Michael Cape

Partner

Awards

Retail Luminary Award as one of Retail’s Top 5 Industry Leaders

Retail Advertising Council Gold Award for Total Campaign

Markopolous Award as The Industry Leader in Store Design and Visual

Speaking Engagements

Keynote Address, GlobalShop Retail Design Show, New York

Keynote Address, Euroshop Design Show, Dusseldorf

Keynote Address, The Design Collective Show, New York

Haas School of Business, MBA Program, UC Berkeley

Fashion Institute of Technology/FIT, New York

Michael is a branding expert with over 30 years of experience leading marketing, store design, visual merchandising, packaging, digital marketing, public relations and corporate identity for the retail, fashion and entertainment industries. His success as a brand strategist and creative lead has produced award-winning work for brand-driven companies including Old Navy, Target Corporation, JCPenney, Sean Jean, David’s Bridal, Lucas Films, Levis and many more.

His innovative work has been featured in Fortune, USAToday, Associated Press, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Brandweek, Design:Retail Magazine, Interior Design Magazine, Advertising Age and CNBC.

Ever since studying advertising and design at The Academy Of Art in San Francisco, Michael has developed a passion for creative and strategic development in support of crafting engaging brand stories. From his early days with his own design firm in San Francisco, Michael has grown with leadership roles in many Fortune 500 companies. Michael has evolved from Graphic Designer and Art Director to Store Design and Visual Merchandising Director to VP of Brand Marketing and ultimately to Chief Marketing Officer.

Michael’s strategic approach to brand development includes immersing himself in the client’s business and industry, identifying key points of differentiation to stand out from the competition and delivering a holistic communication strategy and creative solution to craft an engaging brand story that fosters an emotional connection with consumers.

His strong belief is that an emotional connection holds much more value than a transactional relationship in winning customer loyalty. He cites Dr. Donald Calne, neurologist and author who famously wrote, “The essential difference between emotion and reason is that emotion leads to action, while reason leads to conclusion.” Michael insures that his work in support of a brand will lead to action on the part of the consumer and produces meaningful results.

When not focused on client work, Michael designs furniture, plays guitar, sketches and paints, visits museums, plays tennis and enjoys beach life with his wife Shannon and their golden retriever named Crockett.