According to a recent report from the Parenting Group and Edelman, today’s modern father is increasingly taking a larger role in domestic shopping, caregiving, cooking, and cleaning. Marketers across the board are viewing the changing role of men in the family as a new challenge — and opportunity. b. on brand was charged with developing the business strategy, brand identity, and naming for a unique retail concept with the working title, “Operation Hero”: a men’s online and bricks-and-mortar store dedicated to fathers and fathers-to-be.

b. on brand designed frameworks and analysis to determine the scope of opportunities in developing a compelling and meaningful destination for fathers — while simultaneously innovating the traditional platform of men’s retail.

We also identified the need for a store where both children and wives could feel equally at home, but without diluting the brand experience of a store for and about men and fathers.

Built upon our proprietary insights in men’s retail, b. on brand crafted a model designed to enrich the fatherhood experience with a set of principles that emphasize an “ease of entry,” “inspired innovation,” and “community.” In short, a store that both guides and champions today’s fathers. In tandem, a clearly defined product assortment and service program to ensure a holistic and authoritative market position as a destination for the involved urban dad.

b. on brand defined the brand character with a comprehensive branding approach which resulted in the name: Cooper & Kid, and what we believe will be a model for an altogether different way of marketing to men in a compelling and exciting way that is meaningful to the way they live and shop.

It was only a matter of time before a new contemporary men’s brands would arrive on the scene targeting the ever-expanding market of hipster-inspired clothes for the modern Millenial.

Enter Onassis, a brand backed by Chinese investors and developed by a creative team in New York that, to our surprise, has nothing whatsoever to do with the legendary shipping tycoon, Aristotle Onassis.

So if you were hoping for a store with bar stools covered in the skin of a whale’s penis (yes, Ari famously had those on his yacht, the Christina), then you will be sadly disappointed.

A brown wool herringbone jacket with buttoned flap pocket, $338. A classic varsity jacket in brown wool with leather sleeves is cut slim and features a fully-lined quilted interior. $498.

“We were actually inspired by New York City,” explains Michelle Li, vice president of U.S. operations for Onassis. “Back in the day, New York was a huge seaport where people from all over convened for trade and the exchange of ideas.” I am still a little lost on how this ties into the brand and why the name Onassis, a name that can only be associated with the aforementioned second husband of Jackie, has anything to do with any of that, but OK, I’ll play along.

The 2,500 square foot store offers a wide range of tailored classics like a quilted vest ($198, already a best seller), a leather and wool varsity jacket ($498), or an English tweed three-piece suit ($650). A black chesterfield top coat featured a pick-stitched collar ($398), while a brown wool herringbone hunting coat had all the earmarks of the British classic but was shorter and more tapered ($338).

A three-piece suit (also sold as separates) in the brand’s signature British tweed. As a set, $650.

“I think our customer is the creative professional who wants to look good but also wants to be practical,” says Mitch Silverstein, store manager for the newly opened San Francisco store.

“Creative professional” is a relatively recently defined target customer and one that seems to flourish here in the bay area’s Silicon Valley, where plenty are one or the other but not always both. The brand offers a striking collection of dressed up casuals that might certainly make sense for young professionals seeking to make a subtle statement with things like pick-stitching, Japanese denim, and ironic bow ties.

Onassis head of global brand, Shigay Tajima has infused the brand with a kind of Japanese preppy sensibility that is still relatively new to mainstream customers. Details like high-quality buttons, interior linings and finishings, and the use of imported woolens give these classics a modern, more youthful twist. “I think guys are starting to really notice the quality of clothes,” says Silverstein. “I think you are getting unique pieces at pretty amazing prices.”

A wool topcoat worn with an one of the brand’s British tweed vests. Topcoat, $398. Vest, $168.

The Onassis brand was more or less wooed by San Francisco’s Westfield shopping mall which has recently begun repositioning itself to compete with an increasingly crowded downtown retail scene.

The San Francisco store has that vaguely “authentic” vibe that is now so prevalent with many of the city’s local boutiques like Union Made, Taylor Stitch, or Freeman’s Sporting Club.  The San Francisco store features a lounge space with Bicycle Coffee and bottled waters, and a flat screen TV. One section of the store was identified as “a suit shop” although that wasn’t immediately evident since it was floating in the middle of the selling space.

“I’m not sure a mall would have been our first choice for San Francisco, maybe a neighborhood would have made more sense,” admits Silverstein, who previously worked for the Theory. “But actually we have a lot of guys who work around here who appreciate the fact that a brand that’s less commercial is here in the Westfield.”

The idea of a “neighborhood boutique” in a traditional mall setting could very well be a strategy worth watching. Less than three steps away from the store’s front door lies the entrance to Bloomingdale’s. Next door, J. Crew. Men who pass between the two are precisely who Onassis hopes to influence and convert.

“Our main focus has always been to concentrate on delivering the best possible product at surprisingly accessible prices, in a welcoming ‘boutique’ environment,” says Li.  The brand currently has three U.S. stores and has plans to open more in 2013, including one in Los Angeles.

YOU’RE INVITED. Readers of our blog are invited to the San Francisco store’s opening party on November 8, 2012.  6:30PM – 9:30PM. RSVP to onassisrsvp@morris-king.com.  845 Market Street, Level 2.

