Do consumers care when your apparel brand started?
Do consumers really care when your apparel brand started?
Technology adoption rates are rapidly increasing. I recently dusted off The Tipping Point; time to dust off Geoffrey Moore’s Crossing the Chasm (one business book-of-the-minute I can’t dust off because I threw it away as fast as I finished it Who Moved My Cheese…nonsense).
As Wikipedia states:
Crossing the Chasm is closely related to the Technology Adoption Lifecycle where five main segments are recognized; innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards. According to Moore, the marketer should focus on one group of customers at a time, using each group as a base for marketing to the next group. The most difficult step is making the transition between visionaries (early adopters) and pragmatists (early majority). This is the chasm that he refers to. It can be argued, but the basic idea of the book is still relevant.
Technology Adoption Lifecycle
Technology adoption rates:
- 38 years for radio to attract 50 million listeners.
- 13 years for television to attract 50 million viewers.
- The iPod hit the market in 2001.
- Harvard students were using Facebook in 2004.
- Twitter was created in 2006.
Ok, so these examples refer to technology adoption. What about brand adoption as it relates to apparel? I mention technology because we all know that recent advances in social marketing and technology provide the platforms for your brand’s name to spread as rapidly as Jessica Simpson’s waistline before Tony Romo clipped her.
Are consumers more likely to buy your brand because you have been around the longest? Maybe at one time people were nostalgic for how long ago your brand started. I don’t think they care anymore – especially teens. It might even make you look old? Just ask Levi’s and Ford. Are its sales to teens helped by the fact that they were first or the one of the oldest? I don’t think so.
Teens are into what is now, what is current, what has strong design at a good price. Save your breath and copy space to tell the current brand story and don’t waste your time telling consumers when your brand started…when it started only matters to you.
But wait…I stand corrected.
Is my sunblock rubbed in?
Hollister makes a point to mention that it started in 1922 (not in 2000 as it actually did, but it sure is convincing) and was ranked as the second most preferred teen clothing brand in 2008 by US Bancorp Piper Jaffray. So unless you can beat 1922, you’re out of luck. Time to move on and stop mentioning that your brand was born when people listened to records while holding phones with cords and drinking Tang as an energy drink.
forsenorse
Probably not much for teens floating in the trend tides but for many other markets I believe consumers do care. A consumer in the outdoor lifestyle market looking for a dependable shell, may make a decision about a jacket based on whether or not they believe the company has a significant amount of experience, history and r&d to produce a reliable product. At higher price points they may also want feel secure that the company will be around to back up the product in the future.
While they may not care about which year, I bet the they care about an established reputation.
I would also speculate that the “innovators” and “early adapters” would probably care more. I my opinion these are the people setting trends, doing research and looking for something new. They maybe more core. I would guess that as the curve rises and falls post early adapters, the concern about start dates begins to drop off.
Just my 2 cents
apop
Hmmm, tough call.
I often see people in their late 20′s/early 30′s wearing Airwalk and Vision Streetwear kicks, probably oblivious to the fact that they’re not the same companies they were back when we were kids. I think they like the heritage aspect for sure.
Hollister plays to a similar space too. Even if people didn’t wear it 20 years ago (because it didn’t exist!), it has a perceived heritage among those that don’t surf, but like to emulate the lifestyle. Hollister, an incredible case study, can be said to have a classic surf feel, especially with some of its vintage gear. People resonate with that. Even if it’s not authentic to the core surf set.
Then there’s the guys who want the latest and greatest before you have it and once you do, they don’t want it anymore.
There’ll always be those that prefer the Stones to <>, but some people will want a mix of both.
Consumers care about values. Trying to leverage a brand’s heritage can have the opposite effect by portraying a brand as a has-been and one not relevant to the needs of today’s consumer. However, if you focus on the brand’s values – quality, sustainability, reliability, value, etc. then these are the attributes a consumer cares about and relates to – and these values can come from a 100 year old brand, or 1 year old brand. If the 100 year old brand has consistently upheld these values then this speaks volumes – but still, the focus should be on values, not age. It’s kind of like talking about demographics vs. psychgraphics. In my opinion the latter is much more relevant for understanding, and predicting, consumer behaviors.