In episode 471 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Stephen Bailey, chief marketing officer of John Fluevog Shoes, an independent design and retail footwear company based in Vancouver. Listen in as Bailey provides an overview of the unique footwear brand (0:45), fulfilling online orders from its stores (2:25), and his 20-year career history with the company and its evolution (4:45). He details the brand's culture and community (7:10), its wide-ranging customer base and psychographics (9:55), and Fluevog's approach to building and maintaining a loyal, dedicated customer base (12:15).
In addition, Bailey discusses customer relationships and trust (17:50), Fluevog's footwear and marketing efforts (19:20), and the collaboration and communication between the brand's internal teams to stay agile (23:10). Lastly, he shares why Fluevog leans into traditional retail tactics and the human touch (25:50), its unique brand partnerships (27:45), his advice for other retail marketers heading into 2025 as well as a creative Fluevog holiday campaign (32:10).
Born to nomadic parents, Stephen Bailey was frequently the new kid in town, thus forcing him into marketing at an early age. In grade 10, Stephen became a smalltime bookie for the World Cup in his ultimately disapproving private school — showing an enthusiasm for math and soccer, if perhaps poor judgement. Still in high school, he launched a T-shirt line by an interesting name, and in University launched another clothing line "album," which later received finances from a Canadian Grant Foundation. Education and various travel continues simultaneously.
For the last 19 years Stephen has been on client side, charged with telling the world about John Fluevog's unique soles for unique souls. In that time, he has increased Fluevoger engagement through various social media and crowdsourcing efforts — efforts that contributed to the company's recent inclusion as one of the world's top 10 most innovative companies in the fashion industry by creative business experts FastCompany.
