Favorite Parts of Working in the Retail Industry as a Loyalty Marketing Analyst
Steve enjoys the "really talented people" in both retail and tech, finding the marketing-driven nature of retail impactful and the "nimbleness and agileness" of tech exciting, allowing for a role in "creating the future of gaming."
Marketing, Retail, Technology, Impactful Roles, Agile Environments
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Steve Masline
Analyst, Loyalty Marketing
Williams Sonoma
University of Michigan, 2017
M.B.A. at UCLA Anderson School of Management, 2023
Philosophy
Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)
Communication and Marketing
Took Out Loans
Video Highlights
1. Working with talented people in both retail and tech industries.
2. The significant influence of marketing in driving company value and direction, particularly in retail.
3. The fast-paced, agile environment of the tech industry and the opportunity to shape the future, as opposed to solely promoting existing products (like in retail).
Transcript
What do you enjoy most about being in your industry?
I can talk a little bit about both retail and tech industries. The commonality between them is that there are a lot of really talented people. That's probably a great piece of working at great companies; all the folks I've interacted with at Williams-Sonoma, Fitbit, and Xbox have been really smart and good at their jobs.
In retail, it was really cool that marketing was such a huge piece of the company. Marketing is what makes these products so valuable and drives the company's success. They drum up demand and interest, and they have this really great appeal for West Elm furniture; people know about it.
Being in marketing at a company like that, where it's really marketing-driven, means you can have a lot of influence. You're important, and you have a lot of say in the company's direction. It's really fun for someone who wants to make an impact.
The same thing applies to tech, although a lot of tech is more engineering-driven. What I really like is that I've gained the nimbleness and agility of tech. It's super fast, and not everything is figured out yet.
At Xbox, I'm really excited to help create the future of gaming and figure out what comes next. This is different from a promotional marketing role, where you might just be taking what you have and trying to sell it better. There are pros and cons to each, and it's always a spectrum between the two. Those are the most attractive things I've found about the two different industries.