When Shana Stephenson joined the New York Liberty as a consultant in 2018, she faced an uphill battle. The challenge wasn't just attracting new fans to the WNBA team — it was retaining longtime supporters while making the case for investment in women's sports, at a time when media attention and sponsorship deals were hard to come by.

In a fireside chat at HubSpot’s Unbound conference last month, Stephenson — now Chief Brand Officer at the Liberty — shared that building the fan base meant building a culture first. “It wasn’t about reach. It wasn’t about impressions. It wasn’t about ratings. It was really about building something. It was about values,” she said. Read how she helped rebuild the team’s brand and grow its sponsorships.

The growth trajectory for health wearable brand Whoop has been off the charts over the past three years: membership has increased 85% year over year, marking the third consecutive year of more than 70% growth. While a boon for the brand overall, the rapid expansion strained operations and inspired a regroup. We review how the health wearable retooled planning to keep pace with the product’s massive demand.

With a fan base of 100 million customers, sports apparel retailer Fanatics is super focused on having enough inventory to match demand. Senior Vice President Ben Pivar explains how its new plan balances cost and risk while working to optimize the customer experience.

Lastly, Healthy Baby’s new CMO Meredith Gieskes chats with us about moving beyond word-of-mouth marketing and into community, influencer marketing and prioritizing customer experience.

Until next week,