We always keep an eye on the fast-moving world of men’s retail, which shows no signs of slowing down. While the trend for authenticity and heritage certainly got us through the worst part of the recession, it also became cliché and boring. Sean Couey, b. on brand’s project coordinator and a student at UC San Diego asks, what’s next in the evolution of contemporary menswear?

Ever since I started my blog on student campus looks (showmeucsd.com), I have become increasingly fascinated with how young men are diving deep into trying to find their own sense of cool – even if they end up looking like everyone else.

In just the first part of 2012, the men’s category as a whole is proving to continue its momentum. Cites the New York Times: “Some forecasters predict sales growth for men’s clothing and accessories during the first three months of this year will set a 20-year high.”  Cautious optimism indeed, but why not?

It’s hard to remember that back in 2009, retail saw a glimmer of hope with a peculiar renaissance in menswear, thanks largely to a handful of boutiques in cities like Austin, Seattle, New York, and San Francisco, all boasting a handful of shops brimming with preppy outdoor gear. Back then, the “hipster” was barely a target market but already some major retailers like J. Crew and Coach were taking notice and calibrating their men’s offer. J. Crew for one went whole hog with a major push and filling their shops with so-called heritage brands.

Coach, Inc. has recently relaunched its men’s offer in an attempt to broaden its audience. Short of embarking on standalone men’s stores, the brand has instead revamped existing shops to include a men’s corner.

In a recent Reuters report, Hugo Boss is said to be targeting sales gains of 50-percent to 3 billion Euros by 2015, which they credit to a “cultural shift around the world that has led more men to be interested in fashion and invest in their appearance.”

“Men are just waking up to the beauty of being dressed well,” says Hugo Boss Chief Executive Claus-Dietrich Lahrs. Beauty is not the only reason. In a recession economy, competition is measured as much by one’s polish as by one’s professionalism, which is why more and more men are seeing the trend in tailored menswear as more than just a passing fad.

All Aboard the Heritage Bandwagon

Much of what helped ignite the fire in men’s wear was the stealth and sleuthing of hipsters and men craving a brand with a good story. Of course, that cable television juggernaut known as “Mad Men” more than helped fuel the fire.

Stores like Black Fleece (and its parent, Brooks Brothers), Freeman’s Sporting Club (FSC), and Union Made Goods in San Francisco (as well as many, many others) have all helped lead the way towards a new men’s aesthetic geared towards American classics and heritage brands. These stores made their mark early on by offering a manly fashion-forward perspective to their customer while deviating from the mass-produced feeling that is traditionally present in the traditional men’s departments.

Todd Barket, founder and owner of Union Made in San Francisco. “Mass retailers are finally realizing that guys are smarter than ever before and care about what they look like.”

“I think men have been spoken down to in the past,” said Todd Barket, owner of Union Made, in a recent interview with b. on brand. Union Made is a store that has become something of a benchmark and WWD darling for new men’s retail. “Mass retailers are finally realizing that guys are smarter than ever before and care about what they look like. Social networking has much to do with it as well as a revolt to all the poor mass quality that exists in the world. I credit big players like J. Crew and Ralph Lauren for bringing it to the masses.”

In some cases, brands are doing more than just dipping their toe in the water, taking complete and utter wholesale inspiration from boutique retailers. A recent Bloomberg article, “Where J. Crew Shops for Ideas,” even goes so far as to suggest that J. Crew’s recently evolved merchandise offering and retail design has come to resemble New York’s Freeman’s Sporting Club a bit too much, causing suspicion from some quarters – including FSC. “Unmistakable elements of Freemans’s aesthetic, as well as that of other boutique brands, have cropped up in J. Crew outlets across the country.”  Alex Young, director of sales at FSC, laments “they copied us down to the shade of the paint colors”.

Freeman’s Sporting Club has been quoted as being dissapointed at J. Crew’s generous borrowing of their aesthetic.

Nevertheless, as the saying goes, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but a little credit never hurt. Not one to quibble is Banana Republic, which has been quite transparent in their desire to bring a fresh point of view into their stable of merchandisers. The brand has recently launched a collaboration project with San Francisco’s Taylor Stitch, a local brand that was early to the scene of design based on classics and heritage wares. “Our goal with the Banana Republic/Taylor Stitch partnership was really to celebrate our San Francisco roots with another San Franciscan brand that works at a completely different scale and niche in the market,” says says Tom Girard, senior men’s merchandiser with Banana Republic.

Unlike J. Crew, Banana Republic has played nice and made the adoption of Taylor Stitch’s “cool” a team effort.  Taylor Stitch designed and built a custom-tailoring alcove that went into Banana Republic’s flagship store along with a custom line of heritage-inspired ready to wear shirts.  When asked if he was aware of bigger brands gleaning inspiration from his store, Michael Maher, cofounder of Taylor Stitch, doesn’t hesitate. “They absolutely look to us for inspiration,” says Maher. “They want the cachet of a small company. You have these big companies caring about appearing small and adding that into their repertoire. It might not be the most profitable part of their business but it’s great for them, and frankly it’s great for us.”

Taylor Stitch, a San Francisco brand, has recently tested a collaboration concept with Banana Republic’s flagship there. The project has “driven positive buzz and results for us,” says Tom Girard, senior men’s merchandiser for Banana Republic.

NPD Chief Industry Analyst Marshal Cohen agrees that innovation and product evolution has helped grow the men’s category. “The growth of dollar sales in the men’s apparel market led the way in the adult apparel market with an increase of 4 percent. This is a marked improvement over the prior years,” says Cohen, in a report published in March. “Stores and brands that have shifted with the consumer and provide an assortment of recognizable brands and better quality merchandise… are the ones that have posted growth.”

