Branding the man: why men are the next frontier in fashion retail

In case you missed it, one of the ‘stan’s is on its way to being a major destination for Central Asia’s newly rich. Oil-rich Kazakhstan is polishing its main commercial center of Almaty and gilding it with glittering new shopping centers — and not a moment too soon. DeBeers Jewellery wasted little time in setting up shop and on July 2^nd opened a luxurious new store.

Why here? Well maybe because of all the Central Asia economies, Kazakhstan isn’t doing too shabby — corruption and bureaucracy notwithstanding. Prime Minister Karim Massimov is a rock star now that his country’s economy is pushing towards a “sustainable level.” Inflation finished in 2010 at 7.8%, and 2011 is looking even better. Kazakhstan, for the record, is in the top ten of the largest countries in the world.

In May the average salary per month in Kazakhstan accounted for roughly 84 thousand tenge (Kazakh currency) and increased by 12.5 percent compared with the same period last year.

Which is why many believe Kazakhstan could just be a viable investment with its low level of debt, access to it’s own national oil fund, and ability to essentially recapitalize its own banks. Sounds like a flush economy to me – or almost. Keep in mind China was a long-term investment when foreign retailers set up shop there in the early 1990′s.

But many were stunned when it was DeBeers — not Louis Vuitton or even Chanel — who opened a store here.

It’s not all that surprising, though, when you consider that DeBeers’ CEO is none other than François Delage, the man who in 1992, as President of Louis Vuitton Asia Pacific, was prescient enough to open the first LV store in China. Other than Armani, nobody else had yet dared to enter the China market.

“Our opening in Almaty demonstrates the growing demand for De Beers Diamond Jewelry globally, beyond traditional markets,” said Delage, in a prepared statement. That might be pushing it a bit but Delage is no idiot: in order to groom this future customer and build on aspirational desires, one must provide the desire itself. Why wait for Zales to ruin the moment?

Meanwhile Saks Fifth Avenue is scheduled to open a 91,000 square foot store in August of 2012, which they boast will be 3-floors of über-luxe, not unlike what might be found in the U.S. — but with the local customer in mind. “We are so excited to bring our first store to this part of the world and believe that Almaty, Kazakhstan, with its rapidly expanding affluent population, will be a great fit for Saks Fifth Avenue,” Says Stephen I. Sadove, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Saks Incorporated, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

Saks has been down the expansion road before, often in fits and starts but more recently figured out that licensing is probably the better way to go, at least in the beginning.  Other than its store in Mexico City, stores in Dubai and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia have been slow to register a profit. A store planned for China was eventually dropped. My guess is the store in Kazakhstan will be their new model for international expansion, one which will integrate a strategic alignment of brand with local custom, without dilution of the overall brand’s key message of luxury leadership and customer service.

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When the news broke last week that Club Monaco had decided to hop on the Manwagon and create a “dynamic shopping experience for guys,” well, many of us just had to roll our eyes just a bit.

You might have caught our recent post (click here) about how San Francisco has been leading the way in terms of men’s boutiques. And of course J. Crew went whole hog on the concept of partnering with heritage brands like Filson, Globe Trotter, Red Wing, and just about anyone else they could dig up to make them seem more, you know: masculine.

It’s true, Club Monaco’s black-and-white aesthetic has worn thin and the Ralph Lauren Corp.-owned company has been a bit stubborn about change. With 35 stores in the U.S. and 24 in Canada, it was only a matter of time before they were going to join in the fray.

So they’ve enlisted the help of Michael Williams, the earnest blogger who’s A Continuous Lean has become something of a bible for those who worship at the shrine of heritage brands and Made in America. “We took inspiration from classic men’s specialty stores – ones that our fathers and grandfathers shopped in,” said Williams in WWD.

Oh, if I had a dollar for every time someone has said this in the past couple of years. I even got sick of myself saying it when I was on my book tour for Branding the Man.

It’s clear that when every last heritage brand has been trumpeted and yet another store is kitting themselves out in reclaimed wood and “old school” materials, the question will remain: what next, boys?

I believe that the awakening of men to the power of fashion – no matter how utilitarian or quietly “authentic” — will hopefully be the gateway towards a broader definition of the conventional men’s retail market as whole and in turn, the men’s retail experience. Now more than ever, men are exploring their own identities and sharpening the American definition of masculinity with potentially exciting new ways of expressing themselves.

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In these peak days of summer, many earnest young people are not taking jobs in a local mall or restaurant, but as an on-the-street canvasser.

On a recent weekday we found canvassers for Planned Parenthood the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the Red Cross each commandeering their own section of San Francisco’s bustling Market Street. On another day, Greenpeace trolled an intersection of Mission and Second. With each, the technique is generally the same: positioned in the middle of the sidewalk in a brightly colored, branded t-shirt, the canvasser targets you and then waves boldly, with a nice big, country-style wave.

Then comes the open-ended question? “Hello! Do you support gay marriage?” or “Do you want to protect our environment?”

Many pedestrians dodge them. Some answer imaginary cellphone calls. Then there are those who, perhaps out of sympathy, stop and let the canvasser recite their plea.

But even those who profess to privately support some of these causes find the strategy disturbing or downright irritating. “I support all of these organizations off the grid,” says Catherine, an artist and mother from Marin. “[But] anticipating being accosted on the street makes me hurry on by, or lie about which constituency I vote with.”

But one has to wonder, is this really the best use of a non-profit organization’s precious marketing dollars? How is this any different from a panhandler or an untalented busker banging a plastic bucket and calling it music? Does a “cause” make their use of the public sidewalks acceptable and how does this impact the retailers whose most valuable real estate is their front door and windows?

We had a casual conversation with one Planned Parenthood canvasser (we’ll call her Carla) who said canvassing is just one of the organization’s strategy for bringing awareness, but that San Francisco’s Planned Parenthood chapter is wholly devoted to canvassing. “The average American spends about 5 minutes a day on politics, so if you’re out there on the street it actually gives you the chance to talk to someone you don’t normally get to talk to.”

On a good day, Carla puts in a four-hour shift and of the hundreds she confronts is able to roughly 30 people to hear her out. She didn’t disclose how many of those 30 people actually make a donation or fill out a form.

Planned Parenthood puts heavy emphasis on repeated trainings in order to prepare canvassers for the broad range of questions they’ll receive. “We have trainings for how you’re supposed to talk to people,” says Carla. “So we’re not sending people out there who are saying things they’re not supposed to say. We have a very consistent training schedule.”

As for the merchants, they don’t really have a say, although some have complained. The general rule is that canvassers must stay fifteen feet from the merchant’s front door.

When Carla discovered that she would be quoted for this blog, she became terrified and immediately alerted her street partner. We tried to photograph them but they covered their faces and ran. Strange behavior when you consider that they are representing a perfectly respectable, public organization — so why be embarrassed or afraid?

We contacted Planned Parenthood as well as to the Red Cross and ACLU, but were unable to get a response from officials there.

 

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