Chief Marketing Officer

When I joined Evereve in 2019, the symptoms were clear: tripled marketing investment and accelerated store growth, yet new customer acquisition was down 5% year-over-year and retention had softened. The culprit wasn't spend — it was lack of focus. The company ran on constant new ideas and fast pivots, and the team’s limited bandwidth was diffused across too many directions.

The first order of business was getting the team aligned on true priorities. We brought catalog production in-house to free up budget for elevated creative. We fixed brand coherence — catalog, email, paid social, organic, influencers, and stores had all been telling different stories. A new integrated content calendar and weekly cross-functional planning changed that. We rebuilt the paid media foundation: lookalike and RFM-based audiences in paid social, Google Smart Shopping and retargeting, proper product feeds, and a decisive pivot toward video as Reels emerged. And we rebuilt the visual identity from the ground up — moving away from bright, busy, fast-fashion aesthetics toward a warmer, more editorial look that actually reflected the modern woman EVEREVE was built to serve.

Then COVID closed the stores. With e-commerce as the only lifeline, the team doubled email cadence, doubled organic social output, and quadrupled social selling video — with no added headcount. The team rose to the challenge and EVEREVE remained profitable through 2020 while most specialty retailers bled.

That foundation made 2021 a breakout year. With the board's support to increase marketing spend from 4% to 6% of revenue, we layered in more aggressive investment across the full funnel — and the business responded. In 2022, we went further: 10% of revenue in media, plus an incremental $2M Chicago market test. We added CTV, streaming audio, editorial partnerships (Who What Wear, Magnolia), and original content — including the Ever-Forward series — to build emotional resonance alongside conversion.

My nearly six years at Evereve were an incredible ride: building the foundation, managing through COVID, accelerating the business, and then optimizing for long-term growth and continued expansion. It's one of the best stories in retail.

Results (2019-2024):
+170% revenue ($142M → $380M), with just a 19% increase in store count
+430% ecomm revenue
+240% a-EBITDA
+110% active customer file
+11 percentage point customer retention rate
+50% brand awareness in store markets

Chief Marketing Officer

The Evereve customer cares about fashion — but she doesn't live for it. She wants a trusted guide: tell her what matters this season, how to wear it, how to build an outfit, what's right for the occasion. She's not looking for a fashion authority to impress her. She's looking for a friend who knows more than she does.

Evereve TV (EETV) was built for her. An employee-hosted video series featuring the stylists and staff she already trusted, delivering trend education, outfit inspiration, and styling guidance with warmth and approachability. No models. No pretense. Just people she liked, telling her what she needed to know — and making it fun. It felt like walking into her favorite store, which was exactly the point.

In many ways, it was our best brand advertising. Not because it looked like advertising, but because it didn't.

Distributed across social, e-commerce, and in stores, the series grew to 150+ videos per year — boosting e-commerce conversion and AOV, and contributing to Instagram follower growth from 354K to 625K in 2024.

Chief Marketing Officer

The Evereve customer is someone who leans into life — drawn to women who embody growth and possibility. A deep customer segmentation study revealed the insight that shaped everything that followed: This is an amazing time in your life. You have the energy, the empathy, and the resourcefulness to become your best self — and to lift everyone around you.

That insight led to a new brand purpose — to inspire women to keep moving forward, in their fashion and in their lives — adopted throughout the company. Ever-Forward was its expression.

We launched an original series featuring accomplished women who live the brand's ethos — including Ally Love, Emma Grede, and Liz Phair — from catalog profiles to social content to a dedicated site hub. We also partnered with Who What Wear and Magnolia, became a founding sponsor of Julia Louis-Dreyfus's podcast, and launched a local version celebrating exceptional women in Evereve's Twin Cities home market.

The work resonated. Brand awareness grew 50% in under two years and new customer acquisition more than doubled.

