All right, Tim. I have a question for

you. Were you a mall rat?

>> Yeah, I mean everyone in the '90s was a

mall rat.

>> There wasn't that much to do in the

'90s. I mean, go ahead. Did you

>> Southern California in the '90s?

>> Mall.

>> Yeah, skateboarding.

>> Did you have a puka shell necklace?

>> I for a very brief time I did. And there

might be pictures to prove it. Very

brief. Yeah.

>> All right, we're going to Well, let's

say we don't have those. I should have

dug those up in advance.

>> Sixth grade, seventh grade.

>> we all make questionable fashion

decisions in middle school. I mean,

listen, they were the thing. And one of

the it brands when we were in high

school, of course, was PacSun.

The company's gone through a lot of

changes. They filed for bankruptcy in

2016, but now it's back, it's rebranded,

and it's thriving, and it's capitalizing

on a couple things, including this wave

of millennial nostalgia and a new

generation of shoppers who are more

socially aware, but no less fashionable

than we were when we were their age.

PacSun CEO Brie Olson joins us now. Her

book Co-created, here we go, we got it

right here, talks about the turnaround

of the company and how, much to my joy,

she says brick-and-mortar stores are not

dead, they just need to reinvent

themselves. Thank you so much for coming

on.

You were telling us at the break you've

been at the company a long time, and in

your time, I think you said 17, 18

years, in that time, how has the company

evolved into what it is now?

>> Yeah, I've been at the company almost

two decades, and when I joined, we were

a surf, skate legacy retailer. And

today, after a transformation of almost

two decades and a real focus on the

power of co-creation, we have

successfully moved from being a retailer

where PacSun's brand was just on the

outside of the store

to an actual brand that young people

today love. And so, 50% of what we sell

in a PacSun store today now carries the

PacSun label.

>> How does that work in a world where, and

look, I'm going to totally age myself

here.

>> Oh, we've already We're both there.

>> You know, when I when I when I drop my

kids off at school, they're they're

young, they're three and seven, but when

I drop them off at school, I walk by a

middle school.

And at the middle school, these kids

literally are dressing like we used to

dress when we were in middle school. It

is crazy. Like

the wide-leg jeans, like the same

oversized sweatshirts, like it's

>> chunky sandals.

>> Here's the difference though, they are

all glued to iPhones and we didn't have

that. And we didn't have that till

relatively recently. Again, not to date

myself. Um, how do you reach a consumer

that is glued to their phone?

>> So as a brand centered at the youth, I

actually think all of these touchpoints

from a digital standpoint offer us a

real advantage. If you lean in and meet

the customer where they are, PacSun has

2 million followers on TikTok. We're on

Reddit, we're on Discord, on IG. There's

so many different ways to engage with

the consumer today, YouTube shorts. And

so I talk about it as this constant

listening loop and listening feedback.

If you want to know something in live

time, you can just engage with the

consumer. And so the premise of my book

Co-created is really about treating the

consumer not like an audience. We're not

marketing to them, we're not building

product to then market to them. Instead,

on the reverse, we're building with

them. So we've brought the consumer in

and we are actually co-creating the

future of our brand with these young

people.

>> How does that work in the creator

economy? We've seen so many brands kind

of fumble those opportunities. Is there

a specific strategy to taking advantage

of people who are exciting about brand

and bringing them in in a way that feels

not exploitative, but um, you know,

communal and productive?

>> Yeah, I think we've had tremendous

success in the creator economy and

really the brand has to shift the notion

of control. So you have to relinquish

and

>> really hard cuz you get paid to have

control.

>> We have to relinquish some of the

control and build what I call brand and

community trust. And so by empowering

these young people to be your

storyteller, you are in essence enabling

them not only to create economic ability

for themselves, but also to story tell

and amplify in a way that is otherwise

impossible. And in 2023,

a PacSun fan and customer Layla Biggs,

based in Nashville, Tennessee, who had

just amassed 5,000 followers on TikTok,

went to her local Nashville store,

bought a pair of jeans, created a video

in her bedroom. She has 5,000 followers.

She sold 11,000 pairs of jeans in the

next 36 hours. And so it's the power of

the algorithm, it's the power of

authentic storytelling, and really

allowing to lean into your into your

community and empower them.

>> So on that, if you look at the PacSun

website right now, there's, you know, a

dozen vertical videos that uh talk about

it says PacSun styled by you. Are are

these coming from How does this work?

