Tommy Hilfiger's Crafty Plan to be the Next Youth Apparel "It" Brand
Just a few months after being bought for a cool $3 billion by apparel conglomerate Phillips-Van Heusen Corp. (PVH), Tommy Hilfiger Group is busting a move with its announcement of a new youth brand, Tommy, due out this fall. The company plans to debut Tommy only in Canada for now, with three new, Tommy-branded stores and a presence in 14 existing Tommy Hilfiger stores up north.
Tommy Hilfiger hasn't been the hottest brand of late. It went all hip-hop a while back, seriously alienating fans of its original style, and then migrated back to preppy land when that success started to fade. Currently, the Tommy Hilfiger brand is seriously overexposed with 900 stand-alone stores plus a 2007 alliance with Macy's (M) department stores that gives the brand 850 more locations.
Despite these bumps in the road, here's why the Tommy brand is well-positioned to become the next hot youth brand:
- Fickle teens. Teens are always looking for something new, and sometimes that means something old that's ready to be new again. Just looking at the photo I found for this story, I'd say Tommy is onto something in terms of understanding youth attitudes. Not all of the big youth brands are doing so great right now -- American Apparel (APP) has lost focus due to its financial mess, and sales are down at Hot Topic (HOTT) and Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), just to name a few of the biggest brands that seem to have lost their teen cred. All of which leaves the door open for a new youth line to emerge as the next hot brand.
- Nice new styles. Fashion blog BlogTO got a sneak peek at the Tommy line a couple weeks ago, and the reactions were positive, even from fashionistas who derided Tommy Hilfiger as a dated brand. For instance, commenter HUK on the BlogTO site says, "They sold out the brand to hip hop" and notes "it's no longer a premium brand" and Hilfiger is "spread too thin." But HUK then closes with, "I kind of like this line of design though." Great, must-have design can erase past mistakes, and it looks like Hilfiger has done it here.
- Canada tryout. Tommy Hilfiger is smart to start small with Tommy, and kick off the brand far away from the high-pressure glare of New York, Paris, or L.A. The small Canada opening will give company designers and marketers a chance to feel their way around and experiment before they unleash this brand on the wider world.
- Scarcity creates demand. Whoa, Tommy is only available at 17 Canadian stores? What a great way to make it highly coveted. Maybe Hilfiger is learning from its I'm-everywhere problem with the main brand in using a scarcity strategy here. It's not hard to imagine the line's skinny ties, slinky women's polka-dot shirts, and goofy-cool jackets (one's got an eyeglasses motif) being resold on eBay for big bucks if this is played right.
- Completes the offering. Tommy Hilfiger has lines aimed at adults, young kids, and kids from toddlers up through size 12. And inbetween, nothing. So adding a focused brand for teens and young adults gives Hilfiger a complete offering for all ages. From that perspective alone, adding the line makes sense.
- Deep pockets and something to prove. Tommy parent Phillips-Van Heusen had a tough time growing sales last year with its stable of legacy brands including marquee name Calvin Klein. Sales have started to recover this year, but the parent company needs a new, breakout success. Having spent big to get Hilfiger, PVH is probably willing to spend big to make its newest division's new brand a smash hit, so it can show shareholders its Hilfiger acquisition was a smart one.
Photo via Fickr user Life of Sport
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