Spencer Blaker: Balancing the Burt’s Bees Brand

As director of global retail marketing for Burt’s Bees, Spencer Blaker oversees the in-store presentation of the iconic Earth-friendly personal care brand. His team ensures the trademark honey-yellow display you see at Target in Melbourne is consistent with the end-cap display at CVS in San Francisco and the Burt’s Bees storefront in South Korea.
[quote]“My role involves creating the physical expression of our brand in retail, which includes creating stores, mall kiosks, beauty counters in department stores internationally and the physical display materials and experience here in the United States.
We look at the shopping experience as a whole and make sure our products are presented in a way that is consistent with our brand and with the needs of our customers.
Right now, we’re redoing the look and feel of our Burt’s Bees stores internationally. I’m working with an agency out of Sydney, Australia, to be able to help define the updated view of a Burt’s Bees retail environment. The majority of our international stores are in Asia and Latin America, but they’ll be quickly expanding into Western Europe and other parts of the globe.
Prior to joining Burt’s Bees, I had nearly 20 years of experience in the consumer packaged goods industry, including roles at Nabisco, Purina and Gillette.
When I joined Burt’s Bees six years ago, the brand was looking very fragmented across the globe. My focus for the first few years was to create the retail standard of identity for the Burt’s Bees brand—essentially, thinking about the complete physical embodiment of the brand, the experience of all five senses, and distilling that to the brand essence.
The line drawing illustration of Burt and the Burt’s Bees yellow has been around for a really long time, but there were a lot of other elements that weren’t fully defined. My role has involved refining the look and the feel and bringing the elements into an appropriate balance at retail. We’ve had some great success in altering the retail environments, both globally and domestically, in a very short amount of time and it’s been paying dividends back to the business.
And the business, in turn, gives back to society. I’m proud to be a part of a company that is authentic, meaningful and gives back, which is something so many of us covet throughout our careers. The Burt’s Bees Greater Good Foundation supports many charitable initiatives that focus on the juxtaposition of human and honeybee health, supporting research to understand the factors contributing to honeybee decline.
Recently, as part of our Culture Day, an annual company-wide gathering where employees connect with each other and give back to the community, we built 76 beehives for local nonprofits in North Carolina. The event reminds us of the values and the truth of this company and what it stands for. It’s not just about making amazing personal care products; it’s working to change the world one day at a time for the better.”[/quote]