Michael Cape

“I enjoy partnering with the teams of companies and draw from their passion and energy to craft authentic brand stories that create an emotional connection and engage consumers. I am most fulfilled by guiding teams to reach new heights of performance to meet their goals.”

Michael Cape is a branding expert with vast experience in marketing, e-commerce and digital marketing, store design, merchandising, brand management, and public relations for retail and consumer brands. Michael held leadership marketing roles in numerous Fortune 500 companies including Chief Marketing Officer for Old Navy (US $6 billion annual sales) and Vice President of Brand Marketing at JCPenney (US $19 billion annual sales).  Michael has provided marketing consulting services for leading global brands including Levi Strauss, Target Corporation, Lucas Films, William Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Sean John, LeBron James Retail, and Redcats Retail Group. 

Michael’s strategic approach to brand development includes immersing himself in the brand’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.

His innovative work has been featured in Fortune, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Associated Press, CNN, Brandweek, and Advertising Age.  Michael has been recognized with the Retail Luminary Award as one of Retail’s Top 5 Industry Leaders and the Markopolous Award as The Industry Leader in Store Design and Visual Merchandising.

When not focused on brand initiatives, 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.