Columbia + Cordero
Retention Transformation Drives +67% Lift in Revenue
Challenge:
Columbia Sportswear needed to monetize existing customers more effectively across owned channels while operating within a highly complex and siloed CRM organization. While dozens of automations, triggers, and platforms were live across email, SMS, push, loyalty, and post-purchase communications, execution was fragmented by unclear ownership, inconsistent processes, and limited cross-functional alignment.
The challenge extended beyond technology and tactics: retention performance was constrained by culture, role ambiguity, and disconnected ways of working. To unlock long-term LTV growth, Columbia needed to evolve from siloed channel execution to a strategic, adaptive retention organization with shared accountability and clarity of purpose.
Solution:
Led a dual-track transformation focused on both retention strategy execution and organizational enablement, ensuring performance gains were sustainable and scalable.
Retention & CRM Strategy
Conducted a full CRM, automation, and journey audit across the purchase funnel.
Mapped end-to-end customer journeys across email, SMS, push, loyalty, and post-purchase touchpoints.
Rationalized 16+ flows and 30+ live triggers, identifying gaps, redundancies, and expansion opportunities.
Built a test-and-learn framework tied to customer intent, behavior, and predicted LTV.
Supported platform RFP and migration planning to enable consistent orchestration and attribution.
Culture & Operating Model Transformation
Established clear role delineation and accountability using responsibility matrices (RACI) to reduce overlap and execution friction.
Introduced cross-functional collaboration rituals, shared KPIs, and aligned success metrics across retention, analytics, creative, and technology teams.
Led role clarity and collaboration workshops, shifting teams from reactive channel operators to strategic lifecycle owners.
Integrated tools and workflows (e.g., Jira → Workfront) to support transparency, velocity, and shared ownership.
Implemented performance and feedback frameworks with defined KPIs, regular reviews, and visible dashboards to reinforce accountability and progress.
Embedded training, enablement, and continuous learning programs to support long-term capability building and change adoption.
This ensured retention improvements were not dependent on individuals, but baked into how the organization operates.
Results:
Established a unified retention operating model, aligning strategy, execution, and culture across teams responsible for owned-channel growth.
Unlocked retention performance by removing organizational friction, enabling faster decision-making, clearer ownership, and more effective cross-channel execution.
Improved lifecycle efficiency by prioritizing high-value customer segments and journeys, supported by shared KPIs and consistent measurement.
Created a scalable foundation for long-term LTV growth, combining automation, personalization, and testing with a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.