While Chief Marketing Officer

Denim plays an outsized role in Evereve's growth model. When a woman finds jeans that fit well and feel current, it builds trust in the brand and accelerates engagement across every category — making denim one of the highest-leverage entry points in the business.

We didn't reinvent the offering. We made it a bigger, more consistent marketing priority. Dedicated denim pushes in January, spring, and fall — anchored by a year-round messaging cadence — positioned Evereve as a denim authority across channels. The message was persistent, the creative was confident, and the results followed.

Results (2023–2024):
+68% denim sales over two years
+210 basis point improvement in margin

The brand equity built through consistent denim authority set the stage for a successful private label launch and opened the door to a younger customer — without alienating the core.

Chief Creative Officer

Best Buy's 2015 customer segmentation revealed their most valuable customers were tech enthusiasts who see technology as integral to their lives. But to build an effective campaign, we needed to understand what truly motivated them.

MRI analysis gave us a much fuller picture. These customers are ambitious, style-oriented, and externally motivated — they seek recognition for being in-the-know and choose brands with badge value in mind. Two data points said it all: "I want others to say 'wow' when they see my electronics" (index 233) and "I'd pay extra for a product that portrays the right image" (index 153).

The "Win the Holidays" campaign reframed gift-giving as a competition, big purchases as social currency, and Best Buy as the partner that helps you stay ahead. And because MRI also showed this audience values brands that don't take themselves too seriously, we adopted a lighter, more human tone than previous campaigns.

Results:
• Record-high return on ad spend
• Significant improvements across all brand health metrics — despite reduced media spend
• Outperformed all tracked competitors during the holiday season

The "Win" platform proved so effective it became Best Buy's ongoing creative framework.

Chief Creative Officer

The vast majority of Best Buy's advertising budget came from vendor partners — Apple, Samsung, Google, LG, Microsoft, Sony — each wanting their ads to stand out from the others. The result was fragmented creative that looked like a loose confederation of individual product campaigns. Best Buy got little credit for any of it.

We needed to convince partners that a unified Best Buy campaign would deliver better performance for everyone.

The case we built centered on a single customer insight: Best Buy's most valuable customers don't buy tech for features alone — they buy it for social currency. A 4K TV isn't just about picture quality; it's about throwing the Super Bowl party everyone wants to attend. A new laptop isn't just computing power; it's proof you're always one step ahead.

One Best Buy voice. One visual system. One message. We showed vendors their products would perform better — and benefit from the halo of a stronger Best Buy brand — inside a cohesive campaign than competing against each other in isolated ads.

They bought in.

Results:
• Record-high return on ad spend
• Two consecutive years of same-store sales growth, market share gains, and profit increases
• $60M+ increase in vendor funding based on campaign performance

Chief Creative Officer

Incoming college freshmen are navigating two anxieties at once: the academic challenge ahead and the social pressure to fit in from day one. Like Best Buy's core target, these students are highly motivated by external recognition — they want to be seen as in-the-know before they've had the chance to prove it.

"Tech to Impress" gave them a guide. Adam DeVine played the older brother of Andy, a nervous incoming freshman — equal parts hype man and insider, showing his kid brother how the right tech could set him up to impress from the start. Best Buy wasn't just selling laptops and headphones; it was selling confidence.

The campaign resonated. "Tech to Impress" became one of the most successful back-to-school campaigns in recent Best Buy history — driving +1.8% same-store sales growth in an environment of negative industry growth, with double-digit gains in both profit margin and market share.

President, Peterson Milla Hooks

The “Money Can’t Buy Style” campaign targeted a customer profile we named the “Stylepreneur” because of her entrepreneurial, almost maverick approach to fashion. Research showed that compared to apparel shoppers at Target and Walmart, the Stylepreneur was more assertive, independent and vocal.  She wasn’t concerned about the latest trend or wearing the right label, she wanted to express herself and stand out from the crowd.  By the numbers, the Stylepreneur was younger, more urban, more ethnically diverse and, most importantly, more inclined to shop at Kmart.

