Vinted’s Andrew Smith: ‘We want to make second hand first choice worldwide’

With an overly basic level in economics, I had endless ambition, however didn’t know precisely what I sought after for a occupation. After a two-year journey as an English trainer in Japan, I landed in a big consulting company. I used to be skilled smartly, however the task observe felt a little standard and I noticed that I sought after to do one thing a little other.

This was once the web 1.0 technology, and unintentionally I joined this little startup known as Razorfish who had been performing some pioneering paintings in what we known as on the time ‘interactive media’. My revel in at Razorfish was once not anything but even so abnormal. An enchanting technology of generation, creativity and innovation. I labored with one of the crucial maximum gifted other folks at an organization and business that grew at a mindblowing tempo.

As everyone knows, the web 1.0 bubble burst. I moved on, did my MBA and labored at numerous businesses in virtual and emblem advertising. I later moved to Europe to paintings at 180 Amsterdam, the place I labored with a lot of world purchasers till I made the large transfer over to the customer facet at Booking.com. It was once a moderately simple transition as my function because the lead emblem communications, nevertheless it’s a large adjustment transferring to the opposite facet as a complete new set of promoting talents are required, the size and scope of labor is tricky to check, and the complexity of control is every other international.

At Booking.com, I believe I really discovered my pastime for emblem construction as I used to be in a position to take extra possession of it and concentrate on components that went past promoting. , Booking was once an overly a hit efficiency advertising corporate that had but to harness the facility of brand name technique and communications. It had change into an enormous emblem via having an ideal product and the most productive efficiency capacity on the planet, however there was once a lot of alternative available in construction a emblem narrative, tale and distinct id. We introduced the Booking emblem around the globe via ‘upper funnel’ communications, created a lot of attention-grabbing social engagements, or even pioneered construction an in-house crew that finally did the majority of ingenious paintings for the logo.

Over time, this in-house company was fairly powerful, doing the entirety from analysis and perception construction, media making plans, marketing campaign execution and analytics, together with trying out and size. Next I moved to VanMoof, the design-forward electrical bicycle corporate. As the trade was once in scale-up mode, my CMO function had a extensive point of view. I sorted emblem, promoting,media, content material advent and PR. We additionally evolved an in-house crew, running with businesses just for manufacturing.

After VanMoof, I did some advisory paintings as an period in-between CMO after which I met Vinted. It was once nice timing as I were pondering so much about my pastime for emblem construction but additionally sought after to be again in a tech surroundings. I additionally sought after to position my power right into a emblem that might make a good contribution to the sector in relation to sustainability.

Vinted ticked such a lot of containers for me: it’s a fast-growing scale-up corporate, a well-liked product this is “of the moment”, and it has a phenomenal, sustainable function that’s on the core of its emblem.

Vinted supplies a platform the place patrons and dealers can extract price in order that items don’t pass to waste.

Looking at your monetary reporting, the Vinted crew posted €596.3m in earnings: an build up of 61% and also you outpaced your deliberate expansion all the way through that yr. What does 2025 seem like for you?

The corporate is acting actually smartly total. We create a large number of price for our neighborhood – patrons to find nice costs comfortably and dealers stay the entire income from their gross sales. It’s a product that works as a result of there are such a lot of “things” that exist on the planet which can be both now not sought after or now not serve a function for a person, however these items nonetheless have price. To any person. Somewhere. Our ‘New Again’ emblem thought explores simply that – the enjoyment that Vinted participants get from buying pieces which can be 2nd hand however which nonetheless really feel new to them.

We’ve created a platform the place patrons and dealers can extract price and those items don’t pass to waste. A dealer both will get cash for issues that they now not need, and a purchaser will get an ideal worth for one thing that they’re in quest of. These are easy, basic financial forces that force Vinted’s recognition. Why let issues of price pass to waste? It’s in opposition to our nature to take action, however we need to create a machine that makes the reuse precious and simple to do. Bear in thoughts, we’re now not essential of any one buying first-hand pieces, we simply need the sector to benefit from what it already has. Our platform provides other folks an solution to store in a brand new manner, or complement the best way that they devour with extra secondhand buying and selling.

