THE FUTURE SERIES

Article 2 of 6

The Future of Fashion Marketing

This is the 2nd article in the Future Series. In the previous article we discussed the changing consumer behaviour and how it’s impacting the industry. In this article I want to talk about what this means for fashion companies.

For the purpose of this article, Brands refers to both retail brands and fashion brands.

The one major takeaway we get from this fast changing consumer behaviour is that brands need to reassess their relevance to their consumers as seen here. In the 80’s, 90’s and the early 2000’s which I refer to as the golden era of fashion brands, the brand made the person. Now in this newly established status quo, the brand is trying to fit into the life of the person. Peoples lives have become larger.

When I look at the Indian market today, it looks like a deluge of opportunism as opposed to well thought through positioning of brands.

Defining Purpose

This means establishing clearly, the purpose of the brand, why does it need to exist and what is it doing for the consumer.

This is what I call the ‘Why buy me’ principle. For e.g. in the Indian domestic market we have a plethora of mass value fashion brands/retailers, (not taking names, referring to all of them without any exception) but what exactly is their purpose? Except that ‘we sell cheap clothes/fashion’.

Whereas when seen in the International context, a Uniqlo, Zara, H&M have clearly defined what they mean to the consumer. Unique value added products at low prices, quick adoption of fashion from the ramp to the masses, mass production of trendy fashion - very clear positioning.

To be relevant in the long run, grow exponentially and leave a clear niche in the consumer psyche, brands need to clearly differentiate and position themselves and this is even more relevant in todays noisy landscape.

Now let’s move to another very interesting facet of fashion brands, the obsession with becoming lifestyle brands.

Lifestyle vs. Category

Brands no more dictate lifestyle choices, consumers absorb them from different social media sources. Influencers are a ‘thing’ today, peddling lifestyles to all. Rarely do we come across some one who buys a complete ensemble of a mannequin, or pick up everything from the same store for decorating the house. Mostly, we mix and match.

While brands offer a complete lifestyle to establish a ‘lifestyle approach’ - their sales mix is usually dominated by one category. Some of the most iconic brands are category based/predominant brands for e.g. Levis.

With online shopping becoming a more dominant sales channel, the consumer is usually exposed to only a category & not the complete offering. So the question I pose is this - should brands not put in energy, effort and resources in the same proportion to categories, as the sales that it begets.

A simple fix to managing this, is knowing when to switch from category to lifestyle. Many brands have bitten the dust by spending disproportionate amounts in building retail and lifestyle offerings - when they may have done extremely well if they were category focussed.

Businesses should take clear positions on categories in some channels, while reducing the lifestyle offerings to only owned or controlled spaces. Wouldn’t this help improve inventory productivity? Even today brands offer non moving categories to ‘complete’ the offering. Does anyone look at the cost of carrying inventory in the name of offering a complete mix, particularly when the consumer is clearly not buying.

There is nothing wrong with Lifestyle Brands, but sometimes a category based play may well be a smarter one. This choice should be a well calibrated one, otherwise this may be a one way trip to an early exit.

Learning what not to do is as important to brand building as knowing clearly what to do.

But defining why and where to play alone is not sufficient. Let’s discuss how brands can stay relevant in this new reality.

Story telling

Indian fashion brands tend to be opportunistic in their communication. Now whether it is because the frequent churn at the top, sheer opportunism, bottom line pressures, or a typical Indian disregard for our own history or a combination of all these, I do not know.

But, it’s important to tell stories. They are engaging, and help build relationships and values with the consumer. But to tell stories, brands need to know themselves. They need to build a shared purpose, history with the consumer. Celebrate wins, take social positions based on their own positioning.

This story telling needs to be consistent. That way the customer feels that he knows you, there is familiarity. A classic case of consistency in India is possibly Max, you know exactly what you will get in their stores and Internationally could be Nike. Reinventing the brand very frequently can alienate the consumer - changes must be handled subtly.

But let’s not divert from the topic. The questions are:

• Do our brands archive? Do they catalogue their history? What was the 1st garment they sold? Which is their best selling SKU? Do they have a museum/library of their archives? Do they take pride in their history, their values?
• Are they sharing inside stories of victories and struggles with their consumers?
• Do they control their narrative themselves?
• Most importantly, is it integrated across all media, retail, online etc.

In this new reality, brands need to start becoming virtual people, confidantes, a friend to the consumer. Brands that do that will find it easy to build loyalty even in this world of transitory relationships.

Story telling is not very expensive, but it takes dogged persistence and in todays digital environment, makes for compelling engagement.

But is that enough? How do we then get the consumers trust?

Honesty and Sincerity

Consumers have become cynical with opportunism and posturing from brands. The amount of scams and exposés in the recent past have taken the sheen of businesses. The trust factor is gone.

A classic example would be ‘greenwashing’; a number of brands in the recent past have been taken to task for misleading consumers and making them feel good about their purchases. Check it out here in The Ugly Truth Of Fast Fashion.

How do you build Honesty and Sincerity. There is no easy way out here, it has be through clearly laid down values which are demonstrated by senior management and communicated through all consumer touch points. Need I repeat that integrated and consistent approach to this is the only way. A classic example here would be the Tata brand.

So, it’s not true that Brands cannot influence consumers like they used to. The truth is that they need to build credibility - something that takes time, consistency and an integrated approach to building brands. Consumers can see through you and in a world where no secret can be hidden for long - only genuine values will win in the long run.

And finally, let’s talk about accepting and facing reality.

Digital First Brands

Brands need to re configure their businesses into becoming digital first. What does this phrase even mean today? Is this just jargon? Let’s understand in simple words.

• Do we manage our websites as flagship stores?
• What percentage of our online sales coming from our own website?
• Do we review Online Sales with the same intensity as we do our retail sales?
• Are our fulfilment centres geared for e-commerce?
• Do we manage our own digital marketing?
• Have we created the right set of competencies in the brand?
• Are we planning merchandise and supply chains differently for online businesses?

Building sales through online channel partners by managing them like key accounts is not thinking digital. Most brands today look at online as another channel. They still think brick and mortar and go digital by extension. The trick is in reversing this thinking.

To Conclude

I would simply say that most brands are still living in their glory days. They need to evolve to becoming a trusted friend, who is consistent and engaging - in a virtual world, they need to become virtual companions.

Month end pressures, living quarter to quarter is a reality. But to not build the brand while still managing operational issues, is condemning the business to an eternity in duress.

Today, it is still possible to grow through physical expansion, - as the economy is still opening. But in the very near future as the markets mature, these questions will come back to bite us. This will happen as the consumer quickly becomes more discerning with social media and international brands upgrading them.

Building the brand will define who survives and grows in the future.

Please share your thoughts and comments in the comments box below. It will enrich this discussion and make it much more interesting.

RELATED TOPICS:#Apparel,Supply Chain,strategy,brands,Marketing,retail,fashion industry,sales,Fashion Marketing,Fashion Retail,Fashion Brands,Brand Strategy,Anindya Ray