Like are these are these collaborations

that you have with like actually actual

normal people? Are these like thought up

in a marketing department and they're

like made to look like you they'd see

vertical video. Like are these actually

like co- like co-created with

>> of the videos you would see on our site

are actually co-creations. So then we

seek permission from those creators

>> Like folks will tag you and then you

reach out?

>> Absolutely. And on TikTok with the open

creator platform, we actually don't

select any of the people who are then

advocating or promoting the brand. They

are selecting and we say everyone is

welcome. And there's a real magic and

synergy that happens in that.

>> We're speaking with Briana Olson, the

CEO of PacSun. She's the author of the

new book Co-created the Cultural

Strategy that redefined PacSun.

Christina's got it up there.

>> I'm looking at the wrong camera again.

Sorry, it's not my usual studio. There

it is. There it is. Talk to us about how

you manage a brand turnaround because

the company did file for bankruptcy in

2016. Um

>> And you were there. You were there

pre-bankruptcy and post.

>> And retail turnarounds are hard. Um

partially because you do have a legacy

that can either a good or a bad thing.

Reinvention can be really difficult when

customers have a certain way they think

about your brand. How do you do that?

How did you manage that? And how do you

think it's been successful?

>> So, I've been in the CEO role just over

3 years now, and I've been with the

brand 18 plus years. And so, the

turnaround I would say was absolutely a

team effort. And as you'll see in the

book co-created, the fingerprints and

the stories of so many different people,

brands, creators, and you know, leaders

within our organization and our brand

associates are part of this beautiful

story of co-creation. But, the real

honest truth is you have to do the

inside work first. And we had to do a

lot of re-scrubbing of our structure,

our internal organization, our operating

system, how quickly we were getting

product to market, the silos that had

existed in our organization for a long

time. And we did that by leading with

purpose. And I think a purpose-led brand

can perform better, and our results have

followed. From the moment we established

our purpose, which is to inspire the

next generation of youth and create

community at the intersection of

fashion, sport, art, and music, we have

really been able to rally both our

internal teams and our external

constituents, which include our

community, brands, creators, all of the

stakeholders.

>> to talk about some of those stakeholders

just that you just mentioned, the brands

specifically. If If 50% of what you're

selling is PacSun label, then then how

do you ensure the brands that they're

going to be given um,

you know, both virtually and physically,

shelf space that has prominence.

>> Yeah, I think listening to the consumer,

leveraging data, leveraging our youth

advisory council, leveraging our PacSun

youth report, which surveys 6,000 young

people. These are ways that we can

listen in a more efficient way. And then

ensuring that we're being true to our

purpose and our pillars. So, we have a

long-standing relationship with the

Metropolitan Museum of Art. The

misconception is that young people don't

care about the arts.

But what we've been able to prove year

after year is that actually young people

do care about arts, and they care about

the fine arts, and they care about

self-expression.

And so, we were very confident that this

collaboration and co-creation would

work. Similar to Formula 1, it's hot

now, but we started working with Formula

1 almost 4 and 1/2 5 years ago.

So, I think really ensuring that we're

staying at the pace of culture and we're

moving at the speed of culture ensures

that we stay that one step ahead and

ensures relevancy for the products and

brands that we curate and bring into our

store.

>> You said you have a annual youth report.

What are some of the surprising

takeaways when you read that report each

year? What are the some of the things

that stand out that surprised you even

though you've been in this business?

>> Yeah, so last year in the youth report

surveying 6,000 young people, Gen Alpha

and Gen Z, one of the things that came

out was that music is the most important

piece of their life in terms of

self-expression and fashion. And so, it

ranks higher than fashion. And so, I

think music is the through line for

people to express themselves, and it's

variable and fluid, right? So, I think

that was a big um kind of unlock.

Another unlock was mental health. And

mental health was both the largest

challenge but also opportunity when you

spoke to young people above physical

health and academia. But if you really

look at it, I think it actually shows

true optimism because these younger

generations are willing to lean in,

they're vulnerable, they're having the

conversations, and they want to have the

conversation also in the workplace. And

so, I think it's giving us an

opportunity as brands and corporations

to really rethink our social

responsibility and how does that tie

into our corporate responsibility? And

so, I think the youth report from a data

standpoint and deeply understanding the

emotive reasons that consumers are

shifting their buying patterns, shifting

consumption patterns, was absolutely

important to kind of strategizing our

path forward.

>> We're going to talk more. We're going to

do some news and then we'll we'll come

back and and talk more with you. Uh

before we do that though, I want to talk

and we'll talk retail.