Vinted could also be an especially disciplined group in relation to how we paintings, how we spend our time, how we make investments our human and our monetary capital. This guarantees that our worth proposition stays very aggressive. We don’t price charges to dealers, which has fuelled our recognition, nevertheless it’s additionally one thing we paintings to take care of via our personal potency and control.

Our speedy expansion is enabling us to scale additional. We’ve prolonged our worth proposition in model to dressmaker pieces, which has unlocked alternatives for us to create new services and products round merchandise verification, in order that patrons may also be assured purchasing a top rate merchandise. Now we’re making use of our style to new classes. Recently, we’ve presented electronics to our platform. We additionally see our neighborhood the use of our platform to industry in different varieties of items, which provides us further perception into different classes we may believe exploring.

Vinted’s workplaces in Amsterdam, Netherlands

How is your crew structured?

Our advertising crew is split into emblem, expansion, member engagement, program control and analytics. On the expansion facet, we’ve our crew that makes a speciality of the paid channels of media, from offline to on-line, from emblem to efficiency. My crew, the logo crew, is divided into purposes: basically technique, ingenious and operations. Our technique crew does emblem technique, making plans and product advertising. Our ingenious crew is successfully an in-house company: a studio that’s made up of writers and artwork administrators, advertising reproduction and architects. This is flanked via manufacturers and an operations crew that makes a speciality of manufacturing, mission control and reporting.

What’s your first reminiscence of a advertising good fortune that you just had been a part of, the place you felt: that is the function for me?

I might return to the Razorfish days. I used to be nonetheless attempting to determine what the web was once and the way it labored. We had been all figuring it out as we had been doing it. And I keep in mind touchdown a mission with Giorgio Armani to create its first web site. It was once an ideal trade and inventive alternative for us. We sought after to discover the entire techniques lets use this new media channel – the web – to assist the logo. We had been restricted via HTML and Flash, however inside the ones constraints we driven ourselves with the to be had generation to search out techniques during which lets rejoice how gorgeous the clothes and merchandise had been, and do justice on-line to such an iconic emblem.

The execution we selected concerned transferring pictures – very uncommon in a dial-up modem scenario. It was once an ideal difficult mission, however I keep in mind pondering on the time that we had actually introduced a emblem to existence in some way that nobody had noticed prior to. It was once thrilling and rewarding to really feel such as you’ve set a brand new benchmark in a fast-moving business.

More not too long ago, at Vinted, we’ve been rethinking the logo positioning technique and the way it involves existence. We’re a commercially a hit corporate that has a phenomenal function at its core – to make 2nd hand first selection international. We’ve been tasked with bobbing up with a state of mind about what the logo method, how we will have to categorical it, and the way we create the basis for emblem expansion.

How will we carry our emblem to existence in some way that connects with our neighborhood at an emotional stage – builds the connection from being a few product they love to 1 that still connects with a larger function and societal receive advantages? All advised, it’s a stupendous task. And I’m actually proud about the place we now have landed and what we’re growing to carry this emblem thought to the sector.

Alongside garments, Vinted additionally permit many different classes of 2nd hand merchandise to be traded – together with electronics

What’s the price of creativity in nice emblem promoting?

Creativity is very important. Creativity could also be problem-solving. The start line of a short lived is all the time: what’s the task that must be performed? What must be understood, believed, felt or performed? Only then are we able to know the way to use creativity searching for an concept and resolution.

Creativity is a procedure of constructing one thing that connects with other folks, so it has to really feel intimate and acquainted, however on the identical time, it must be one thing we’ve by no means noticed prior to. That’s a large ask. In emblem promoting, it’s very important to connect to undercurrents in tradition that don’t seem to be all the time glaring to look at, but if printed they resonate strongly. It takes creativity to search out the information and executions that may accomplish that.

