Meet Hollister’s head of social media, Capri Debiccari

When Covid-19 lockdowns first hit the US, Capri Debiccari had just quit her job as a global social media manager at Puma.

“I deeply panicked. I had no idea what I was going to do,” she told us. Previously, Debiccari worked in social strategy at an agency, as well as in editorial social at Refinery29.

But within a few months, she figured it out. Flash forward to today: Debiccari is now Hollister’s head of social media.

As the first person in the role, she’s tasked with way more than just putting Hollister’s signature loud music, beachy cologne, and shirtless models into a 2D, digital format. She manages four people, and is in charge of not only Hollister social, but also social for its sub-brands: Social Tourist—aka is the D’Amelio sisters’ brand—and Gilly Hicks.

We learned a little more about what it’s like to run social media at Abercrombie & Fitch’s West Coast counterpart below.

This interview has been edited for content and clarity.

Marketing Brew: You said that four people report to you. Who do you report to? And how do they fit into the larger marketing arm of the company?

Capri Debiccari: I report to Jacee Scoular. She’s the senior director of brand marketing strategy. Our team—everyone that reports into Jacee—we work really closely. There’s a strategy team, there’s a social team, and there’s an influencer affiliate and PR team, and we’re all under this brand marketing strategy team.

MB: So the people who report to you: What are their jobs? What are they tasked with?

CD: I manage social media managers working across our three brands. I have one person on my team—we created this position for her because she was so interested in it and because we need all the help we can get in this area—it’s actually [for] social commerce and innovation. ‘

This person manages all of our social commerce efforts, because it’s such a big part of social, but it takes so much time, so we really want it to be showing up in that space as much as we could and as well as we could.

MB: What are all of the social platforms that your team uses and monitors?

CD: Obviously, Instagram and TikTok, a little bit of Snapchat here and there, Twitter for some brands—it definitely varies between the brands…We would love to be on every platform, but my philosophy is, like, if we don’t have the time and the resources to fully dedicate ourselves, then we should just pick and choose what we really want to kick ass at and fully throw ourselves into those platforms. But yeah, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook.

MB: What do you think the biggest misconception about being head of social media is?

CD: That social for brands is the same as having a social media account for yourself, and it’s all fun and games, and you just get to play around on the internet all day…I find that people really don’t think about all of the different elements that go into representing a brand well on social.

MB: Do you think the head of social media role at brands will exist five or 10 years from now?

CD: It’s impossible to answer because we don’t know what social will look like in 30 days. We don't know what social will look like in a year…I’m wondering if that head of social role is going to be divided. There are going to be so many platforms, so many other offshoots of social, that I’m wondering if it’s going to be manageable for one person to oversee. Maybe it will become more of a collaborative process. I don’t know a lot of social teams who are bigger than six, seven, eight people. I would love to see more of a social takeover in these companies. I think that’s where it’s going. I think social teams are just going to grow and grow.

MB: You said earlier that you quit a job previously because of burnout. How do you find a balance with your screen time and being always online these days?

CD: I try to organize my day in a way where if I need to take a break, I can take a break…Knowing what I have to get done every day and keeping on top of a to-do list is so helpful, because I can always look at it and say, “Okay, if I’m feeling like I need some more time to myself, what can I reprioritize for tomorrow?” What I like to remind people is that things can always wait. If you really need that time for yourself, or you really need to take care of something that doesn’t have to do with work, that honestly is so often the most important thing. You’re working on social media; you’re not curing cancer.

MB: What would you say to somebody that’s just starting their career in social media and aspires to a head of social media role?

CD: Reach out to people. This industry can feel very overwhelming, but it’s actually very small. And people want to help you. Genuinely, people want to help you. I always get excited when someone reaches out to me to talk about my career journey…Believe that people want to help you and see you succeed, and move through your professional interactions [without] being afraid to ask for help and ask for what you need.