We live in a time when fashion has an unusual presence in society. You just have to open a magazine or sit in front of the TV to realize that fashion brands flood everything with their messages. But what really makes these ubiquitous brands succeed in conquering consumers: image, advertising or marketing?
Today, there are very few people who still think that traditional marketing alone is capable of influencing consumers' purchasing decisions. They want to know what is behind a brand, what it can offer them in exchange for their money. Many times it is simply a question of value: the best quality for the best price. But when people buy a garment from a famous designer, what they want is to pay a high price for feeling part of the history behind that brand. For many designers, the secret is to create a kind of novel with which people feel identified and able to pay for feeling protagonist of the story.
Take the case of an uncommon company, CAT, an American manufacturer of boots. The origin of the CAT boots goes back to the year 1991, when the heavy machinery manufacturer Caterpillar developed this type of footwear for its workers. Several companies in the United States and the United Kingdom took note of the potential that the characteristic design of yellow work boots could have on the
market, especially when the grunge aesthetic was booming in the mid-nineties , and they decided to launch the worldwide brand.
The success of these boots was overwhelming and, since its launch, have sold no less than 50 million pairs. From one of its catalogs you can extract the background novel of this brand: "Whether a bricklayer hammering with his hammer, a musician playing his guitar or a student earning a living in a cafe, the hardness, honesty and free nature of CAT are there to protect them. " CAT has an objectively small marketing budget. Its strategy is based on developing its distribution network by transmitting the lifestyle of the brand in each of its stores. The message is clear: the more convincing the story, the more attractive the brand will be.
So vital is to associate a brand with a history that many fashion houses have been in trouble when spontaneous associations arise. It is highly unlikely that Dr. Martens encouraged the skinhead movement to use their black boots, that Burberry was associated with English hooligans or that Lacoste sportswear was enhanced as a hallmark of the hard boys of the Parisian banlieues . However, this type of unintended associations occur quite frequently and the work of fashion houses is then to reposition the brand, in order to get rid of those who have tried to seize it in a "parasitic" way.
Creating your own identity is the only way for fashion companies that start from scratch and that have to compete with renowned brands, with glamorous stories or with the famous designer that is behind some creations. This is the case of the Italian brand of jeans Diesel. Its creator, Renzo Rosso, began sewing pants in his mother's old machine and selling them to his friends. He still proudly tells how he had to travel personally to New York, Stockholm or Los Angeles to explain his new concept of stone washed pants and riddled with holes. "It's hard to imagine today, but 25 years ago the stores stored little casual clothes . I had to use a lot of imagination to convince them to sell myjeans , that looked old or second hand, and that were more expensive than those of the competition, "he says.
Diesel built his success on the basis of a provocative, ironic advertising communication that sometimes came to the scathing critique of the consumer society. Creating a particular universe, he has managed to connect with a rebellious and eccentric public that feeds funds to a company that is already present in 80 countries, has 255 own stores and more than 6,000 points of sale.
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