How do you charge the price of getting emotional reference to advertising campaigns?

Emotional connection is without doubt one of the issues that may maintain an enduring dating with a buyer and support their affinity to the logo. We’re aware of this at Vinted. In a global the place merchandise change into so functionally undistinguished, something that creates a aggressive merit is the emotional connection that you’ve together with your buyer or your neighborhood. It supplies a non-rational motivation to decide to a emblem.

Brands need to paintings very arduous to ascertain it and be very cautious that you do not lose it via now not nurturing it in the suitable manner. Every marketing campaign has a task to do. Some of the ones jobs require much less emotion to be performed… however, even though a marketing campaign is extra practical, we all know from our personal information that emotional response is essential to memorability, likability, and affiliation. So, emotion is all the time essential.

“When the world says new, we say New Again”: Vinted’s ‘New Again’ marketing campaign has tapped into the entire web positives that promoting and purchasing used merchandise can carry

As a emblem specialist, what recommendation do you might have for senior entrepreneurs who’re suffering to steadiness the lengthy and the fast: the desire for emblem and function advertising?

Know that each are essential, however the problem is discovering the suitable steadiness. Have an open thoughts – in case you are a efficiency marketer, include emblem… and vice versa. Always have a look at the knowledge and perceive the forces that force expansion on your corporate. There’s various empirical information that frames the case for balancing emblem and extra activation-oriented campaigns, however it’s a must to uncover the place that steadiness lies on your emblem, class and markets.

And this turns into fairly nuanced for every emblem. When I began at Booking, it had over a decade within the efficiency trade, which had pushed vital expansion and buyer accept as true with. But the logo itself was once now not widely recognized even to those who used the product. So there was once an enormous alternative for emblem construction with the intention to to find new shoppers and foster loyalty of their present neighborhood.

As entrepreneurs, we want to take into account that ‘the long and the short’ paintings in combination however most likely have an effect on other timescales. The problem is working out what the suitable steadiness is on your corporate or emblem. You want a large number of trying out and experimentation. Data is in the end your best possible buddy – it’ll will let you discover the reality.

Of what initiative delivered to your watch are you essentially the most proud?

At Vinted at this time, I’m very happy with our paintings. We introduced a marketing campaign in 2024 known as ‘Too many.’ It were given a large number of traction in the United Kingdom and a lot of different markets. It was once a easy visible execution appearing other folks dressed in a couple of hats, a couple of cloaks or a couple of scarves. Without having to give an explanation for the message… you were given the message: in the event you in truth placed on the entirety that you just don’t put on how ridiculous does your own intake glance? It was once any such easy and robust concept that communicated obviously precisely what our emblem represents.

But, maximum not too long ago, I’m additionally extraordinarily happy with our new emblem platform ‘New Again,’ which we’ve simply began to roll-out. With ‘New Again,’ we’re shining a mild on our participants’ stories and turning them into reviews. It’s a birthday party of neighborhood and continuity, championing the ‘new to you’ feeling that incorporates purchasing secondhand pieces, regardless of if an merchandise is actually new or now not. Because with Vinted, the entirety may also be New Again for any person. It’s a hopeful thought that may form our emblem’s ingenious adventure for future years.

Our first marketing campaign beneath the New Again thought faucets into the mini-stories of other folks the use of Vinted to earn, save, and to find pleasure – time and again. The marketing campaign will air on TV and throughout more than a few on-line and social media channels in a couple of European international locations. It will kick off in the United Kingdom and France in February, adopted via Spain, Italy and Poland within the coming months.

The First Vinted ‘New Again’ marketing campaign movie for 2025.

What do you take into accounts the have an effect on of AI on advertising: what could be one of the crucial professionals and what could be one of the crucial cons?

AI might be a surprisingly robust drive in lots of industries and particularly in advertising. And I imagine it’ll be a good drive: simply because the web did, AI goes to unencumber techniques of speaking and growing that we have got but to peer and even consider.