Which is a big reason why Banana Republic took the time and effort to explore a way to reinvigorate their men’s experience at retail. “What we’ve always known is that our customer is looking to wear clothing that suits him perfectly,” says Girard. “Custom shirting has definitely piqued his interest in that regard.” Taylor Stitch’s in-store pop up is not only a visual juxtaposition to Banana’s usual visual merchandising, it also pushes forward a new “story” about craftsmanship and quality. “This evolving mindset has huge implications on what range and what types of fits we offer throughout all of our categories at Banana Republic — not just shirts,” says Girard.

That Heritage Look: Stores Dress the Part

J. Crew’s August “Style Guide” seems to underscore that point, with a smartly edited collection of clothes and accessories worn by models in an old warehouse, conveniently equipped with exposed wood-and-iron beams, the paint artistically peeling off its stucco walls.  Unable  – or perhaps unwilling — to shake off the success generated from their “heritage” mantle, the brand showcases page after page of garments allegedly made “in collaboration “ with “authentic” craftsmen, and “especially designed for J. Crew.”

J. Crew has made heritage brands a big part of their retail strategy. Their recent “style guide” makes ample use of the warehouse look.

Department stores haven’t shied away from the heritage bandwagon either.  A quick stroll through Macy’s, Barneys and even Saks Fifth Avenue reveals a similar adoption of the current reclaimed/vintage/industrial visual theme.  Merchandise is folded and propped atop fixtures made of reclaimed barn wood, galvanized pipes, and weathered and rusting iron.  At Saks, we saw a 750-pound vintage piece of factory machinery (probably used on the Ford Model-T production line) repurposed as a tie rack.  However, the juxtapositions do not always work: at Barneys, a set of vintage cabinet-maker’s clamps was displayed alongside pajamas.

A large piece of metal machinery at Barneys acts as a tie rack, while at Saks, some old file cabinets do double duty.

What Next: Evolving Classics and Contemporary

The important question is: what is the next logical evolution of this trend? The fashion industry is in constant flux and the time machine that seems to have taken us back to the days of the industrial revolution will inevitably slingshot us back to the something more compelling and durable.

A recent display of contemporary merchandise at a Macy’s men’s store.

Industry insiders agree that while the trend of “heritage and authenticity” has been successful, it is beginning to feel more than a little stale. “After awhile so-called work wear, and all that raw denim can become kind of ‘one note,’” says Ken Jennings, VP Fashion Director Men’s at Saks. “Woolrich Woolen Mills, Rag and Bone, they’ve done a great job of it of being inspired by the heritage trend without going overboard. The fact is, there needs to be innovation with this trend, and personally, I am getting a bit wary of it because it doesn’t say anything new. You have to ask yourself, ‘How does it relate to now?’”

Fashion, by nature, tells a story, and there is no better defining characteristic to what makes a great brand. Case in point, whenever I find a new clothing company online I go straight to the “about” page because I want to know the story behind the brand.  It is the story that makes or breaks my decision to go deeper into connecting with a particular brand.

The story of heritage and authenticity, like so much popular music on the radio, has indeed, been overplayed, but it awakened retailers and consumers to the art and innovation of traditional menswear and allowed new visions in contemporary men’s fashion design to find an audience.

Sean Couey is a graduating senior at UC San Diego and a project coordinator at b. on brand.  Visit his blog, www.showmeucsd.com. Twitter: @seancouey.

Men are hot right now. Men’s retail is booming, men are strutting the streets like proper peacocks, and there are now a flurry of websites and blogs devoted to all things manly. Indeed a whole new generation of men are hungry to be unabashedly masculine. What’s happened?

I think it’s all part of the evolution of modern men which I originally chronicled in my book, Branding the Man: Why Men Are the Next Frontier in Fashion Retail (Random House/Allworth Press, 2009, $27.50) but it’s also the fact that men have become the willing participants in a marketing boom. Men truly are the next frontier in consumer markets and with the breakdown in gender roles and expectations (i.e., metrosexuals, homosexuals and those who are in-between) the process of male identity has hit a crescendo.

Enter a book like The Dangerous Book for Men by Rod Green (Sourcebooks, 2012, $12.99 paperback), which offers many humorous and even useful tips for not being quite such a wimp when faced with, say, fighting off an alligator, or worse yet, opening a bottle of beer without an opener. Here’s an excerpt from one of the chapters which deals with the sticky subject of a parachute that just won’t seem to open.

How to Survive if Your Parachute Doesn’t Open

 To leap out of an aircraft thousands of feet up, pull the cord to open your parachute, and find it doesn’t work might well be the definition of “a pickle.” You will have precious time to think and will need to rely on your survival instincts kicking in. Whatever the outcome, it will most certainly hurt. The question is, will you live to see another day? Well, you just might if you can find a friend.

What to Do

1) As soon as you know there is a problem, indicate as such to a colleague who has yet to open their own chute. You should do this by waving your arms and pointing at your chute.

2) Your fellow jumper will hopefully move over toward you. When you are face to face, you must lock arms. And remember to add them to your Christmas card list.

3) Now, you must hook your arms up to your elbows into your partner’s chest strap or, alternatively, through both sides of the front of his harness. Then grab hold of your own strap.

