• by Barbie Romero , April 1, 2025

Brandi Stone Watkins shared how Carter’s campaign honored aunts in diverse communities. Keep reading to find out which basketball icon she’d pick for a dream dinner.

1. At the last Retail Summit in August 2024, you spoke about testing and learning and having a culture of failing fast. Do you have any advice on how other brands can convince senior leadership for a test and learn type of work culture?

Senior leadership cares about impact. Position test and learn culture as a way to drive growth while mitigating risks with small experiments that can uncover untapped revenue opportunities.  It's also helpful to provide proof points such as case studies that can showcase previous success stories. Lastly, emphasize learning over perfection when it comes to testing. Testing allows you to validate ideas before making full scale investments and provides evidence over opinions to guide decision making. 

2. Carter’s teamed up with Chloe Bailey as S’Auntie Clause to help kickstart the holiday season. How did Carter’s come about picking her as S’Auntie Claus? I am pretty sure a lot of cool aunts were happy to feel represented.

The S’Auntie Claus activation was fueled by an insight coming out of ongoing work in partnership with our multicultural and PR agencies. The aunt plays an important role in families, especially within the villages of Black and Brown communities. She loves all the best parts of being an aunt and she always brings the fun, the gifts and of course the vibes. With Chloe celebrating her first holiday as a newly minted aunt herself, she was the perfect fit for this activation.

3. Who was the target for that campaign? Was it both parents and also anyone that has a little cousin, niece, or nephew to gift?

The target was anyone who sees themselves as an aunt (or uncle) figure to the young kids in their life. This could be an actual aunt or someone who fills that role whether they be a cousin, best friend or parent such as myself. It’s really about embodying that persona and capturing the joy and love that these individuals share with young children that are important to them.  

4. If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be and why?

Kobe Bryant. Beyond being a legend and one of the greatest cultural icons of all time; he was a thoughtful, driven and insightful person with an incredible work ethic and mindset for achieving greatness in every aspect of life. 

5. How do you recharge?

I love to travel. Changing my environment always helps me to refocus and escape my own little bubble. Exploring new places and experiencing new cultures has given me so much perspective. My bucket list is to visit all seven continents, even Antarctica! 

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