Hello Retail 365 Launch Issue, October 2021

Brick-and-mortar digital reboot Meet the founder Nicole Hilton Rock ‘n’ Retail Playlist | PG 7 Best in Wholesale | PG 14 Reel content ideas | PG 27

OCTOBER 2021 VOLUME 1 | ISSUE 1

Founder Nickeisha Lewis

TAKE YOUR RETAIL SHOP TO THE NEXT LEVEL

RETAIL STORE DESIGN SERVICES Designing beautiful and functional spaces for female-owned retail shops, that elevate your image, attract customers and boost your revenue. @noladesigns_

info@noladesigns.ca

noladesigns.ca

OCTOBER 2021

Table of Contents

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Rock ‘n’ Retail Playlist Stop, drop and Shopify Hybrid Visual Merchandising Best in Wholesale Online subscription box Q&A Ross Simmonds Virtual shopping events Become an exceptional REELtailer

VOLUME 1 | ISSUE 1 EXECUTIVE FOUNDER, WRITER, EDITOR, MARKETING, ADVERTISING & SALES Nicole Hilton VP OF SALES David Downer CREATIVE DESIGN Treehouse Creative Agency For advertising or general inquiries hello@helloretail365.com Hello Retail 365 is published online 6 times a year and distributed to subscribers through Issuu.

Hello Retail 365 is owned and published independently in Thornbury, Ontario.

Copyright. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any article, video, photograph or artwork without permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited.

Hello Retail 365 encourages contributors of articles, photographs, video and other creative materials from the community. Please email hello@helloretail365.com. We reserve the right to edit materials received and can assume no responsibility for unsolicited materials.

Disclaimer: Advertisements published in Hello Retail 365 are supplied solely by the advertiser and the publisher accepts no responsibility to opinions expressed in advertisements or for copyright issues in respect to them.

You won't want to miss an issue of Hello Retail 365!

Join our Newsletter Follow on Instagram @helloretail365 If you would like to contribute as a guest writer for our January 2022 issue all about creating, sourcing, and ordering products that convert to sales visit helloretail365.com/contribute for more details.

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Taking Stock!

Meet the Executive Founder of Hello Retail 365: Nicole Hilton

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hank you for joining me in celebrating independent retailers in Canada by subscribing to Hello Retail 365. I hope you find inspiration in the curated content I’ve put together in this new magazine. As I like to say, think of it as your modern business coach!

Let’s see if we have something in common: Favourite food: Schwarties Hash Browns, if you know, you know

Nice to e-meet you!

Let’s get to know each other.

Watch my intro!

Favourite drink: decaf tea, water, wine, repeat Hometown: Burlington, Ontario Current town: Thornbury, Ontario Pets: 1-year old puppy named Dolly What am I watching: HGTV What am I reading: e-newsletters Favourite activities: catching up with family and friends and shopping local 

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You have a passion for retail and so do we.

RETAIL COUNCIL OF CANADA (RCC) is the

When you are a member, everyone in your

strongest retail advocacy association in Canada.

company gets access to these RCC resources

We work exclusively on behalf of retailers to

and services.

influence government policy, lead industry discussions, develop retail-specific research, and build thought leadership content to help retailers focus on their businesses and succeed.

Become a Retail Council of Canada member today and join Canada’s most influential community of retailers.

JOIN RCC AND BENEFIT FROM: •

Unparalleled retail advocacy. As The Voice of Retail™ for retailers in Canada, you can be assured your concerns will be heard by policy makers

•

Substantial savings and group benefit programs offered by leading industry suppliers and vendors

•

Exclusive retail-specific resources, tools, and the

Call 1-888-373-8245 or email membership@retailcouncil.org RetailCouncil.org/Membership

latest research •

Members-only privileges such as participation in special committees, access to counsel, guidebooks, templates, and huge discounts on training and events.

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Rock ‘n’ Retail Playlist T

his list of all-time Canadian favourites gets what it’s like to be a small business owner. Turn up the volume next time you’re at your desk because being an independent retailer ROCKS! My Music at Work | The Tragically Hip The title track to this playlist, for obvious reasons.

There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back, Shawn Mendes In a world of Justin Bieber, be like Shawn and find your own space to succeed.

What I Wouldn’t Do, Serena Ryder TBH is there really anything you wouldn’t do for your business?

