'Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black.' Ford, H.
‘Once upon a time, luxury goods makers delivered individualised products to customers based on the buyer’s personal preferences, tastes and budget.’ (Buisness of Fashion)
Increasingly the way we interact with each other is effect the way we interact with brands. The used of social media like facebook & twitter has seen a steady increase in the way companies are selling their products in what they define as customizable goods. And to a certain extent they are, but it’s nothing that Nike haven’t been doing for the past thirteen years when they launched Nike ID back in 1999, which in short is a platform that allows the consumer to build their own trainers or sportswear from a selecting from a colour pallet for different panels of the product.
But more recently, luxury brands Prada & Louis Vuitton are also cashing in on this method of production.
In an artcicle on the Buisnessofashion.com it is sugggested that this is a new mode of production called 'Mass Customization' which will restore the voice of the consumer to the product design process. Going on to mention a ‘light aesthetic customization service.’
I’m not really convinced. These companies may be restoring an element of individuality to their products, but it’s hardly an outlet to project your personality through. The service comes with a very limited set of variations to choose from.
As part of their S/S 11 collection, Prada offered a customization option on their lace-up brogues, which had been their most iconic piece from their collection. Allowing customers to choose between varieties of colour choices. For example, a green sole and a red wing tip detail. Whilst over at Louis Vuitton, they developed it a step further and offered a service to have a hand painted monogram attached to their luggage bags.
What I am struggling to get my head around with this ‘Mass Customization’ is that it is obviously a lie. They may be a few surface details that can be altered to someone’s taste but underneath it will still remain as a mass-produced heavily branded product. The truth of it is that all the possible variations have already been carefully considered by a design team. But surely these options will only dilute the brand’s aesthetic, and confuse the way in which consumers perceive a brand’s identity?
The customization tools which are ‘on offer’ to the public are basic & maintain the brand position but also reflect the consumers own inability to choose from a set of design options. Crucial to this notion of ‘Mass Customization’ is the desire for the consumer to have something that is truly bespoke to their needs but still retains a strong enough identity to be acknowledged as belonging to the brand it is apart of.
'Control also refers to measures needed to manage the growing customer database & facilitate smooth feedback channels demonstrating a quick response in order to maintain customer retention and long term locality.' (Hameide , 2011 p234.)
It all seems a little confusing, but I hope that it is only deployed into strategies for products we already associate with a particular brand (Chuck Tailors for Converse, Trench coat for Burberry & Wayfarers for Rayban.)
Nike Inc was born in 1962, a brainchild of Bill Bowerman & Phil Knight when they started a partnership originally titled ‘Blue Ribbon Sports. Their aim was to sell low-cost high-quality Japanese athletic shoes to American consumers, today Nike not only manufactures athletic shoes at every marketable price point on the global market, but over 40% of their sales come from sportswear & equipment. With over 20,000 global retailers, Nike factory stores, Nike stores, NikeTown, online retailers & their own online stores to sell their products, Nike dominates sales in the athletic wear industry with a 33% market share. 'Nike as a brand has always identified itself as the "athlete in you". This concept is reflected in every design, advertising, and decision made by the brand, which is reflected in their mission statement: To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world. If you have a body you are an athlete.' (Hameide , K. (Hameide , 2011 p41.)
Store Layout
The design of the NikeTown store on Oxford Street utilizes a similar layout strategy to a department store or a mini mall to increase the probability of customer purchases. Each sport is designated an area, in which the products are arranged by type & colour. This gives the illusion that they are a multiple of smaller stores inside one large store. This idea is also reinforced by the floor/wall plan & colour schemes.