Street casting was held in New York to find people who authentically demonstrated the Stylepreneur gene. Fashion bloggers were also invited to participate in the shoot, helping spread the word about the new campaign. When the cast arrived at the shoot, there was no stylist on hand.  Instead they were directed to "put together whatever you want, however you want."

Interactive components of the campaign invited Stylepreneurs to “Show Us What You Got" with a contest that asked people to submit photos and videos of themselves rocking their personal style. A small group was selected to attend a casting session via Skype with photographer/director Chris Heads.  The eventual winner received a trip to New York and was photographed for the spring campaign.

We also activated a Remix Challenge for influencers and bloggers during Fashion Week to generate PR and social content, and drive visits to the website.

Results

Kmart made significant progress attracting a younger customer, tallying more share growth than both Target and Walmart in the under 25 segment (NPD). 

See case study video.

President, Peterson Milla Hooks

Gap has always known that great brands stand for more than products and prices. The mission for Gap was to rise above the promotional noise of the holiday season and take the emotional high road. 

“Make Love” celebrated people who are making more love in the world through their philanthropy, art and actions.  Like Cindy Lauper and Billy Porter teaching us about acceptance in Kinky Boots; Waris Ahluwalia and Quentin Jones showing us new ways to look at the world; Harry Belafonte and Q-Tip’s fight against violence; Kyleigh Kuhn’s project to build schools for Afghan girls; Tony Bennett’s Exploring the Arts foundation, making sure every public school student has an opportunity to be inspired.

In addition to getting a lot of news coverage, “Make Love” won two Grand CLIO Image Awards, a Mosaic Award, and the Sikh Image Award from the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (for the ad featuring Waris Ahluwalia).

Results

Gap experienced two consecutive years of same store sales increases and a 67% rise in the company's stock price (a top ten S&P 500 performer). Yahoo Finance named Gap it's Company of the Year in 2012.

President, Peterson Milla Hooks

How did Target become Tar-zhay? Well, there are lots of reasons. But first and foremost: they made it easy and fun to shop. By convincing their guests that chic and cheap could comfortably co-exist, Target completely redefined people's expectations of the mass channel. From their design ethos to community giving to designer partnerships, Target tirelessly delivered on their promise of "Expect More. Pay Less." And, as a result, they saw their market value grow by $50 billion.

PRESIDENT, PETERSON MILLA HOOKS

For years, Gap had experienced an identity crisis, chasing the latest trends and trying to play the fast fashion game. Remember their logo reinvention debacle?

When a new management and creative team took over the brand, they set out to re-establish what Gap had always done best – well-constructed basics at a democratic price. 

The “Back To Blue” campaign was about returning to Gap’s authentic roots and reclaiming their leadership in denim. It championed the importance of being true to yourself and following your own unique path. 

Millennial talent including Dree Hemingway, Ian Mellencamp, Alexa Ray Joel and Dhani Harrison underscored Gap’s message of honoring heritage while embracing the future.

Results

Gap experienced two consecutive years of same store sales increases and a 67% rise in the company's stock price (a top ten S&P 500 performer). Yahoo Finance named Gap it's Company of the Year in 2012.

PRESIDENT, PETERSON MILLA HOOKS

We put together a brand book for Gap Inc's management team expressing our belief that Banana Republic should return to its core DNA of adventure and discovery, through a modern urban lens that connected with the aspirations of the Millennial generation.

PRESIDENT, PETERSON MILLA HOOKS

Nine West needed a brand rejuvenation. While the product had improved and become more stylish, it was still perceived as vanilla work wear. It had become forgettable to its core audience and invisible to Millennials.

We embraced the one advantage Nine West had over its competition - its incredible variety and breadth. Whatever kind of shoe you were looking for, you could probably find it at a Nine West store.

