Branding & Marketing Strategies to Take On Big Competitors

When a mass marketer or category killer moves into town or into your space, it can strike fear into any marketing executive in charge of a relatively smaller brand and budget. But not so for Kathy Doyle Thomas, executive vice president and chief strategy officer for Half Price Books, who relishes the opportunity to beat the big guys at their own game through making smart, timely, strategic decisions and employing a variety of aligned marketing strategies and tactics.

Key Takeaways:

• How Half Price Books stays on its toes and successfully competes with one of the biggest companies in the world (think Amazon)!
• How to use branding and customer experience as a strategic competitive weapon
• Lessons learned on using digital and social media to compete with an online retailer
• Practical marketing tactics for competing with big competitors

About the Speaker:

Kathy Doyle Thomas, chief strategy officer, joined Half Price Books in July 1989. Her responsibilities include developing national marketing efforts for the wholesale and retail divisions of the company, customer service, risk as well as overseeing all real estate purchases, store expansion criteria and site selection. She also heads the company’s three website divisions. She is president of Half Price Books Community Services, a 501(c)(3) organization that supports various community programs. She is a member of the Global Retail Marketing Association (GRMA) board and the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) CMO Council, where she is past chair. Thomas was awarded the Silver Award by the NRF in 2014 for her achievements in her field and making a major contribution to the retail industry. Thomas is also on the board for Feed the Children and the marketing task force for Texas Christian University.

Connect with Kathy: