Creators are a buzzword in retail marketing right now.
Most retailers know that content creators need to be a pillar of their marketing strategy. Many merchants are clamoring to invest in the technology and partners that can best propel their brand forward to stand out, be authentic and cut through the noise.
Jack Gray, CEO of Blenders Eyewear, knows the creator buzz is real. In fact, influencers have been a foundational part of Blenders’ growth story since it launched in 2012.
But with all retailers jumping on the creator train, the normal tactics have to evolve, Gray said.
“We needed to shake things up and we needed to do something different,” Gray said. “A transactional partnership or a partnership based on several posts wasn’t going to move the needle for our brand. It wasn’t going to move the needle for our community.”
Blenders Hires Jordan ‘The Stallion’ Howlett as Chief Content Officer
Instead of hiring content creator Jordan Howlett as a brand ambassador, Gray offered Howlett the position of Chief Content Officer. Howlett now has a multi-year contract with Blenders, plus a physical office at the retailer’s headquarters in San Diego. In fact, Howlett initially said no to Blenders’ offer, but Gray was able to convince him because it was more of a strategic partnership than a deal centered on a number of posts, Gray said.
Gray hired him to come teach the Blenders marketing team about storytelling. The team can watch how Howlett does it, learn and apply those tactics going forward.
“Not to say that he’s putting training wheels on us, but he is helping us evolve in a way where our storytelling will be more impactful over a period of time,” Gray said.
Howlett is an internet personality known as “The Stallion” and has 50 million social media followers. He launched a video series called “Fast Food Secrets” and often throws his glasses to emphasize a point.
Howlett is Blenders’ Next Brand Amplifier
Blenders is looking for Howlett to help Blenders over time across multiple chapters, Gray said. Right now at the start, it’s about building brand awareness with Howlett’s storytelling style that teases the audience with “breadcrumbs” about what’s coming up.
Naturally, Blenders aims for the partnership to increase revenue and market share over time, but Gray is looking at the partnership holistically and the gains over a long period of time, he said.
“When you have transactional partnerships vs. the way that we’ve approached this, you are so dependent upon that one post, that one product mention,” Gray said. “If you don’t get this ROAS or you don’t get this CPM, someone internally is going to say that’s a failure. They’re not going to look at the success of the brand over a period of time.”
Affiliates and TikTok influencers are still a part of Blenders’ marketing portfolio but their role is more bottom-of-the-funnel. To make an impact on brand awareness, Blenders needs an amplifier, Gray said. In the past, Blenders has secured marketing initiatives with Oracle Red Bull Racing and with head football coach at the University of Colorado Boulder, Deion Sanders, known as Coach Prime.
“In terms of being a brand that is going to continue to grow, not only in market share, but mindshare, we have to bring these amplifiers in,” Gray said. “And I believe the amplifiers need to look different. Through an endemic content play, we can affect community and commerce.”
Consumers Look For More Than Price and Product
This type of community is what shoppers are looking for. Because retail is so competitive, brands need to give shoppers more than product and price value, Gray said. For Blenders, there’s a cool-factor and something culturally relevant.
“They’re looking for identity value,” he said. “There becomes a lot of equity when you’re walking around wearing a logo.”
Howlett Brings New Ideas, Energy to Blenders Marketing Team
A few months into the role, and Howlett is already impacting the retailer’s culture and having vibrant discussions with the marketing team, Gray said. For example, if the team gives him a brief about what they want him to do, Howlett might say, “I’m going to do that. I’m just not going to do that that way.”
“The biggest exciting development for me is that we’re having different discussions, and he’s in the room having those discussions with us and we don’t always agree on things,” Gray said.
Blenders has an in-house creative team, which allows the retailer to quickly execute Howlett’s ideas. In addition, this enables the team to create content, but take it down or throw it out if it’s not working, he said.
“I have to have the trust in what he does to make sure that I’m not trying to force a relationship or a partnership that was never intended to be done in a linear way,” Gray said.
This is not the typical W-2 type of employment, Gray said. Instead, the relationship will be messy where some things work and some don’t, he said.
Safilo Group acquired Blenders in 2019, valuing the brand at $90 million at that time, when Blenders projected $42 million in sales. Gray joined Blenders as CEO in April 2025, succeeding the brand’s founder, Chase Fisher.
