The Importance of Changing Perspectives

James Connell, the Vice President of Marketing and E-Commerce at Roots, has had an abundance of experience in his field. However, it wasn’t until he left the South for the cold winters of Canada that he realized that working at a true Canadian brand would have its benefits. That was in 1997, and 16 years later, he is still with the company that provided him with a warm jacket during the cold winter months.

4 Questions with James Connell

1. How does your team generate new ideas?
We generate new ideas with a variety of brainstorming sessions. We also research top retailers, view different magazines and look at the marketplace. We want to see who has the best ideas, and what they’re doing with them.

2. What is the biggest challenge you face when innovating?
The biggest challenge is balancing the big ideas with the economics. There are a lot of fantastic ideas, but they go off track and enter into a realm that won’t be profitable. When you’re dealing with creative minds, everyone loves new things. People get excited about new ideas; the challenge is balancing those new things with what will be profitable in the long run.

3. Has there ever been an instance where another industry has influenced an innovation at your company?
We are right now in the process of using an omni channel, where customers can use all retail channels available at one time. This was directly inspired by the electronics industry. Three years ago when we started the system, the apparel industry wasn’t using omni channels. We saw companies like Best Buy with it, and we thought that it provided great customer service.

4. Looking to the future, how is Roots going to be a leader in innovation?
We’re looking both domestically and worldwide. As the business becomes more global, we can become more global. We are also starting to develop a council of ideas, where someone will pitch an idea, and then the council will evaluate that idea. They will act as a sounding board, and this will force people to step outside of their typical boundaries. We will all take turns sitting on the council, so it will open up a whole new perspective