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

 

With a roiling stock market and warnings of an impending double-dip recession, you’d think some would do what they did back in 2008 — or even last year: hunker down and see what shakes out.

Not so here in Silicon Valley, where the sun seems to be shining for more than a few start up firms. These aren’t “me-too” companies — those seeking to replicate the Facebook and Groupon formulas. These are bona fide innovators who are finding new ways to get your attention and your dollars.

What’s the biggest trend? Online advertising and marketing is making bold inroads into a terrain that has had its share of turmoil. But dollar for dollar, internet advertising sites and applications — and I include social networking sites dedicated to pushing retail sales — are still an open opportunity for business.

TrialPay (www.trialpay.com) is an online advertising start-up based in Mountain View, California is just one which has found new ways of making transactional advertising a means of building a customer base, drive traffic to specific sites, and then build incentives to add on purchases through post-transaction marketing.

Loffles (www.loffles.com) is another start-up created by two Brown University grads that makes a game out of watching online advertisements. The more you watch, the greater opportunity you have to win prizes, from a electronics to apparel, and even discounts on “experiences” like a 7-day resort pass or a free meal at a restaurant.

Are we heading into another internet boom such as we saw in the mid-1990’s? A look at the numbers certainly makes it seem like that. According to the New York Times, “twenty-two tech companies went public in the second quarter alone worth $5.5billion,” the highest dollar amount since 2000. Almost 1,000 raised $7.5billion from venture capital in the second quarter, that’s up 19-percent from the first quarter and just over sixty-percent from the same period in 2009.

What’s that mean in terms of consumer sentiment — will people still spend even if they’re watching their pocketbooks? I think they will. The internet offers an insulated bubble where purchase decisions are made in a different way than in a real-world environment like a store. Online retail and incentive-based advertising also allows key information and comparisons to be made by the consumer that might not be made in a bricks-and-mortar situation. Add to that social media testimonials and uploads and you have a potentially rich opportunity to rally a consumer to push that purchase button.

Read my post, “Social Shopping Application Offers Compelling Way to Connect with Customers.” Click Here.

Read “In Silicon Valley, the Night Is Still Young,” from the New York Times. Click here.

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Never mind that AMC’s “Mad Men,” the highly acclaimed, Emmy award-winning series about the tawdry and tantalizing world of advertising in the 1960s, is not due for a new season until 2012.  Banana Republic has gone great guns for a second time in trying to capitalize on the craze for all things “Mad Men.”

But wasn’t that so last year, or the year before?

To see last night’s party at the San Francisco Banana Republic flagship (they did similar parties across the U.S.), you would have thought this was back around Season 2 when people were REALLY talking about the show.

The crowd of mostly 20-something, financial district professionals filed in searching for the bar and appeared only mildly interested in the “Mad Men” collection. The collection, a collaboration with “Mad Men” costume stylist Janie Bryant, offers a respectable take on 60’s fashion, albeit a trifle too costumey.

Display windows featured fashion images with models dressed as characters from the program, with text reading, “Are you Betty?” or “Are you Don?” I don’t know, sometimes I’m both, depends on what I’m drinking. Speaking of…

If you work in retail, you know right away what was missing at this party, and it had nothing to do with fashion: likkur.

Somehow the marketing folks at the Gap — bless them — overlooked a liquor license or something, or maybe they’re on the wagon and think you should be too. The bar served only “Mockatinis” which rather than sounding cute made you just plain… mad. People dourly sipped on their juicebox-in-a-glass “cocktail” and pretended to be excited about the photo booth in the corner.

Meanwhile, career gals lined up for a free “Mad Men Facelift” — huh? What does that have to do with the show? No matter, the line was longer than the one at the bar, as staff from San Francisco’s SenSpa used the NuSkin device to lift their fresh little faces.

Alas, we couldn’t stay to see what other exciting things were going to happen. We needed a drink.

 See the new Mad Men Collection from Banana Republic. Click here.

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Brian Spaly is one man who sees opportunity in men’s retailing – if it’s done right. In 2007, along with business partner Andy Dunn he founded Bonobos, which became one of the biggest start-up success stories to come out of the recession — especially in fashion retail. Together they created a men’s clothing brand that became instantly famous for having the best fitting pants on the planet.

