- May 1, 2018
Updated: Feb 18, 2021
The Tory Burch Foundation, founded by fashion and lifestyle entrepreneur Tory Burch hosted its first Embrace Ambition Summit in New York. The aim of the summit is to confront stereotypes and create new norms. Smartzer founder, Karoline Gross, was happy to support the cause which invited strong women and men from across industries.
The summit is part of Burch’s “Embrace Ambition” initiative, which she launched in 2017 to erase the negative connotations associated with “ambition” a term often used to categorize people—mostly women—as difficult or demanding.
Presented by Bank of America, the summit featured conversations with leaders, artists and politicians as well as storytelling and performances. Tory Burch moderated the conversations with an impressive list of participants from different industries and generations.
One of the most interesting discussions was with Yara Shahidi, the 18-year-old actress and model who founded eighteenx18, a creative platform to engage the young generation to speak their truth, get active and vote as well. Their conversation was an eye-opening discussion on “Embracing Ambition” and touched on the challenges and rewards associated with the idea.
Author, Laurie Fabiano, discussed bias and how we can fight it personally, while Dr. Valerie Purdie Greenway, touched on the science behind stereotypes and bias. Both conversations were very helpful in learning how to combat prejudice organizationally and personally.
Founder Karoline Gross gained valuable insight into how to be ambitious in a smart way as well as combat stereotypes and bias. The Tory Burch Foundation has already garnered a strong response and it was so nice to be included in the first summit and we as a company plan to #embraceambition.
Read more about The Embrace Ambition Summit:
- May 1, 2018
Updated: Feb 18, 2021
Retail industry leaders and innovators from around the world gathered in Madrid, Spain April 17-19 for the annual World Retail Congress. This year’s theme was “Innovate to Win” and more then 1,400 attendees and 130 speakers participated in the high-level forum. The goal? Discovering the needs of today’s consumers to ensure their businesses stay dynamic.
Before the main event, Smartzer founder, Karoline Gross arrived in Madrid early and was thrilled to be invited to a briefing event at the UK Embassy. The information presented by the UK Trade Commission focused on introducing the role of the DIT in helping businesses expand internationally and it was excellent to network with other UK based retailers and startups headed to the World Retail Congress.
During the three-day event., Smartzer exhibited in the main hall where we introduced our shoppable video technology to retail leaders interested in pioneering technology like Smartzer's shoppable video solution. Some of the most interesting forums attended were by Dimas Alvarez, Chairman of El Corte Inglés, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Tommy Hilfiger CEO, Avery Baker.
In addition to introducing Smartzer to retail leaders and attending the forum, we found time to discover other exhibiting technologies. Excellent examples of the future of retail included Alibaba Tmall’s interactive mirror which creates your digital avatar to virtually try on clothes.
Karoline also attended the Women in Retail event hosted by El Corte Ingles. The winner of 2018 Business Woman of the Year was Laura , CEO of Williams Sonoma.
Smartzer cannot wait to be part of next year’s World Retail Congress.
Read more about the event:
- Apr 16, 2018
Updated: Feb 11, 2021
This week, Emilio Pucci launched its beautiful Spring/Summer ’18 campaign video on Instagram Stories with amazing results. Viewers open the shoppable video directly from the Stories “See More” function. From there they can click and engage with the items they find most interesting in the video and easily shop - all thanks to Smartzer shoppable video technology.
Not just for photos anymore, Instagram has quickly become the new go-to platform to discover inspiring video content. However, for a very long time there has been frustration among social media managers and marketers determined to make their video content link directly to their website. Salvation has come in the form of Instagram Stories swipe up to “See More” function. Smartzer uses this URL link in Instagram stories to allow the platform to support shoppable video on Instagram Stories.
The Smartzer tech was the perfect pairing for Emilio Pucci’s campaign video because of our subtle and bespoke player and seamless engagement. We cannot wait to create and share more shoppable Instagram stories videos!