While Myer's deputy chief executive Daniel Bracken leaves the store's big new season launch in the hands of Jennifer Hawkins, he's continuing to focus on the strategic direction of the store.
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But could that direction involve a play from his Burberry days and see the department store break up? Not like the Spice Girls, but more like The Police, who draw in a new audience every time they tour.
Bracken, who also heads up the merchandising and marketing departments at Myer, spent 17 years at the British fashion house, where he cites his involvement in the segmentation of the brand as the experience he has been calling on the most in his large portfolio with the Melbourne-based retailer.
"One of the key initiatives I led was the segmentation of the Burberry brand, so you go back five, six or seven years there was only Burberry, then we launched three Burberry brands effectively – Burberry Brit, Burberry London and Burberry Prorsum. That was a great example of understanding what the brand represents by defining what each different segment of the brand was there for, what was its purpose and who was its customer," he said.
He refers to the task, where the result was resounding commercial and consumer success for the iconic brand, as one of his best professional experiences to date.
Since he arrived in June last year Bracken has overseen a major overhaul of the Myer stable of brands and the introduction of fresher, mid-market labels including French Connection, Seed and Aje.
The department store will once again host its biannual fashion show in Sydney next week to introduce the media and taste makers to the upcoming summer trends. As well as these new brands, the latest official ambassador Rachael Finch will join Hawkins on the catwalk for her Myer runway debut.
"Our brand ambassadors have to embody everything that the brand is trying to represent in the market and I think Rachael Finch is a phenomenal example of that and we're thrilled to be having Rachael for the first time ever next week," Bracken said. "Jennifer is the face of Myer, but we have four or five different ambassadors because we have different parts to our business, different appeals, different components and different messaging, and they all play pivotal roles in communicating our vision and strategy for Myer."