Somewhere Out There, Our Lady Peace Finding customers online be like…

You Learn, Alanis Morissette Try it, learn from it, try it again.

Working for the Weekend, Loverboy What’s a weekend?

If I Had $1,000,000, Barenaked Ladies Said every independent business owner.

Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey), The Weeknd Oh here’s The Weeknd and you deserve it.

Life is a Highway, Tom Cochrane Enjoy the ride and take your customers on the journey with you.

Started from the Bottom (Edited Version) | Drake Sit back and let Champagne Papi remind you how far you’ve come. 

Takin’ Care of Business, Bachman-Turner Overdrive Wow, you know how to get things done.

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Stop, drop and Shopify: YOUR E-COMMERCE GROWTH STARTS HERE

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Interview with Scott Cunningham, Founder of Social Lite and Co-founder of Merchant Mastery

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uring the pandemic, many retailers were forced into selling online as a necessity to survive. Some businesses setup their e-commerce for the very first time, while others who were already established with online stores, looked for growth opportunities. One thing is for certain, no matter what stage you are in with your e-commerce business, selling online is here to stay.

advertising spend for their clients over the past year alone, and they are certified Klaviyo Masters, driving 20-40 percent of all sales through email marketing. Scott is also a co-founder at Merchant Mastery, a training and coaching incubator for Shopify store owners that has helped over 300 Shopify merchants launch and grow their digital campaigns.

Merchant Mastery introduced their first online course in spring 2020 as a pay what you can program on how to build your Shopify store. After experiencing immediate demand for this type of educational offering, they built out a bigger curriculum that extends after an online store is built. 

Scott Cunningham is the founder of Social Lite, a leading Shopify Partner agency that has helped dozens of Shopify stores around the globe scale past $1 million and beyond. The Social Lite team has managed more than $15 million in digital

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“We want to make sure retailers can understand their customer segment, write copy for their website that is going to convert high, build out offer strategies, launch ads and build emails,” says Scott.

“We created an 8 week course that’s 40 hours of content and helps businesses from beginning to end on those topics.”

Retailers can enroll to become members with Merchant Mastery, access the self-guided training and participate in live coaching sessions every week to answer any questions and ensure merchants are

getting the most out of the training. “We’re in everyone’s corner,” says Scott.

Once a Shopify site is up and running, it’s important to pair the product offering with the right marketing channels to attract customers. “If you’re a brick-and-mortar, you probably already have an existing customer base that you can use to drive traffic to your store,” explains Scott. “If you’re a brand-new start-up, selling direct to consumer, you might make the mistake of over investing in branding and inventory

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before evaluating product market fit.

First, you want to validate that you have something that people want to buy.”

with selling your best sellers online.

This will allow you to get comfortable with promoting your Shopify store to your e-mail list, learn the fulfillment process and address any issues with the operational part of the business.

Once you have a team member in place to oversee the online sales and you are confident you can run the store smoothly, expand by introducing more SKUs and product categories.

Once you have the fundamentals right, the next step in your e-commerce journey is to start diversifying your platforms. “We’ve been doing more with Snapchat and Pinterest. We don’t want to be dependent on one platform,” says Scott. “Building your own e-mail list is essential. Facebook could have a logarithm that changes, and you lose thousands of dollars in one day.

Make sure you are building your own community and your own lists.”

Scott advises, “the true heart of e-commerce marketing is knowing what people are going to say yes to when you present your product to the world.” 

A marketing channel he says works well for new businesses is micro-influencers.

Influencers with less than 1500 followers convert sales at a high rate because they have an actively engaged and authentic audience. Once you’ve done your product market fit and have some sales on your own, this is a good way to expand your efforts. “You always need some kind of leverage when approaching an influencer,” explains Scott. “You want to be able to say you’re a growing brand, give examples of how you’ve increased your network, sales numbers and provide positive feedback from customers.”

For independent brick-and-mortar retailers navigating the online world, Scott’s recommendation is to start by building a prototype of what the store is going to look like in five years. Start -

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Hybrid Visual Merchandising HOW TO PAIR YOUR IN PERSON AND ONLINE MERCHANDISING TO MAXIMIZE SALES H E L L O R E TA I L 3 6 5 . CO M

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Ani Nersessian is the head of VM ID, offering consulting, training, designing, and planning services as well as hands on labour to build effective visual merchandising strategies and displays. ni Nersessian knows the importance of having a strong strategy in place to convert strollers into shoppers. Visual merchandising is like your silent business partner – it can help increase your client base, add more items into carts and overall raise your average transaction value. She maintains that a customer’s own perception is a powerful selling tool.