Our campaign idea was to underscore that Nine West had a shoe for every occasion, and to create talk value by inventing all new occasions for the modern woman's, "Girls" inspired, Instagram-driven lifestyle. We purposely pushed the envelope and over half a billion earned media impressions later, Nine West was back on the radar. 

Results

See case study video.

PRESIDENT, PETERSON MILLA HOOKS

Sephora was beloved for its cosmetics, but didn't get much credit for its skincare business. This was a concern as skincare was the fast-growing and highest margin category in beauty.  “Skincare Junkies” told the story of Sephora’s skincare expertise, balancing a brand message for Sephora with product callouts for its many co-op partners. While most skincare advertising tends to be serious and full of science, we chose to to stay true to Sephora's fun, approachable personality.

The campaign came to life across all consumer touch points including print, OOH, digital and social media, and in store.

PRESIDENT, PETERSON MILLA HOOKS

Behr had a reputation as a solid, hardworking, go-to paint. But “great quality” and “one-coat coverage” were no longer enough to keep people interested. Color choice had become the motivating factor for paint shoppers, and they were looking to social media for inspiration.

The “True To Hue” campaign celebrated Behr’s color story by using Behr’s unique paint names as the subject matter for short, engaging, human stories distributed via digital and social media. Unlike other paint brands, Behr communicated that great design wasn't about copying the paint trend of the season, but about finding the color that represents your individuality.

Results

Behr recorded its highest-ever sales and increased its lead in market share. Additionally, the brand's reputation score with DIY'ers improved from #4 to #2 in the category.

PRESIDENT, PETERSON MILLA HOOKS

“Love Comes in Every Shade” started as an assignment to promote Gap's colorful product assortment for the holidays. 
e came back with a campaign that was much more than just a color story. It also celebrated the holidays as a time to reconnect with family, and redefined the very notion of "family" to include not only the people who share our blood, but share our lives. 

Each ad in the campaign highlighted a different form of loving relationship – some traditional, some less so.  Puppy Love with actor Jack Huston and his dog Orso; Best Friend Love with director Gia Copolla and actress Nathalie Love; True Love with actors Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan; Fatherly Love with rapper Nas and his father, blues musician Olu Dara; Sibling Love with surf band The Atomics; In Love with actress Diana Garcia and musician Gregory Rosgove; Married Love with musician Rufus Wainright and artistic director Jorn Weisbrodt;, and Self Love with actress Aubrey Plaza.

Results

At the time of the campaign, WWD reported “Gap has been on a tear lately”. The company announced a 60% increase in net income, and a 7% increase in same-store sales for the Gap brand (the best in nine years), and finished the year as one of the top performers on the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index. 

MARKETING ADVISOR

Dr. Marion Parke is a MN-based foot surgeon and luxury footwear designer. Her first collection launched in 2016.  

"Like the women who wear them, my shoes are more than beautiful - they’re designed to perform. With biomechanical innovations you can’t see, but will feel the moment you put them on. The technology is invisible; you never will be."

PRESIDENT, PETERSON MILLA HOOKS

Select Comfort enjoyed brisk sales when it invented the Sleep Number – the setting at which your mattress delivers your ideal comfort and support. The business was especially successful with an older customer who suffered medical issues and back problems. At the time, Sleep Number effectively targeted this customer through vehicles like QVC and late-night, long-form infomercials.

 As sales began to stall, however, customer segmentation work showed the need to move to a younger, more health-conscious customer – one less plagued by medical problems and more concerned with optimizing health. 

The “Know Better Sleep” campaign positioned good sleep as the third leg of a healthy lifestyle (along with nutrition and exercise), and explained why Sleep Number technology was essential to your best night’s sleep. Because of Sleep Number’s infomercial past, it was important to overcome a “gimmicky” perception of the brand and update its dry, brochure-like approach to communications.  By elevating the brand’s aesthetic, giving it personality and emotion, and presenting Sleep Number’s technology in a more human way, “Know Better Sleep” improved credibility scores and created new momentum for the brand.