4) By now, you and your chum will be hurtling through the sky at what is disconcertingly called terminal velocity (roughly 130 miles per hour), with all sorts of unpleasant forces wreaking mayhem on your combined weights.

5) When your colleague’s chute now opens, you will experience a massive shock which will most likely break your arms or pop them out of their sockets. I did mention that it would hurt.

6) Your partner must keep hold of you with one hand while using the other to steer the canopy. If his chute is big, your descent will hopefully be slow enough that you get away with just a broken leg. If it’s a small canopy, he’ll have to steer hard to slow things down. If there is a body of water nearby, he should make for that and you should get ready to tread water. You’ll have to rely on him to get you to safety before your chute takes on water and takes you under, but he will have seen you right so far, so have faith.

 Needless to say, your best bet is to make sure your chute is in good working order and perfectly packed before you get anywhere near an aircraft.

©Sourcebooks

Courtesy AMC/Lionsgate Television

When a man goes into battle, he dons his battle dress. Well, not exactly a dress—a suit.

The classic suit — a pair of tailored trousers with a matching jacket – has been augmented and arranged in a variety of ways but regardless, it always acts as the ultimate modifier of manhood, making a man more than a man.

In AMC’s “Mad Men,” Don Draper is most himself when he is in an impeccably pressed steel grey suit, his Teflon coating against the perils of a boozed-up advertising client.

I grew up watching my own Don Draper, my father, a Frenchman who didn’t work in advertising but dressed just as impeccably. In the early 1970’s, he dressed for work in button-fly, thin flannel trousers, crisp cotton shirts with very small pearl buttons and French cuffs (no pocket on the front – only Americans do that), a bold tie, and narrow zippered boots in glove leather. With his wraparound sunglasses and leather wristlet clutch (which my brothers and I were terribly embarrassed about), he was chic and suave. Now, several decades later, I wanted some of his mojo.

When my book, Branding the Man was published in 2009 I similarly found myself in need of a suit that could ready me for the arrows of critics and personal appearances at big city cocktail parties or even strip mall bookstores. In this country of men dressed as 35-year-old boys in baseball caps, fleece jackets and sack-like jeans, it is time I implore for them to learn what every Don Draper used to know: the clothes do indeed make the man.

Finding the perfect suit is no easy task. There are acres of homeless suits dying to join a power lunch, wanting nothing more than to emerge from a four-star restaurant with a beautiful woman clutching its pure virgin wool. There are suits languishing on hangers that would be grateful just to attend a funeral, or clothe the man who will be buried a short time later. Suits are plentiful, good ones are not.

Recently, I toured dozens of outlets and stores, and saw hundreds of suits, from Men’s Wearhouse to the Nordstrom; Macy’s to the wholesaler on the corner. What I found was that most men’s department stores have become kind of like bugs trapped in amber; nothing more than a time capsule of the way men have shopped and dressed for the better part of the last 100 years.

One afternoon at a crumbling suburban Macy’s found a men’s department that was virtually unchanged from my high school years. A salesman, looking like a sportscaster in a plaid jacket, Countess Mara tie and gray slacks, was in the midst of assisting a 13 year-old boy with what was likely his first suit. For the boy’s father, this was probably an auspicious moment: his son, on the threshold of manhood and poised to be molded into a “little gentleman.”

For the boy—skinny, slouched, pimply and as awkward as any boy can be at 13—this was a less than thrilling moment. The jacket hung on his little shoulders like a waterlogged Sunday paper. “You look great, sport!” beamed the father. An indifferent sigh from his son followed. “You want the gold buttons?” asked the salesman. “They’ll make you look sharp!”

When I buy a suit from a conventional men’s retailer, I feel like that 13-year old boy. Can the American man be liberated from the poorly fitted suit and not spend a fortune? It depends. The anatomy of a finely made suit is actually fascinating, and like wine, once you learn the about the details it makes the final product that much sweeter. In Europe, tailoring is an art, and what every American man must learn is that a great suit is an investment. Nevertheless, consider that if it is the right suit, you’ll discover—as so many men have—that a beautifully tailored suit opens doors.

My fantasy store would be one that doesn’t bother stocking every suit imaginable, in every shade of gray and black. A great store needs to help a man discover his inner peacock with an edited collection of suits with a point of view. Forget the pleated trousers – who really looks good in them? Let David Lettermen wear the double-breasted windowpane plaid. Give me Bond, James Bond—shaken or stirred! I want a suit that makes ladies swoon and men bow.

Short of taking a sewing class, I recommend that every man have at least one suit custom-made. A great tailor is like a great barber: he can work miracles on that poor carcass of yours. Learn from your tailor what looks best on you. Let him teach you about the marvels of high-twist yarn, the subtleties of a hand-canvassed shoulder, or that the shoulders and lapels are the make-or-break details of a great suit. Contrary to what the department store salesman tells you, that suit you are trying on does not look like it was made for you — in fact it’s meant to fit about fifteen other guys of varying proportions, like a police lineup.

Alas, with the clock ticking before my New York press tour, I didn’t have any time for a custom tailored suit and instead found myself at Yves Saint Laurent. There I discovered an exquisite suit of smoky blue wool with softly drawn charcoal stripes. The generous lapels recalled Johnny Depp in Blow. I slipped into the lean, button-fly trousers and looked at myself in the mirror. It was expensive but, after all the miserable suits I had seen, this one was the one. I felt tall, fearless, and suited for battle.