By organizing the store into sports, Nike generated additional markets for each of their consumers, which facilitates the consumer belief that they need clothing for each specific sport, which is predominantly a lie. The fact is, that Nike running shirts serve the same purpose as tennis or yoga shirts. Their focus on merchandising & décor seduces the consumer into an imaginary set of buying choices. Nike’s immediate consumers are mainly athletes, therefore an athlete is more inclined to buy a sports shoe designed by Nike than someone who generally doesn’t engage in regular sport or exercise . To target their consumers who are likely to develop brand & product intimacy; those that care primarily about utility & quality over price. Advertising Strategies
The advertising strategies in the NikeTown store are more complex than the design tactics, using posters and videos of professional athletes in specific Nike merchandise. Back in May 2010 Nike realsed a three minute ad for the world cup called ‘Write The Future’ directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu & created by Wieden & Kennedy features football superstars Wayne Rooney, Dider Drogba & Christiano Ronaldo.
‘According to web video analytics company Visible Measures “Write the Future” clocked a record 7.8 million online views in its debut week, underscoring the power of creating compelling digital content that consumers will voluntarily seek out and share with others.’
The “Write the Future” campaign reassures consumers of the facebook generation that Nike is a quality brand; this is effectively portrayed by sports figures such as Rooney appealing to consumers sense of belonging to the brand.
Micheal Jordan; The Superbrand
The signing of Micheal Jordan to Nike in 1984 to create a product line based purely around Jordan’s career building bridges & defining the relationship between corporate brands & sport stars is Nike’s most recognized marketing strategy, voted number one in the ‘Greatest Sports Marketing innovation of the last 50 years’ with 18% of the vote. When AIR JORDAN was created, Nike even went as far to develop a silhouette of the player suspended in air, which would act as a logo alongside their original ‘swoosh’ logo.
Testimonials: A celebrity supporting a product in a way that confirms its quality & benefits can be effective and persuasive is an excellent form of publicity. (Hameide , K.)
In a survey by sports business reporter Darren Rowell back in 2008, it was noted that the performance of sales within the category of basketball shoes was on a decline by 30% . “However, Top sellers (in basketball shoes) were ALL Jordan styles, led by the Retro 8 ($137), the Spiz'ike ($173), The Air Force 1/Jordan 12 hybrid ($144), the Melo M4 ($118), the Big Fund ($108) and the Collezione 13/10 combo pack ($307).” The Jordan brand is worth an estimated $8000,000.
Interview
Darren: So in the beginning, it could have been adidas or Converse and not Nike? MJ: The thing is I never wore Nike shoes until I signed the Nike contract. All through college, we wore Converse. And up to that point, my favorite shoe was an adidas. And at the time everybody was starting to recruit me, I was pro-adidas the whole time. Nike offered me the opportunity to have imput in designing the shoes I wanted to were. But I was very loyal. I went back to adidas and said, "Look, this is the Nike contract. If you come in and we're close, you know, I'll sign with you guys -- hands down. And they didn't feel like it was worth it, which in hindsight is perfect for me because it made my decision much easier. Darren: About 10 years ago, the Jordan brand became its own subsidiary and you got your logo, the Jumpman. What did that do for you? MJ: It gave me my own identity. Nike knew its brand was strong. They wanted to create a sub-brand that was just as strong. So now you got a two-headed monster going at that whole market. What we were able to do was capitalize on the high end of the business and we've been able to dominate the business in the everything over $100 space. Darren: I get reports that say that the Jordan brand continues to dominate this premium shoe market. Why did people buy Air Jordans then and why do they buy them now?
MJ: I think initially it had a lot to do with my impact on the basketball court. And then that translated to everything off the court. But then it was the quality of the shoes that we were building. I mean, it always had a sense of style about it and it was totally different from what you see in the marketplace. And I think that has allowed us to transcend over time and one of the reasons why it has lasted for 23 years. One -- it's gotta be hip. Two -- it has to be done with the highest of quality and three, it represents the best in basketball and those are three things that we've earned. Darren: Not many people know the story about the Jordan X. That's when you go to baseball and the designer you work with Tinker Hatfield basically thinks the franchise is over and he doesn't loop you in on the process because he thinks you probably have moved on. After production starts on it, he brings the shoe to you before it is to come out and he says what do you think? MJ: I told him the shoe didn't pass because I wasn't looped in. Darren: So Tinker actually then made a couple changes to the shoe at the last minute. You scared him. MJ: I did. Because I felt like this is the first time something was going to hit the market that I didn't approve. And you know, everybody kept trying to talk me into saying, 'Hey, well, we learned from this. Let's move on.' I said, 'Let's go back.' Because I don't want something that misrepresents me in the market. Websites: Nike.com Write The Future Micheal Jordan for Nike
The 10th of November marked Ralph Lauren’s tenth anniversary of digital innovation, in celebration the brand teamed up with design collective ‘Drive’ for a one of a kind ‘4-D’ visual projection on their stores on Madison Avenue, New York & Bond Street, London.