Before we do that though, I just want to

go back to marketing and and hear from

you about the mix of organic marketing

versus paid. Can you just give us like

what percentage goes is organic, what

percentage is paid?

>> We're at a pretty even 50/50 split.

>> Okay.

>> And we did bring all of our paid teams

in-house. So, we're not leveraging any

agencies.

>> And that is a big pivot and has proven

to have significant results because the

people working on the team are living

and breathing the brand and listening to

our consumers. So, I think that's the

biggest fundamental shift that we've

made.

>> And then what are they doing on on

social media to find those those

reliable voices, those people you want

to partner with?

>> I think first, the first level of

partnership is looking at who's already

talking about your brand because they

are the authentic storytellers. So, that

is usually our first step in identifying

a collaborator or co-creator.

>> Okay, we got a few more minutes with

you. I want to talk retail. I want to

talk about the future of the company.

Let's start with with retail. Uh

unlike some other companies in the last

few years who have decreased their

retail footprint, uh bricks and mortar

footprint I should say, you guys are

actually opening stores. You opened 10

last year, you're opening 10 this year.

What is What is the way to get consumers

into the store? How do you do it?

>> I think first of all, we open in areas

and malls where we already have a high

demand. So, we look at the data, we

cross-reference them.

>> now. So, like there's so many malls that

don't exist anymore. They're empty

malls.

>> I think there's about 450 really great

malls in the US, and we're only in 305

of them. So, when I look at the white

space for expansion, where there's real

customer demand for a PacSun, there's

still quite a bit of runway there for

us. And we saw last year our store

traffic in our malls at PacSun was up

17%.

And so clearly consumers are voting for

PacSun. They want us to open stores, and

they're looking for experiential retail.

So whether that's us showing up

trackside at Formula 1 in Austin or in

Miami, where it's unexpected, PacSun has

a pop-up store at the track. Or it's

what we're doing with Get Ready With Me

the night before New Year's Eve and

getting our consumers ready. We're

bringing them in and meeting them where

they are in their lives at that moment.

>> the name change from PacSun or from

Pacific Sunwear to PacSun?

>> About 15 years ago.

>> So that's how old that's how long it's

been called

>> called it PacSun. Did you call it the

whole thing?

>> Yeah, I mean, that's what it was called.

>> There's a thank you note on that,

actually.

>> Oh, there is?

>> Yeah, there's a nostalgic throwback, and

younger people think it's really fun

that we used to be called Pacific

Sunwear. So we've brought it back.

>> It's 1,000 years old. It's through

capsules, and it's been great.

>> When you look at appealing to this youth

customer, you were talking about in your

survey how they do care about the source

of things, they do care about arts, they

do care about ethics. I feel like that

runs into a couple other market trends,

including this love of like fast

fashion. So how do you How do you have

those two competing wins? How do you

make sure that you are keeping that

genuineness and that ingenuity and the

uniqueness, and then also providing the

number of items and the churn that these

customers want?

>> I think first of all, we have to

acknowledge that the consumer is under

some price pressures and cost pressures.

And I think by acknowledging that, you

also acknowledge that they might at some

point shop at a brand that might be

considered fast fashion. But that at

PacSun is not what we stand for. We

stand for quality first and foremost,

creating real exclusive product that

means something to them and will last in

their closet, and and it to them at the

best value that we can. And so, we

recognize that fast, you know, the fast

fashion shopping might be a part of that

ecosystem, but we don't play into that

lane.

>> PacSun, before we go, we got to talk

business. PacSun was a uh publicly

traded company in the 1990s. It it

IPO'd. It went private and then filed

for bankruptcy back in in 2016. Are you

on the path right now to become a public

company again?

>> We're certainly exploring that option.

>> Uh are you profitable now?

>> We're profitable. We just came in near a

billion dollars last year. That was from

700 plus million three years prior, a

billion dollars. So, really exciting to

see the growth. And the growth has been

nice and steady over the last three

years. And we're seeing the growth

across both genders and across a

multitude of great brands inclusive of

the PacSun brands.

>> Brieanne Olson, she's the CEO of PacSun.

She's the author of the new book

Co-created, the cultural strategy that

redefined PacSun, joining us here in the

Bloomberg Interactive Broker Studio.

Congratulations on the book and thank

you for joining us.

>> Thank you so much. And if you want to

bring back the puka shell necklace, we

know you have a model right here ready

to go.