Results

The first year following the launch of the new, multi-channel campaign, Sleep Number's net sales increased by 40% and same store sales grew 22% YOY. 

PRESIDENT, PETERSON MILLA HOOKS

While Children’s is the leading pediatric hospital in the Twin Cities, the metro has two other children's hospitals that vie for patients and charitable donations. They also faced increasing competition from the expansion of general-patient hospital groups and aggressive marketing by venerable out-of-town institutions such as Sanford Health and the Mayo Clinic.   

Adding to the confusion of this cluttered marketplace, hospital advertising was a sea of sameness – research credentials and care statistics, highly produced photography, casts of happy, smiling patients and doctors, and saccharine soundtracks. 

Research showed while most parents were aware of the Children’s brand, those who hadn’t been there didn’t understand how the Children's care experience was unique.  As such, we felt the job for the campaign was to demonstrate to parents (and potential donors) what made Children’s Children’s.

“That’s why we’re called Children’s” pulled back the curtain to share the authentic personalities and passion of Children’s staff. Spending two days inside the hospital with a skeleton film crew (camera operator, sound technician and director), we captured genuine interactions between staff and patients. Print, outdoor and digital work featured actual patients with messages about Children’s kid-centric philosophy.  This honest, unvarnished portrayal of Children’s brought the hospital to life in a fresh, unexpected and differentiated way.

Results

The campaign gave a major boost to top of mind awareness, ad recall and persuasion.  Market share increased by 2.3% (a major shift) and year-over-year annual giving increased by 39%.  Additionally, Children’s registered 50,000 more visits to their website than the previous year, with 77% of these visitors new to Children’s.

CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER

Our analytics team discovered that we were under-represented with 18-24 year old men, and had a major opportunity to grow profitable share with them. “Tech to the Rescue” was a content experiment precision-targeted to this group via our social channels. The show featured two employees, Mike and Tony, who dished out advice in a Love Line-like manner. No matter what problem a caller described, a piece of technology was always the answer. 

Tom is an accomplished Marketing, Growth and Creative executive with deep retail experience and a strong track record of building brands, igniting growth, and developing high-performing teams.

As Chief Marketing Officer at Evereve, he led a comprehensive brand and marketing transformation—more than doubling revenue, profit, awareness and customer growth, and evolving the business from a regional player into a national brand.

Prior to Evereve, Tom was Chief Creative Officer at Best Buy, where he oversaw creative, content and design across the Fortune 75 company and built a 105-person in-house agency and creative studio.

Earlier in his career, Tom held roles at Wieden+Kennedy and Fallon, co-founded the creative startup One&All, and served as president of Peterson Milla Hooks (PMH)—a boutique creative agency specializing in retail, fashion and lifestyle brands. Under his leadership, PMH doubled in size, won two Grand Clios in the fashion category, and was named Advertising Age’s “Comeback Agency of the Year.”

Tom’s experience spans smaller, up-and-coming brands (Red Wing, Culver’s), iconic global brands (United, Coca-Cola), and nationally-recognized retail brands (Gap, Athleta, Kohl’s, Sephora, Target). He’s managed teams in the US, UK, Europe, South America and Asia and serves as a member of the ANA’s CMO Global Growth Council.

INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP
• CMO Global Growth Council - Brand, Creativity & Media Innovation
• Presenter, ADWEEK Marketing Vanguard CMO Conference
• Presenter, Belardi Wong Summit - “Evereve: A Masterclass in Brand Building”
• Grand Jury Judge, DRUM North American Marketing Awards
• Keynote speaker, Advertising Age Brand Summit, “Bringing Agency Thinking In-House”
• ANA Masters of Marketing - “Data & Creative: An Unlikely Love Story”
• Final Round Judge, EFFIE Effectiveness Awards