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walls can direct your customers online to shop your full catalogue. Another practical example that Ani points to is the use of QR codes. “You can add a QR code in a window display to shop everything in that window,” says Ani. “When a customer scans the QR code all of the products in that display pop up on their phone as a shoppable curated collection.”

“When choosing to shop in person over the convenience of online shopping, obviously customers are there for the environment, so it’s important to have a plan in place that encourages your staff to maintain standards easily,” says Ani.

Creating that seamless connection between the in person and online worlds is always more exciting when you mix in something fun, like an Instagrammable wall. This concept isn’t new to visual merchandising but it’s holding on as a free marketing tool. Encourage your customers to tag your business by giving them one more reason to walk away with your social handle.

A top priority for independent retailers is to provide a consistent experience between the two selling platforms.

“It’s important to keep the messaging the same,” explains Ani. “If there’s a strong focus on a particular collection on the website and it drives customers to the store, the main story in the window display or launch zone can tie into that campaign to continue the momentum.”

Real Time Tip from Ani: By now, your visual merchandising for the holiday selling season is complete and it’s all about maintaining displays to maximize sales as items sell out. This season moves fast and is all about catering to the customer while making the shopping experience as easy as possible. 

On the flipside, adding informative decals to your window displays, cash desk or

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Best in Wholesale ORDER TOP SELLING PRODUCTS FOR YOUR STORE THAT ARE MADE, DESIGNED OR FOUNDED IN CANADA

MIMI & AUGUST Coco Mango Reusable Candle This candle is as zero waste as possible and comes in a beautiful reusable container that can become your favourite coffee or tea mug. mimiandaugust.com Wholesale: wholesale@mimihammer.com

PRAIRIE CHICK PRINTS Mugs All designs are individually heat pressed on a large ceramic mug with a charming enamel rustic look, printed on both sides with 15 oz. capacity and are dishwasher/microwave safe. prairiechickprints.com Wholesale: prairiechickprints@shaw.ca

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ONE LESS

VINTAGE MAP CO.

8oz Cool Cyan Glass Tumbler

Throw Pillows

These hand blown glass travel tumblers from SoL Cups are available in a variety of beautiful colours.

These 12x18" down-filled pillows feature real vintage maps of our favourite Canadian places, coast to coast Vancouver Island to Newfoundland!

onelesseco.com Wholesale: hello@onelesseco.com

vintagemapco.com Wholesale: helen@vintagemapco.com

GOLDILOCKS GOODS Goldilocks Pink Floral Beeswax Wraps Beeswax wraps are an all-natural, reusable, and eco-friendly alternative to plastic wrap in the kitchen. goldilocksgoods.com Wholesale: info@goldilockswraps.com

THE FRAUXMAGERIE Botanic Cam Exploding with flavour, the Botanic Cam is a rich and creamy frauxmage with earthy and nutty undertones. All natural dairy free, oil free, soy free, gluten free. thefrauxmagerie.com Wholesale: sales@thefrauxmagerie.com -

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Read all about it: AN ONLINE SUBSCRIPTION BOX WITH A PURPOSE Business profile and expert advice from Nicole McLaren, Founder and CEO of Raven Reads

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n 2017, Nicole McLaren launched her subscription box service Raven Reads.

It features books by Indigenous authors and giftware from Indigenous entrepreneurs across North America, for both adults and kids. Raven Reads operates out of Kamloops, British Columbia and has experienced a 300% increase in sales since the pandemic started.

relies on social media to have twoway conversations about the books her customers are receiving and address any questions. This keeps the line of communication open at all times and important conversations continuing after traditional business hours.

Considering launching a subscription box for your brick-and-mortar store?

“Raven Reads has a lot of potential to do so much more than just be a box that

Nicole says subscription boxes aren’t exclusively for online businesses. The industry splits itself into two categories: the recurring box that includes replenishment products (things you consume on a regular basis) and curated boxes (like Raven Reads) that leaves the items in the hands of the merchant to select as interesting or surprising to customers. Both are worth exploring for any brick-and-mortar store if you can provide fresh content each time! 

arrives at your door,” says Nicole. “It started as a tool to promote conversations about reconciliation, and it very quickly became a platform for amplifying other Indigenous brands and authors as well as introducing the business model to the Indigenous community.”