Their most tangible and visceral message, encampments in cities around the country and the world, have not only lost their clout, they’ve become a health hazard and tiresome cliche.

The various demonstrations and marches that tepidly disrupted Black Friday  felt ragged and messy. In many cases signs are illegible. If you’re going to go to that much trouble to write on a piece of cardboard, at least make it so people can read it.

On numerous occasions, demonstrations and encampments have become almost embarrassments with random nitwits, vagrants, and hooligans coming in and confusing the situation.

So the question is: now what?  I say some branding is in order — that’s because a political or social movement IS a brand. It requires the same development and marketing that one would apply to anything where one hopes to gain a following.

1) Cultivate leadership. As much as many in the movement have decried the need for a leader, it seems like leadership is just one part of what’s missing in making Occupy truly revolutionary.No matter how anti-establishment, any organization looking to build momentum and grow its constituency must find its leaders who can help give a unified voice and message.

2) Craft a manifesto. The fact is, every great revolution or political movement has had leaders and a clear manifesto. The Civil Rights movement of the ‘60’s had Martin Luther King and Malcolm X; the Women’s Liberation movement had Gloria Steinem. These were grassroots movements that targeted demands and, while sometimes violent, were able to clearly voice a process for change.

A clearly articulated manifesto would unite all Occupy movements around the country (and around the world) with a strategic call to action and program for coordinated demonstrations, speeches, as well as open forum discussions with city, state, and financial services organizations.

3) Develop a marketing and brand strategy. A movement like Occupy must have a clear strategy that includes how it is branded as well as its key marketing messages and deliverables. What does it stand for? What will it accomplish?

In the case of Occupy, it has become unclear just what they are doing and what it is they want.  We understand that the movement— quite correctly — places much of the blame on the banks. However there has not been a strategic plan for how the movement will continue forward, with a cohesive message that everyone from the elite to the proletarian can understand – whether they agree or not.

4) Communicate a call to action. I get it – you’re a “startup.”  That doesn’t mean the medium is not critical to the message. As with any marketing campaign, there is a tagline, and then what follows is a series of other memorable messages that are tied to action. How is that going to be communicated, beyond bedsheet banners and scraps of paper? Why hasn’t social media been used as the powerful (and free) tool that it is to drive home a manifesto and call to action?

5) Be bold. Embrace dissent. Spearhead measurable change. Hanging your hat on the encampment can’t be the single means for communicating your message — one that is powerful for a growing number of Americans who are finally realizing that they are indeed the 99-percent. Unfortunately in the minds of the media and the general public, the encampments are simply a passive sit-in that lacks creativity and doesn’t give confidence in its inhabitants to truly generate positive ideas for the evolution of our economy. Champion discussion and create visible change that proves what you’re doing is right. Start your own credit union. Create a socialized marketplace for goods and services.

Black Friday may be blacker than most this year — and that’s not a good thing.

That’s because so many retailers are getting a jumpstart and offering discounts and well before the landmark shopping day with special offers that could threaten to kill the rest of the Holiday shopping season.

The soft push for retail sales was visible as early as late October. H&M’s decision to launch its Versace collection last Saturday was more than likely to build momentum for Black Friday and the rest of the holiday shopping season.

However, it’s social media sites that are driving the bulk of discount sales before shoppers even have a chance to step through the door of a store.

In a recent Nielsen survey, consumers are actually “liking” a brand simply for giving them a discount, with North American leading the way in the trend, with 45% of those surveyed saying they’ll shop and like ‘em — if they get a discount.

Across a sample of ten major markets*, nearly 40 percent of active Internet users visited Coupons/Rewards sites such as Groupon, Coupons.com and Living Social from home and work computers during September 2011.

In the U.S., NM Incite, a Nielsen/McKinsey company, reports that almost 60 percent of social media users visit social networks to receive coupons or promotions, with 23 percent saying they do this on a weekly basis.

During September 2011, 43 percent of visitors to Social Networks and Blogs also visited a Coupons/Rewards site, while 44 percent of Facebook’s audience and nearly two-thirds (63%) of Twitter’s audience visited these sites.

Facebook was a key source of traffic for Groupon and Living Social during that month – meaning Groupon’s and Living Social’s visitors came directly from Facebook.

Meanwhile, Black Friday is going head-to-head with Cyber Monday (one of the lamest names I’ve ever heard) with deals starting as early as 9 P.M. on Thanksgiving Day. So much for foreplay.

And just in case you were feeling less than cheered about shopping this year, Occupy activists are planning to demonstrate in order to protest the ultimate symbol of greed and consumerism with an “Occupy Black Friday.”

Bah, Humbug? No it’s just Christmas in America — 2011.

As a brand development and marketing consultant, I am often asked whether an organization should make an investment in corporate philanthropy. In official lingo, it’s called CSR, or “Corporate Social Responsibility.” For MBA-types, it’s “Cause Marketing.” Regardless what you call it, it still means the same thing: “a strategic positioning and marketing tool that links a company or brand to a relevant social cause or issue, for mutual benefit.”[1]

But that definition is already becoming outdated. That’s because CSR is rapidly becoming less a “positioning and marketing tool” and more an expected way of doing business in a world where natural resources are becoming increasingly limited, and globalization is forcing companies to reexamine their supply chain policies. In the last twenty years or so dozens of companies have made corporate philanthropy the hallmark of the modern, “socially responsible” business — no matter how big or how small.