 But for Spaly, It wasn’t enough to sell 40,000 pairs of pants (as Bonobos did in their first two years of business), or raise $18.5Million in capital (as the company did in 2010.) Even today, Spaly is forever focused on how to make the shopping experience even easier for Everyman.

 His “Big Idea”? What if all a guy had to do was have an online or telephone séance with a stylist and then, Voila: a box of perfectly fitting clothes arrives in the mail? Welcome to Trunk Club. Founded in 2009, Trunk Club is quietly making inroads in an area most ordinary stores have never bothered to push: personal styling for men.

Bertrand Pellegrin: What is it that sets Trunk Club apart from other personal styling services, i.e. ones one might find in a department store, or even a private service?

Brian Spaly: I think many other personal style services can still be intimidating for a lot of guys from both a style and a price perspective. At Trunk Club our consultants are all experts on a wide range of men’s style but even more importantly, they are great listeners. We’re not here to tell you what your style should be. We’re here to understand your personal style and provide you with all the right clothes to knock that look out of the park.

At the same time, there are no fees for the service and no minimums for purchase, so there’s nothing for guys to lose by giving it a try. I think most guys view the personal stylist as a province of the rich – but we’re hoping to change that.  We’re not pushing couture, we’re just selling high quality clothes that fit well and flatter you.

BP: Who is the Trunk Club customer — what is their profile?

 BS: We have found that Trunk Club has resonated really well with 30-45 year old urban professionals like lawyers, consultants, and bankers. A lot of these guys don’t have [the] hours to spend shopping and while they often have dressing for work and formal events covered, they appreciate our stylists help putting together outfits for first dates, nice dinners with the wife, getaway weekends, or nights out on the town.

BP: What was your “Aha” moment when you realized your concept for Trunk Club?

 BS: A lot of the inspiration for what we do comes from my experiences at Bonobos, where I learned first hand that guys simply don’t like to shop and don’t want to invest the time to learn how to find great clothes.  At the same time, it became clear to me that more than ever, guys loved looking good.  We know there’s a better way to get guys awesome clothes.

BP: Do you think most contemporary men’s stores are still missing the mark? If so, what is it that they are overlooking?

 BS: I think most contemporary men’s stores continue to sell clothes in a very traditional approach – establish a brick and mortar presence, lay out what they have to offer, and have customers browse their products during set store hours – and have not thought enough about whether or not a customer enjoys this experience.  For some customers, this may be perfect.  But for a lot of the guys we have been talking with having to go to multiple stores, being overwhelmed with choice, and not getting personalized service is not a great experience.

BP: A lot of attention has been paid to brands like J. Crew, Brooks Brothers, and Club Monaco for trying to modernize their merchandising and buying strategies. Does this “curated” approach resonate with you?

 BS: Sure, it resonates with us.  We admire all of these companies – they are some of the best in the business.  What doesn’t resonate with us is the service, the location, and the shopping experience.  I recently checked out a J. Crew men’s outpost in SoHo on a Saturday.  It was a mad house, I couldn’t find anyone that worked there, I couldn’t tell who worked there, it didn’t look like there were any dressing rooms — the place was a mess.  Were the “curated” clothes cool? Absolutely.  But I will never go back and I didn’t buy anything because the experience sucked.  

 BP: Is Trunk Club planning to expand beyond online services to actual storefront locations (or will this only be located at the Chicago HQ)?

 BS: We haven’t made any firm plans at the moment.  We are always looking for the best way to serve our customers and will evaluate opportunities as they come up.

 BP: What is the pattern you notice most in terms of the difficulties/obstacles men find with shopping for themselves? How does TC address those hurdles?

 BS: Just because men don’t like to shop doesn’t mean they don’t want to dress better. Guys settle for baggy, boxy shirts and stale style because they don’t have the time or interest to track down better fitting, more stylish clothing. At Trunk Club we handpick a selection of awesome clothes to match each customer’s unique style and fit preferences. When a customer receives his first trunk, all that’s left for him to do is the fun part: choosing favorites from a personalized selection of great looking, great fitting clothes.

 

 

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