Coca-Cola, and at those brands you learn to have tight control over your brand and your brand narrative. But we know Gen Z and Gen Alpha want to engage with your brand.

So, as you work in this age, trying to reach these consumers through creators, you have to loosen the reins and be willing to collaborate with creators, rather than trying to dictate the message to your customers. Invite your creators and customers to help shape your brand narrative.

This interview was lightly edited for length and clarity.