The projection involved the buildings being surveyed within an accuracy of 5 millimeters of its surface using laser scanners in order to map the exact architectural structure of the stores.
Using green screen technology Drive were able to film models walking down a runway on a scaled version of the buildings that once projected gives the impression of a 4-D catwalk protruding from the surface of the building before the models strut down it. The collective also filmed products part of the Ralph Lauren collection from every angle: A belt that wraps itself around the building, squeezing it so tight it shatters, revealing a handbag caged inside its walls.
Whilst this event might only hint at what’s to come, I think the potential to use 3-D technology to bring brand’s ideas to life within the fashion world is something I haven’t seen a lot of. In total contradiction to this, I feel the display lacked any sense of narrative, or story telling. The spinning bottles of perfume or products had no emotion them.
Potentionally, this could have been a interactive experience between the show and the crowd with the use of mobile phones, or music players. Similar to the collaboration between Nokia & Moving Brands back in 2007.
This periodical is a free, although you can only get them from ordering a shirt from the Cupcakes store, & is a monthly mini publication that provides comprehensive coverage of the Johnny Cupcakes brand & lifestyle. It features: updates, games, puzzles, recipes, trivia, product news, contests & event listings.
In the past three issues, it also gives extensive coverage on upcoming collaborations between Johnny & Looney Tunes & Hello Kitty.
In each issue, is a letter from Johnny keeping you updated in not only the brand but delves a little bit deeper into what Johnny has being doing himself, it highlights topics he’s being posting on his blog over the last month but condescend down into a few hundred words, but there’s something satisfying about taking a break from flicking through his online posts and having a pleasant, different, physical read.
When Johnny founded his company back in 2001, he probably wouldn’t believe that ten years later ‘Johnny Cupcakes’ would be a multi-million dollar company.
One of the reasons for the Cupcakes success is creating a personal relationship with their customers. Whether that is in store events, store movie nights, or Johnny personally talking to his customers, all of this is in place to facilitate a personal connection with the brand. It projects Cupcakes as a brand full of energy & trust, which is lost in more of the commercial retailers.
I’ve recently being emailing the brand’s sales representative Katie Bolger who is based out in Los Angeles, enquiring about some of the Cupcakes’ brand materials: badges, periodicals, stickers, gift boxes things that you can’t buy on their own, but come with an order from their site or shop.
Just as I expected the emails sent between us where relatively informal, asking how each others day was going in-between trying to organize a package for me to be shipped out to London.
Anyway this is what she sent me:
So most of the company’s publicity is based on viral branding such as video blogging, facebook updates, tweets etc.
But what money they do spend is on creating limited edition flyers for upcoming collections or press days, or these beautifully designed gift boxes that play up to the ‘Cupcake’ brand name.
It’s refreshing to see a commercial brand like this on a low budget striving for creative innovations not just to create new customer relationships, but also build on existing ones too.
On my second meeting with Jethro at ‘JJ Marshall Associates’ he talked me through a few campaigns he had been working on recently, one of which was the paper lookbook for Wrangler titled ‘Mark Your Territory.’
Marshall is establishing Wrangler as a rising exceptionally ‘cool’ premium denim brand, the campaign with a hint of attitude reminds me of Diesels past marketing campaigns: models posing against stone grey cement wall backdrops, denim-on-denim combos recurring with wash styles for both genders.
Customization is their season’s concept; the brand is challenging their consumers to mark their own territory on their own jeans.
