How a Small Mascara Taught Me to Find Winning Products in the Data

The biggest wins often start as small, steady trends, not spikes. Spotting them takes investigating past the noise, calling them out even when they look minor, and being willing to bet on them.

What's your first Q4 big win ever? Mine was a small mascara. It completely changed how I look for winning moments.

At Victoria's Secret, I was an inventory planner. My job was to optimize current collections and plan future ones.

I owned the impulse towers (you know, those items by the register you grab last minute?): 200+ small SKUs.

You can imagine the data sheets I was looking at every day… endless numbers.

So I learned to put my investigator hat on. Look past the noise. Find the trends.

That's when I noticed one small SKU. A black mascara. It kept selling out.

I didn't act right away. I watched it for a few weeks. It wasn't a spike. It was a steady winner.

So I recommended we chase it for the next season. And I convinced the team to bet on it.

And…? It became one of the best-selling products of that year.

What it taught me:

• Learn to investigate. The biggest wins often start as small, steady trends.

• Don't be afraid to call it out, even when it's a tiny SKU in a sea of data.

• Bet on it. It might be a hit. And if not? You gave it your best shot.

I use the same skills in marketing today. It's how I built my reporting: to help me spot the winners.

The data rarely hands you the answer. You have to go looking for it.

What are you going to bet on this Q4?

Want to find the winners hiding in your own data? Download my free guide, From Data to Smarter Decisions.

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Anat Yaniv is the founder of TAG Marketing Services, a fractional marketing agency for growing D2C and e-commerce brands. With 20+ years in retail and e-commerce at Victoria's Secret, Gap, Etsy and Depop, she helps brands grow sales 2–4X with data-backed marketing.