• by Barbie Romero , June 10, 2025

Coterie’s SVP Brand Marketing, Partnerships + Business Development also shares advice on earning consumer trust through parent-first strategies, authentic influencer partnerships, and building lasting connections.

1. At the last Retail Summit, you spoke about the importance of building trust with consumers by reflecting the real experiences of new parents in your marketing. In a time when authenticity is everything, what advice would you give to other brands looking to genuinely connect with their audience and earn trust — especially in such a vulnerable life stage like early parenthood?

To become a staple for new parents, you need to earn a deep level of trust. Our community has always been at the core of everything we do. As a brand built for modern parents, we don’t just think about selling them diapers; we think about how we can support our customers through every stage of early parenthood. We listen to the products they want, the services that can help make their lives just a little bit easier. Parenthood can be overwhelming and isolating, so our goal is to create a community where they feel seen and supported.

Lead with empathy. Invite two-way conversations. Share stories that resonate because they’re true, not because they’re perfect. For brands to earn trust in this space, they have to go beyond polished messaging or transactional moments. It means showing up with vulnerability and honesty—reflecting the real, raw, joyful, and exhausting parts of parenting so families feel seen. It also means creating space for parents to speak back.

2. Coterie serves a very specific audience: modern parents. How do you stay tapped into their evolving needs and preferences?

Our DTC model gives us the unique advantage of having a direct line of communication to our customers, allowing us to understand their needs more deeply, respond quickly, and create experiences that feel personal and genuine. We ask about the products or services they want and how we can better support them.

Our “concierge” experience means we’re providing our customers more personalized support and services. For example, our SMS service allows for easy order management, reminders, auto-renew, and a direct line to customer support.

We’re also a team of parents ourselves, across all different ages and stages—from pregnancy to potty training—so we’re living these experiences right alongside our customers. That gives us a deeply personal understanding of what modern families need, and allows us to create solutions that are both practical and meaningful.

3. How do you choose which influencers and ambassadors to partner with?
At Coterie, our influencer strategy is rooted in authenticity and real relationships. We’re fortunate to have an incredible community of influencer partners—parents who genuinely use and love our products and want to share that passion with others. Whether it’s a paid or organic partnership, it always starts from a place of true advocacy. When someone speaks about Coterie, it’s because they believe in the quality, the mission, and the experience—and that makes all the difference.

When selecting partners, we consider everything from audience engagement and cross-channel presence to the diversity of parenting perspectives they bring. Tools like Traackr help us measure reach, relevance, and resonance—but at the heart of every decision is a shared value system and a passion for supporting parents.

We’re proud to partner with a wide range of parents—from our Coterie Council of pediatric and parenting experts, to celebrity fans, to everyday moms and dads with powerful stories to tell. Our strategy is to build on that enthusiasm by fostering long-term relationships across content, events, and community touchpoints.

4. Coterie has successfully entered retail locations like Whole Foods Market and Erewhon. What were the key learnings from these expansions?
Expanding into retail with partners like Whole Foods and Erewhon has been a powerful way for us to drive awareness and trial. About 10% of our new customers now come through these retail channels, which tells us that allowing parents to see and feel the product firsthand is key to showcasing our quality. It’s another discovery point and way that parents enter into the Coterie community. We also understand the importance of partnering with retailers who share our standards and values. Whole Foods and Erewhon are trusted destinations for high-quality, clean products, so being on their shelves reinforces our commitment to that.

5. If Coterie were a celebrity parent, who would it be?
If Coterie were a celebrity, I’d say Rihanna or Margot Robbie. Both are actually Coterie parents. Rihanna because she is boundary-breaking. As a parent, she is confident yet real. She doesn’t play it safe. She shows up as fully herself. And Margot Robbie, because she is elevated yet approachable. She’s not afraid to disrupt expectations, just like we have done in the diapering category.

If you’re interested in submitting content for future editions, please reach out to our Managing Editor, Barbie Romero at Barbie@MediaPost.com.