Nicole not only ensures direct revenue is going back into the Indigenous brands she works with, but also provides a growth and learning opportunity for small business owners. She has extended her day-to-day operations to include coaching the brands she works with through the process of shipping, doing a wholesale order and packaging for the size of orders they are receiving.

“The most rewarding aspect of running my business is the impact we are having,” she explains.

As an online business, social media has played an important role in shaping the Raven Reads community. Nicole -

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Now Open Online!

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custom online store for your business. visit digitalmainstreet.ca/ShopHERE to sign up now!

An initiative supported by the Province of Ontario, Federal Government, and key corporate partners.

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OCTOBER 2021

Playing it cool with Ross Simmonds INSPIRATIONAL AND MOTIVATIONAL Q&A

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oss Simmonds is the founder of Foundation Marketing, a content marketing agency that combines data and

creativity to develop and serve ambitious brands. Foundation Marketing provides content marketing services to organizations all over the world ranging from some of the fastest growing start-ups and consumer products to global Fortune 500 brands.

Ross and the team at Foundation have launched marketing initiatives that reach millions of people and generate millions of new business opportunities through SEO and social channels like Instagram, Slideshare, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and more.

Q. What keeps YOU motivated to motivate other entrepreneurs and marketers?

goal, dream, and ambition that they want to accomplish but may not know exactly how to get there.

A. When I think about marketers or entrepreneurs in their early career, I often think about what I wish I had when I was first getting started: resources, information, and insights on how to navigate the world of digital, the various trends and how I can use them to get closer to my goals and objectives faster.

At the end of the day, I always look at life as being really and truly built on the back of relationships and the internet gives me the ability to create content that facilitates and connects with millions of people. If I can do that consistently to help motivate and inspire other entrepreneurs and marketers to do great work and ultimately achieve their dreams, then I will feel like my time on this planet was well worth it.

I am constantly thinking about how I can help the 20- or 60-year-old versions of me in the sense that they have a mindset,

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Q. Digital marketing is playing a bigger role than ever in the future of business.

What are the top trends you are keeping an eye on?

things like books and radio. As much as I would love to see more people reading long form content, I have to acknowledge the fact that people want video content because it’s easier and sometimes even more enjoyable to consume for those who enjoy visual content. As such I look at video content across multiple platforms ranging from TikTok to Youtube as a

A. I believe VIDEO MARKETING presents the strongest opportunity to connect with people. There’s also a reason why so many people watch TV in the mornings, evenings, and weekends and why movies and TV shows have continuously become a part of our culture as society in comparison to the lack of adoption to -

massive opportunity and something that’s going to continue to play a major role in business in the future. 

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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE is something that a lot of marketers aren’t thinking about but should have their eye on as it’s quickly becoming more and more real as something that could shake up the way we do business. I believe in the future, we’re going to get to the point where AI will be able to tackle a lot of the repeatable work we do on a regular basis. Projects we tackle that require a lot of creativity, high EQ, and emotional connection may not be replaced but a lot of repetitive things will ultimately have the ability to be replaced

by AI and as such, I am feeling like more marketers need to be aware of this and recognize that simple things like optimizing a website to have the appropriate tags and meta description may in fact be replaced by an AI in the future.

What I will tell you is that we need to place less emphasis on the importance of creating more content and more emphasis on the distribution of content we create.

DISTRIBUTION. There’s more content being created than ever before. If you ask a handful of high school students what they want to be when they grow up, a lot of them will say “an influencer”. What does that mean? It means that a lot of people are creating content naturally, not only to create content for their personal social media accounts, but at a young age they’re creating content with the hope of potentially taking that on as a career. In a world where more companies are being invented and more content is being created, what do brands have to do? Most gurus will tell you they need to create more content.

A. Don’t water down your perspective. 

Q. What’s the best content hack or DIY tip you can share?

A. The best content hack I’d share with anyone is the importance of remixing and reusing old content. Just because you created one piece of content that lives on a blog, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn doesn’t mean it has to live and die solely on that platform. I encourage you to embrace the idea of distributing elsewhere. “Create once, distribute forever.”