It’s a far cry for how things used to be, of course. In the early part of the twentieth century, philanthropy was the good deed of the elite and titled, who cemented their status in society by being the benign benefactor, giving alms to the poor or building libraries or hospitals in their own name.

Now it’s practically impossible to find a Fortune 500 company or even small startups that do not make charity a part of their corporate philosophy and social responsibility, and able to see measurable gain in their overall brand identity, talent pool, and community relations. Indeed for many it is an extension of one’s brand image, a marketing tool for communicating the “softer side” of a company, not to mention a tangential point of differentiation in the marketplace.

In fact, research indicates that many consumers demand more than just a product and actually make a conscious decision to purchase from brands that in some way resonate with their values.[2] From a purely business standpoint, CSR is an opportunity to leverage the emotional border between the consumer and a brand’s value. But more importantly, CSR helps build a corporate foundation that places a company higher on the world stage, proving that the leaders of that company have an eye towards the future, and a sense of responsibility towards the community that gave them their success.

Then again, for others, CSR is a continual battle, a desperate attempt to gain credibility. Chevron Corporation has spent billions of dollars trying to make consumers believe that they are committed to protecting the environment — with varying degrees of success. Still, ever since the disastrous Exxon Valdez oil spill, oil companies have been forced to deliver annual reports on their environmental responsibility.

Measuring the Benefits

There are measurables for how a company benefits. They include:

• Brand differentiation
• Enhanced employee recruitment and retention
• Building newer and deeper community networks
• Fostering talent and teaching new skills to employees, especially in regards to leadership, integrity, and responsibility
• Improved relations with regional and federal governments

 It’s been heavily researched and proven that companies that are perceived as “ethically neutral” stand to gain the most from corporate social responsibility. For instance, consider the fact that most fashion houses have only recently seen the need to embrace causes; most notably breast cancer and AIDS. While these are clearly issues which resonate with their consumers, they are also personal causes for many companies: Liz Tilberis, the editor of Harper’s Bazaardied of ovarian cancer in 1999, and countless fashion designers and artists lost theirs lives to the AIDS epidemic.  Consider how the uproar over working conditions for garment workers in Indonesia and China has led many companies to prove their ethical standpoints.

The easiest way to determine the necessity for corporate social responsibility is to evaluate how the brand is perceived by one’s target market. How do our top tier customers view us — are we simply a store with great brands, or a product that performs? Do we, as a company, have a “personality” and if so, who is that person? Is our brand the kind of person who would give you their umbrella in the rain? Would they anonymously pay for your child’s education?

You’d be surprised just how much consumers actually rate a brand or product based on a company’s investment in socially responsible activities.

A pair of independent studies with university students asked them to rate how a cause-related campaign would affect their perceptions of certain companies. In the majority of cases, pairing a company with a cause measurably changed their perception of the brand. Ben&Jerry’s Ice Cream exemplifies an extremely ethical (albeit, at times controversial) company; Timex watches are ethically neutral; Philip Morris is perceived as unethical.[3]

Case Studies in CSR |  Home Depot Raises the Roof on Community Housing

Corporate social responsibility at Home Depot has its origins in the values of its founders, Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank, who came from modest backgrounds and whose families were very involved in local community affairs. They believed strongly that their company should give back to the community in whatever way they could. As the company grew in size and philanthropy became a formal part of doing business, its owners realized that the program had to move from an ad hoc approach to one that was more structured for greater and more lasting impact.

Home Depot’s four focus areas are: 1) affordable housing; 2) environment; 3) youth at risk; and, 4) disaster preparedness and relief.  Corporate social responsibility at Home Depot has been a process of gradual evolution. In 1991, the company set up “Team Depot” to coordinate and support employee volunteer work. Team Depot has since evolved into a significant component of Home Depot’s efforts to give back to the communities where it operates.

The company continues to align its internal policies and practices with its core values and priorities, making CSR a pillar of the brand.  By the early 1990’s, the company had cemented its environmental principles to this day the company publishes an annual Social Responsibility Report.  Home Depot has been at the vanguard of informing their customers on products that can reduce their environmental footprint, earning Fortune magazine’s Most Admired Specialty Retailer award (which includes environmental criteria) eight consecutive years and receiving an ‘A’ rating in the Corporate Report of the Council on Economic Priorities and the President’s Sustainable Development Award.

Nike Challenges Consumers to Live Strong

You might be as sick of those yellow wristbands as I am, but the Nike “Live Strong” campaign is perhaps one of the most successful CSR projects ever. An alliance between the sports shoe manufacturer and a cancer non-profit organization associated with Lance Armstrong, the champion cyclist who is a cancer survivor, sparked a massive consumer craze for the yellow wristbands, which subsequently spawned a slew of copycat campaigns.

Nike underwrote the production and distribution of the entire first run of 5 million bracelets with the organization’s motto (and Nike’s), which means 100 percent of the proceeds went straight to the foundation. It was an easy sell for the consumer: Nike customers could easily purchase the bracelet for only USD$1.00.

As Armstrong cruised to victory in the Tour De France, sales of the bracelet grew exponentially. Celebrities wore them. John Kerry wore one while campaigning for president Soon they were showing up on eBay for $10 each.

So why were people willing to pay for cheap, plastic bracelet when they can just as easily send money directly to the foundation?

