Warm, Cool, & Culturally Sharp. Beth Lowry’s Blueprint for Modern Brand Storytelling.

Shop Drop Daily
Jan 18
5 min read

Updated: Jan 21

As Head of Creative Direction at Very, Beth Lowry sits at the intersection of culture, commerce, and creativity, shaping how a digital-first retailer shows up emotionally in the real world. With a career spanning global brands like Target and N Brown, Beth brings a deeply considered approach to experiential storytelling, one rooted in strong ideas, human connection, and cultural relevance. In this conversation, she shares how emotion drives impact, how experiential moments become powerful content engines, and why the future of retail belongs to brands brave enough to be warm, playful, and genuinely expressive.

Beth Lowry, Head of Creative Direction at Very.

SDD: Beth, you've worked across some incredible retail brands like Target and N Brown before joining Very. How have your previous experiences shaped your approach to creative direction and experiential brand activations at Very?

BL: My previous experiences have profoundly shaped my approach to creative direction and brand activations, instilling in me the belief that every project must begin with a strong idea at its core.

For me, the creative concept and the experiential moment are never just about visual execution, they’re about the emotional impact: how does this brand experience make someone feel?

A key influence came from my former Chief Creative Officer, who emphasised the balance of a brand being both warm and cool. That duality, human and emotive, yet culturally relevant and design‑driven, remains central to my philosophy. It’s in bringing those elements together that we create the strongest, most memorable brand experiences.

One of the best examples of this in my career is the '20 Years of Design for All' campaign that celebrated Target’s iconic positioning with 20 years of Design Partnerships and democratising design for mass audiences. The creative reflected that celebration. We crafted a Rizzoli-published coffee table book spotlighting the incredible history of these partnerships as well as 30+ micro-documentary film series in collaboration with Radical Media showcasing the meaningful human stories, principles and design process behind these iconic brands.

XXO Rizzoli x Target Coffee Table Book

Credits: Rizzoli, Target

XXO Rizzoli x Target Coffee Table Book

Credits: Missoni, Liberty London, The Warhol Foundation, Campbell Soup Company, Chandelier Creative

SDD: Very has been embracing more immersive and engaging brand experiences recently. When you think about experiential strategies, what do you see as the key opportunities for connecting with customers in a way that feels meaningful and memorable?

BL: As a digital retailer without stores, impactful opportunities lie in creating physical experiences that connect directly with customers, fans, and new audiences.

When the project is rooted in support of community and bringing personalisation and engagement into the experience, these moments feel unique and generous.

Equally important is bringing products to life in imaginative ways. Where product discovery fuels imagination and inspiration. That’s when experiential activations truly resonate, making them meaningful, shareable, and remembered.

A standout example is The Very Big Wardrobe, a two‑day immersive fashion experience on New Bond Street that invited guests to discover their personal style as Very unveiled its new Owned‑Brand fashion collection this past September. This first‑of‑its‑kind activation, expertly crafted by the PR and Brand teams in partnership with Heaps & Stacks, transformed a towering wardrobe installation into a vibrant style playground packed with curated looks, interactive moments, and confidence‑boosting fashion experiences.

From one‑to‑one styling sessions and live catwalks to competitions, a 360° mirror room, and glam stations, every touchpoint was designed to celebrate self‑expression and the joy of building a wardrobe that truly work

Another great illustration of this was Very x Adidas coming together this Autumn when we unveiled our latest collaboration which was the perfect blend of sport and style. The collection highlighting autumn’s most coveted shades of browns, cappuccino and burgundy and bringing this Covent Garden pop-up experience to life during National Coffee week was a great opportunity to grow engagement and how new audiences get to know the brand. To me, experiential can be a powerful content engine that can have a brand halo long after the event is done.

Adidas x Very

Credits: Adidas, Very, IMA, FILTRD Coffee, Jason Moore,

SDD: Building and leading teams seems central to your philosophy. How do you foster a culture where your creative teams can take bold risks and deliver truly unique, omni-channel experiences that stand out in the retail landscape?

BL: I consider myself very fortunate to have led incredibly talented creatives within in‑house studios and collaborating closely with agency partners. Together, we build meaningful campaigns and content that elevate the brand.

For me, fostering a culture of bold creativity starts with openness, sharing ideas often, spotting what’s new in the world, assessing what’s unique in the retail landscape from a global perspective.

It’s about thinking critically and conceptually: how do we build ideas that feel truly bespoke to us as a brand?

Brands can’t be all things to all people so it’s really deciding where we want to put our creative energy into to build distinctiveness and ownability in fun, surprising & stylish ways.

Target, Design for All

Credits: David Stark Design / Sprouse

SDD: From tv and digital to brand campaigns and influencer collaborations, Very touches so many consumer touchpoints. How do you approach ensuring that these different channels come together to tell a cohesive and impactful brand story?

BL: The strongest brand stories come from content that’s tailored to each channel but anchored in the same core idea.

Rather than simply replicating creative across platforms, I focus on how each channel can bring its own strengths to reflect that idea.

When each touchpoint plays its unique role yet remains connected to the same spirit, the result is a cohesive narrative that feels fresh, impactful, and allows the channels to be and perform at its best.

Target, Design for All

Credits: David Stark Design

Marimekko, Lilly Pulitzer, John Derian, Missoni

SDD: Looking at the future of retail and brand experience, what trends or innovations are you most excited about, and how do you see Very evolving its creative approach to stay ahead of the curve?

BL: I think it’s such an exciting moment the way brands are socially expressing themselves. We’re seeing a shift toward playfulness, nostalgia, analog and lo‑fi aesthetics, and even purposeful imperfection, brands not taking themselves too seriously, embracing fast‑turn niche trends, and leaning into thrifting and re-use.

Burberry, Barbour, Jacquemus, JW Anderson, Target, Damson Madder, Loewe , Walmart continue to bubble to up me on brands that are pushing boundaries in imagination, fun and expressiveness.

To me it’s keeping that sense of curiosity of how products & brand stories come to play, constantly seeking inspiration, spending time in stores comp shopping, and observing street style. It’s about evolving our creative approach to not only deliver compelling activations & content, but to capture the cultural mood, what audiences and our consumer care about today. There is no other industry that I’d rather be in.