“The Mark Your Territory collection develops the We Are Animals brand signature. We are encouraging our consumers to really own and personalize their Wrangler jeans. We’re looking forward to seeing some wild creativity when this collection hits the street.” Alessandro Vigano, creative director.
Alongside the A/W 11 lookbook Stinkdigital London have been commissioned to create an on-line experience that showcased Wrangler’s range.
This digital short depicts the huge variety of ways that human beings mark their territory. The ways we leave our stamp may be more sophisticated, but we remain animals at heart.
We Are Animals encourages us to escape the routine, and live life at the extreme, with heart pumping and adrenaline flowing.
"Finding ways to express one’s personality has also been an opportunity for brands to provide experiences, products or services that help get people more involved." Globe, M.
Lacoste have teamed up with party photographer Mark Hunter AKA ‘The Cobrasnake’ for their latest project Lacoste L!VE.
So far together they have cast not models but a whole bunch of socialites for their campaign which started with a party in Paris which was streamed live on their website.
For those of you that live in London, you’ve probably seen Mark parading around Mayfair & Dalston at fashion week after parties with his crazy hair & beard combo & even crazy outfits equipped with his camera snapping photos of people enjoying themselves. The photographs that have been released on Lacoste’s FLICKR account are very much classic of this style of photography we are used to seeing on thecobrasnake.com, & it seems Lacoste’s choice to collaborate with someone like Mark would shed that preppy stigma that the brand has attached to it’s name. The new collection is slightly younger too appearing more like street wear than Lacoste’s usual look.
So what’s so exciting about this campaign? Apart from the fact that a 24 hour party has been filmed by one of the best party photographers, the interactive aspect of the campaign allows you to shop the collection whilst watching the video.
'Real artists are not confined to a 'canvas' in the literal sense. Creative freedom and interaction with inspiring individuals is what the White Canvas Project is all about for Supremebeing.' Shieff, T.
At the end of July this year Supremebeing launched their latest project with the help of a few street artists. The White Canvas Project see’s the brand throwing paint jams and events with a selection of the nations most prominent young artists.
The brand have also put together a short film that briefly narrates what the project is about with a quick introduction to the five artists kicking off the project- David Walker, Mr Jago, Sae One, Will Barras & Blue The Warrior.
Accompanying the first WCP event is a set of five white tees, each designed by one of the artists involved with the project. But here’s the thing…. The visuals & the whole concept- with direct involvement with the artists showcasing their heritage is a brilliant idea, all of these T-shirts failed to excite me, especially after seeing what these guys are really capable on the project website.
However, I do think this project has a lot of potential to be successful & according to Supreme it is going to be an on going collaboration between the brand and a select few artists.
Oh & keep an eye out for an exhibition of the work created so far hitting London next month.
'Consumers make buying decisions based around the perception of the brand rather than the reality of the product. While this means brands can be become more valuable than their physical assets, it also means they can lose their value overnight.' Haigh, M.
So, last week I had my first branding meeting with the director of JJMarshall Associates Jethro Marshall at their studio on Swanfield Street in East London, (Just at the top of Brick Lane) . Although he works with Levis & Wrangler on most of their seasonal campaigns, he discussed how difficult it can be for his agency to get work because most big brands have internal design teams that deal with all of their marketing and promotions, and emphasized the importance not only to be developing conceptual thinking skills but also to be regularly working with both typography and photography.
Interview:
Me: Do you believe most brands remain fixated on yesterday’s problem – consistent reproduction across media? Jethro: Yes I do brands have to be alive to change for new branding and communication environments, whilst keeping a consistent tone of voice and recognizable identity. Me: Do you think brand's marketing strategies are becoming more about engaging the consumer with a narrative with vlogging and youtube making more of an online presence? Jethro: In short yes, though engagement & seduction have always been the benchmarks of advertising & communication. Me: Would you agree that a lot of brands seem to employ ubiquitous communication strategies? Jethro: In old product sectors, yes, where they need to differentiate. In new product/ service areas the comms are better.
Hopefully, I will be assisting Jethro on a few shoots over summer.