Because the bracelet gives them wearable proof of their goodwill. This is a perfect example of philanthropy posing as style and vice versa. In short, Nike did several things right with this particular example of CSR:

1)    They chose the right time to run the campaign (before the Tour de France)

2)    They chose the right cause to appeal to the masses (cancer, which crosses all boundaries of race, sex, and politics)

3)    They made the cause a fashion statement

4)    They chose a “heroic” celebrity and athlete (Lance Armstrong) to represent the brand

American Express Charges Against Hunger

In 1993, American Express and Share Our Strength joined forces to create one of the U.S.’s largest cause campaigns ever: Charge Against Hunger. In just 3 years they raised US$21Million benefiting over 600 anti-hunger, anti-poverty groups. During November and December of each year, American Express donated 3 cents from every card member transaction to Share Our Strength’s cause, which totaled $5Million each year.

American Express used this campaign as a leveraging tool to get other brands, i.e. the restaurants and retailers who were already disappointed with the high fees in using their services. The campaign became a new way to establish relationships with the brands and the customers, making Charge Against Hunger a win-win public relations campaign for everyone. It helped small and large businesses give back to their local communities, and encouraged merchants to display point-of-sale materials.

The campaign single-handedly changed American Express’s image. Before, both merchants and customers complained that the card company was greedy and charged too much for the privilege of using the card. Instead, they turned their image around and people actually began using their cards more.

In terms of American Express’s corporate structure, it revitalized the company’s employees urning many into volunteers for the company’s cause and encouraging “team spirit.” Fifteen years after the campaign ended, however, Amex would go on to even greater success with the current RED campaign, which has turned into a multi-brand program involving dozens of partner companies.

Brand Identity and CSR: Making it Work for Your Brand

Finding the “right” cause comes down to an evaluation of a company or group’s values. Most major corporations start with an internal audit of their values and company’s mission. These “values” could be the leadership philosophy of the head of the group, such as the Chairman. Take Cartier, which has been a sponsor of the Women’s Forum and partnered with McKinsey&Co. and INSEAD. At the Women’s Forum and Society in Deauville, a Cartier representative described the rationale for their involvement this way: ” “As we are a company with lots of women employees it appealed to us. It was the right thing to do in a company with 60% women.”  The company does not discuss their jewelry at these events and makes it’s total focus on the 76 women entrepreneurs from around the world, and all walks of life. “We are a very ‘people’ company and there is a real entrepreneurial spirit here. We have innovative edge, it’s a sort of audacity and part of our heritage as a pioneering brand.”[5]

However it is determined, a company’s CSR strategy must organically demonstrate and reflect the business and social objectives that have made the company successful. With some companies, it is the working employees — not upper-level executives or shareholders — who have rallied together towards a meaningful cause.

Smaller companies often collaborate with a charity and the reasons for that are quite simple.

Partnering allows one to borrow equity and bond with consumers towards a “brand name” charity, and allows a company to ride tandem on an established communications strategy with an existing infrastructure (i.e. volunteers and staff) to address the issue.

While directly founding and managing a CSR charity program offers a majorly increased clarity in marketing communications, top-line messaging, and a more streamlined in-kind donations decision-making process, the management, marketing, staffing resources needed to create and build awareness and credibility is sizeable. It’s for this reason that usually, only large corporations are able to fund such an endeavor and make it a success.

For Ann Inc., which operates both Ann Taylor and Loft retail stores, CSR became a major commitment ten years ago. They instituted a code of conduct which includes third-party monitoring of suppliers, supplier development programs, a green initiative, and a website called ResponsiblyAnn.com which makes their policies completely transparent to their constituents — their customer.[4]

CSR, no matter how it is scaled, remains a critical part of how a business today must do business, building partnerships with like-minded merchants, suppliers, and service providers, and  more critically, build a lasting relationship with the consumer that is meaningful beyond a simple transaction. And with major legislation being proposed such as the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act, it’s likely to be sooner rather than later that CSR will not be an option, but a requirement.

Read more | From Luxury Society, “Luxury Brand CSR: No Longer Just an Option?” From WWD, “Expect Expanded Reach for CSR Policies”

> Want to learn more about how CSR can benefit your brand or how to develop a compelling cause marketing program? Contact us at info@bonbrand.com for a complimentary consultation.

[1] Hamish Pringle and Marjorie Thompson, Brand Spirit: How Cause Marketing Builds Brands. Wiley, 1999.

[2] Cause Marketing Forum, 2006

[3] The Journal of Nonprofit and Public Sector Marketing, Vol. 11, Number 1, Haworth Press

[4] Arnold Karr, “Expect Expanded Reach for CSR Policies,” WWD. 10/11/11

[5] Maria Doulton, “Luxury Brand CSR: No Longer Just An Option?” www.luxurysociety.com. 10/24/11.

A fashion director with a major U.S. department store once advised me to mark the passing of a decade and one’s advanced years (how “advanced” am I?) with an “important” and luxurious gift.

He had already “gifted” himself a massive black Kelly bag that seemed to enter the room before he did.

At a recent Hermès men’s event at the retailer’s San Francisco store, there were more than a few young men who clearly weren’t waiting for their later years to carry a coveted Kelly or Birkin. The event was clearly targeted to San Francisco’s affluent gay demographic — or at least those who aren’t shy about carrying a handbag.

The bronzed, buffed, and polished boyish-types entered as casually as they could, but were oh-so-keenly aware that all eyes were on the luxury bag slung in the crook of their arm.

