Five tips to build a booming business from The Iconic’s Adam Jacobs

Adam Jacobs co-founded The Iconic and is a bona fide Australian retail celebrity. Ahead of his keynote address at ADMA’s Global Forum on March 29, he shares his secrets for success. 
 

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#1 Don’t miss ADMA’s Global Forum

At ADMA’s Global Forum I’ll be talking about why solid foundations of customer-centricity should be the number one focus for data-driven marketers in 2022. 

And I'll be sharing examples from both businesses I’ve co-founded - The Iconic and Hatch. Throughout I'll also touch on values-oriented leadership, and standing for something real and meaningful as a brand.

#2 When starting a business, set up a great foundation 

When establishing The Iconic, our user experience was developed by looking at best practice overseas, trial and error, and listening to our customers.

We knew from the start we wanted the fashion product to be the hero, and we were always concerned with how many clicks it took until someone landed on a relevant catalogue page. We also needed the imagery to sing, so we set up a big photo studio operation from day one. 

We were obsessed with the checkout experience and worked hard to make it frictionless. We also really cared about the rank order of items on a catalogue page, because we knew from the funnel just how important it was. 

The last element was the returns process. We didn’t look at it as a cost centre for the business, we saw it as a way to create loyal customers through a risk-free experience.

#3 Use rich data insights as your bedrock

It’s hugely important to set up a solid infrastructure for data-driven marketing. But there are always challenges. Back when we established The Iconic, we had a clunky data warehouse with all sorts of sources, and a full-time team trying to make sense of it. 

However, we were confident online shopping could be a better experience than bricks and mortar shopping, and not just for price-driven shopping.

We had to paint a picture of where retail was going in Australia, and we used the United States and Europe to prove this. We showed the successes of forward thinking brands that adopted online early, and what it did for their traffic, brand awareness, sales and customer base.

Ultimately, we did put a lot of time into the attribution model, and then we really lent into digital marketing. We were probably one of the first retailers in Australia to use retargeting really effectively.

#4 Put plenty of thought into your hiring process 

When establishing The Iconic, the hiring process wasn’t exactly painless. We went from 50 staff to 500 staff in three years and moved warehouses four times within our first six months. 

But we hired a lot of young people who were hungry to learn, as well as some experienced talent from Europe. The combination saw us build a passionate culture of never believing something isn’t possible, just because it hasn't been done before.

More recently, to continue this momentum, I wanted to help people connect for meaningful work. I think we need to look beyond words on a resume, and instead gain a deeper understanding of who someone is and what their strengths are. That’s why I founded Hatch. 

Hatch is a software company that aims to connect individuals with roles they actually meld with in all the right ways. In five years time, we’d like to see Hatch become one of the largest employment marketplaces in the world. 

#5 If you’ve got an idea you believe in, road test it

A memorable quote by the incredible Peter Thiel goes something like this: “Every great startup is sitting on a secret when they're founded”. And that was certainly true of The Iconic.

But if you’re unsure about your idea, then a great piece of advice I was given comes from Fred Schebesta, Co-Founder of Finder.com.au. 

He told me that if you’re sitting on an idea and you're not sure whether it's got legs, tell it to 10 people you love and who want you to succeed. 

A week later, ask them how many people they told. If they didn’t tell anyone - drop it straight away. If they each told more than four or five people, you’re onto something. 

Don’t miss your chance to see Adam and other incredible business thought leaders at ADMA’s Global Forum on March 29-30 right here