AI will unencumber potency adjustments and have an effect on the best way we paintings: what will we wish to create as opposed to what will we wish to automate and why? There might be a ton of sensible strategic and soul-searching questions for the business.

Undoubtedly some adjustments will really feel excellent and others extra awkward. But we should include this generation as it’s right here, it’s going to conform, and it’ll have an enormous have an effect on. At Vinted, we’re a tech corporate, so we can be the use of the generation to supercharge our strengths and our talents to create the volumes of content material that we’d want sooner, extra successfully and with higher innovation.

What fable about advertising would you maximum love to bust?

The fable I might maximum love to bust is that this: John Wanamaker mentioned: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” I don’t know to what level this is nonetheless held as a reality or as a fable however while you paintings in a tech and in a market corporate, the entirety that you just do is measurable. There are nice information scientists in the market and in the event you determine some excellent methodologies, you’ll totally perceive the place your advertising cash is being smartly invested.

What recommendation may you give your more youthful self if it is advisable return in time?

Keep your paintings and private existence in steadiness. In some businesses, there’s a contagious surroundings of running to extremes: it could possibly also be noticed as a laugh while you’re in that international and while you’re younger. However, I don’t suppose it’s all the time important. When I glance again on the entire past due nights when I used to be in a studio, It’s not that i am even certain I will be able to keep in mind why I used to be there.

Be picky together with your occupation, however don’t omit precious expansion alternatives. Ultimately, what’s going to propel you to your occupation is not only what you might have performed, however who you’ve surrounded your self with along the standard of expansion alternatives you obtain from the demanding situations you are taking on. Being very selective about what firms you sign up for and the varieties of purchasers that you need to paintings on can actually carry the most productive out of you. Which cultural environments are proper on your character and your functions? What alternative will will let you expansion in a wholesome manner?

Managed accurately, every alternative will function stepping stones on your vivid long run. It isn’t all the time in regards to the cash – and even teh accountability: a beautiful be offering would possibly hide a in particular gruelling surroundings or limitations to actual expansion..

What query do you want me to invite the following senior marketer that I interview?

What is an instance of one thing that you’d have performed another way, given the advantage of hindsight and what you understand now from the end result?

Vinted champion the ‘new you’ feeling that you just get from purchasing secondhand garments

Your query from a senior marketer is: let us know a few mistake you made in advertising or your occupation and the way you realized from it.

OK. Leaving the main points out to offer protection to the blameless! It was once a scale-up surroundings, and I used to be too passive in my manner. I used to be hoping and too trusting that issues would figure out, that issues had been going to unravel themselves someway. I didn’t lean in sufficient. I’m now not pronouncing that my ‘leaning in’ would have solved the entirety, however my finding out from this complete revel in was once this: in the event you see one thing, say one thing. And if you want to mention one thing, you will have to most likely be doing one thing. Problems don’t most often resolve themselves, and in the event you don’t cope with them, then as a pacesetter, you’re going to in the end pay on your state of being inactive.

If there’s something you understand about advertising, it’s…

Marketing is a gorgeous mix of arithmetic, science, creativity and design and it’s all the time evolving. Marketing isn’t the similar factor yr after yr. As anyone who studied economics and who enjoys the speculation of ways programs paintings within the social sciences, and as any person with a deep pastime for creativity, advertising brings in combination the pinnacle and the guts, the use of science to grasp audiences, creativity to connect to them, and generation to craft with innovation.

You may die the next day to come so make it value your whilst. Worth Your While is an impartial ingenious company serving to manufacturers do impressive stuff other folks like to speak about. wyw.company.

Tim Healey is founder and curator of Little Grey Cells Club, the United Kingdom’s premier Senior Marketer neighborhood. Join our unique, hand-picked gatherings of the United Kingdom’s maximum senior and skilled entrepreneurs and also you’ll depart impressed, in a position to put in force new concepts and having made new and helpful connections together with your business friends.