Welcome to another episode of The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast hosted by Acadia’s Head of Retail Marketplaces Services Julie Spear. In today's episode, we have two special guests that Julie had the privilege of joining for a discussion panel at eTail East in Boston: Ash McMullen, Head of E-commerce at Advantice, and Stephanie Grubert, Director of E-commerce Sales at Torani.  Together, we'll dive into the topic of “tentpole events” and how brands plan, execute, and build their e-commerce strategies around these major shopping events. Make sure you tune in to find out more!   KEY TAKEAWAYS In this episode, Julie, Ash, and Stephanie discuss: The necessity of strong client-agency relationships and thorough preparations, including scenario planning, tool implementation, and automated rules. Importance of monitoring user experiences, conducting real-time sales checks, and managing unexpected issues with calmness. Managing stress and staying calm during the execution phase. Real-time analysis and adaptation based on competitor strategies. Utilizing limited real-time sales checks to avoid overreactions. Understanding the purchase cycle and defining success metrics for different product types. Importance of pre-defining success measurements. Goals such as new-to-brand growth and repeat purchasers. Key metrics like added-to-carts, retargeting consumers, and buy cycles on Amazon. Tentpole Event Planning: Months of detailed planning involving finance, supply chain, sales, and marketing teams. Execution requires about two days, followed by approximately two weeks of reporting. Importance of education, alignment, and early communication to avoid challenges. Suggestion to define success with one or two key performance indicators (KPIs), focusing on traffic and glance views. Driving down ROAS for a bigger goal. Unique promotional event ideas to create consumer urgency and introduce new products.