Q. If your past-self could give your current-self one piece of entrepreneurial advice, what would it be?

SOCIAL MEDIA THIS OR THAT  Live or Recorded  TikTok or Instagram Reels  Long Captions or Emojis  Podcasts or YouTube  B TS (behind the scenes) or Professional Content  Z oom Meetings or In-person Meetings  Instagram Live or Clubhouse  DM or Email

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Build your community with virtual shopping events (PARTY IN THE FRONT, ONLINE SALES IN THE BACK!)

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onna Smith, Founder of the Canadian clothing brand Miik, shares her tips for going LIVE. Everyone knows the saying ‘if you build it, they will come’! Founder of Miik, Donna Smith put this saying to the test when the pandemic changed her business model.

During a Zoom call, a member of her team suggested she host a Facebook Live event. Donna remembers thinking she had never done anything like this before and had never been on camera. What she thought was going to be a 10-minute show and tell with her clothing brand, turned into a series of Virtual Happy Hour parties on Facebook and Instagram Live.

Miik’s Virtual Happy Hours include guests, product features, incentives, beer, and a very engaged audience.

Here are the top 5 tips for hosting an online event for your store or brand:

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Live product try-ons help increase social sales Donna previously used models for her clothing line and realized that her customers are interested in seeing every shape and size. She invited guests to join her and try-on outfits, so viewers could see how the products looked and fit.

Teamwork makes the dream work A lot can happen during a live event on social media! From technical difficulties to an overwhelming number of questions from viewers, Donna was prepared with a team member monitoring Instagram, 2 team members monitoring Facebook and another team member feeding her questions through an earpiece.

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Add value for your audience

Miik

Your followers need to know that by watching the online event, they are being rewarded with something special.

Miik offers sitewide discounts on certain pieces as well as a giveaway at the end of the Virtual Happy Hour.

fashion brand, proudly made in Canada.

They custom mill and dye their fabrics and cut and sew each garment locally in Toronto. They reduce their environmental impact through eco-friendly fabrics, ethical manufacturing, lasting quality, and a less is more mindset. From their leggings to their tailored blazers, their buttery soft collections are fashion for real life.

Extend your marketing reach by posting a recording of your live social event Sharing an on-demand recording on your Facebook page or IGTV gives additional customers the chance to watch a replay if they missed the live event. It also provides an opportunity for new customers to discover your brand. Donna sees a spike in sales the day of the event and during the few days afterward.

a

woman-owned

sustainable

Watch a behind the scenes interview with Donna Smith, Founder of Miik, and find out more about her dedicated online community and Virtual Happy Hour events. 

If you have an idea, try it Donna says the things she thought wouldn’t work, are the things that ended up being the most successful. If you have a crazy idea, test it, try it, and go for it! The worst that can happen is it doesn’t work, and you learned from the experience.

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Easy ideas for becoming an exceptional REELtailer!

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hort videos are the way of the future on social media. A few months ago, increased engagement with videos lead Instagram to shift their focus to

enhancing their platform for micro-video production including music, audio, multiple video clips, filters, stickers, captions, backgrounds and more.

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Should you try Instagram Reels?

them again as Reels and the watermark could make your video less likely to be seen on the Reels tab.

YES! This is the year for trying new things.

Reels are a good way to engage your followers and for potential customers to discover you. Best practice is to post your reel on your feed and then share it in your Instagram Stories for more views. There’s also a tab at the bottom of Instagram’s home page where users can scroll through trending Reels and find yours.

How often should I post a Reel?

Your social media strategy should be planned out in advance. Consistent posting will increase your followers and keep them engaged. The more Reels you share, the better the chances of achieving these things. Make sure you have substantial content and avoid sharing a Reel with no purpose. 

Should I post my TikTok videos on Instagram Reels?

NO! Let TikTok videos live on TikTok. You can’t remove the branding when you post

Hello Retail 365 created these convenient content ideas for you to reel in more sales:

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Shop tour or window display tour

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Behind the scenes making of your product

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The different stages of setting up a merchandise display

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Unboxing new merchandise

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Fashion brand try-ons

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How-to cooking demo with food products

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Best ways to style jewellery

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In-store event set-up

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Sale preview

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Assembling a gift basket with themed products

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Address your FAQs

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"I love the smell of fresh digital marketing in the morning."