With a starting price of roughly $7,000 (and upwards to $100K or more), you would think one bag would probably be enough. However, tonight raised doubts in the minds of many.

There were two new arrivals at the store on this balmy evening— a 40cm “Kelly” in olive-brown and a 50cm Birkin in deep Indigo. Within forty minutes, three contenders came forward to claim the bags, each gravitating from one to the other.

With white cotton gloves, the sales associate carefully removed the giant Birkin from the vitrine, and one rather sweaty man pawed it and then put it on his arm. It appeared the sale was done. Nevertheless, after wearing it in the store for almost 25 minutes, the bag returned to the counter. Other less likely candidates took the bags out for a spin on the floor, enjoying the attention from admirers.

Largely ignored in the center of the store was the in-house leather craftsman, Dominique Michaux, who was in the process of assembling a fuchsia-pink Kelly. He carefully sewed each piece, fusing the leather seams with a heat-rod, and then painting them with matching dye. It was a strangely mesmerizing process.

“This is only for demonstration, “ explained Michaux. “Because Hermès bags are only made in France.” This “Theatre of Manufacturing” was for me, the real highlight of the evening, watching the zen-like simplicity of how two hands and a handful of tools can slowly materialize an object that is so sublimely beautiful — and deceptively simple.

Alas, most at the event were transfixed by a different kind of theatre, the “Theatre of the Purchase.”

The two bags continued to make their way around the room from one sales associate to another, each hoping that their customer would follow through on closing the sale.

Enter contender No. 2, a tall, slender Asian man wearing head-to-toe Hermes (and already carrying an Hermès Evelyne shoulder bag) came forward and murmured to the associate that he wished to purchase the 40” Kelly.

Contender No. 3 quickly replaced him; a young man in a checkered shirt (and Hermes loafers) with dyed red hair and a face powdered an opaque white. He made it very clear he was definitely going to buy the giant Birkin — once his mother wired the money to his account.

“His mother is also my client,” confided the associate. The man spent the better part of the night on the phone. Like a stock trader, he paced about the store and spoke quietly behind a cupped hand; on his wrist, a diamond bracelet studded with perhaps twenty large baguettes that sparkled as he gestured, in time with the giant diamond studs in his ears.

Meanwhile others hovered over the Kelly, caressing it gently as if it were a newborn baby.

Across the room, two nearly identical men in beards tried on matching Alligator coats, at approximately $100,000 each. They paused to sip their champagne and admire one another.

At last, the young man in the checkered shirt was able to call the Birkin his own. One could only imagine his father in a boardroom somewhere, succumbing to a feverish campaign from his wife and son to allow the wiring of $11,500.

By evening’s end, there was little left but empty champagne glasses and two very empty spaces in the main vitrine where the two bags once sat. Through it, we could see Monsieur Michaux working away on a bag that would very likely never be finished.

Hermès San Francisco is located at 125 Grant Avenue. For inquiries please call (415)391 – 7200. www.hermès.com.

In the past several years, politicians, marketers, entertainment personalities, and just plain ordinary people have waxed poetic about their “authenticity.” To be authentic is to be grounded, honest, and unabashedly sincere — or so one might believe from any number of pundits on the subject.

Even when I worked at an architecture firm, a client meeting was not complete without at least one reference to “authenticity,” but this was in regards to design principles. We would deliver a store design that “spoke authentically of the brand” and gave customers an “authentic experience.”

In a recent New York Times article, reporter Stephanie Rosenbloom writes that the digital age has caused an increased preoccupation with what it means to be “authentic,” with even the Pope himself weighing in on the subject, saying that life in the age of social media “inevitably poses questions not only of how to act properly, but also about the authenticity of one’s own being.”

Authenticity is now applied to people, events, brands, causes, and art; to be branded “authentic” is essentially a ne plus ultra that ultimately means that one’s purity and integrity cannot possibly be called into question. “Hey, I’m just being me — the real me.”

The truth is, it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish the authentic from the inauthentic, perhaps because it has become easier and easier to masquerade as authentic. In the world of branding, that’s pretty much the message that so many brands are beating to death. It certainly makes a marketer’s job easier.

All those “designer collaborations” with the likes of Levi’s, LL Bean, Carhartt, and a countless other so-called heritage brands? Thats the work of celebrity-designer starpower bringing cachet to a dull, drab brand you had long-since forgotten about [Read my previous post on designer collaborations.]

Consider how many brands have dug up their “vintage” labels and reused them, or simply invented a vintage label altogether (Hello Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and even Banana Republic.) Or how about a store that features antiques, reclaimed wood (yawn), and archival photographs. Gosh, which store were you thinking of — Confusing isn’t it?

Maybe it’s that old feels good. Old feels “authentic” because it existed before everything became disposable, redundant, and insincere.

Before a brand twittered.

The fact is, as much as one might want to believe one is being authentic, the culture of social media has potentially made us entirely too self-conscious to actually be truly “authentic” — and that goes for most brands too. In short,  authenticity has simply become another word for, what Rosenbloom calls, “stage management.”

Which might mean, judging from what one sees on facebook, that some people might need a bit more stage management than others. Joe Pine of Strategic Horizons LLP, a guru of sorts for those who preach at the altar of TED seminars, puts authenticity this way:

1. Don’t say you are authentic unless you really are authentic

2. It’s easier to be authentic if you don’t say you’re authentic

3. If you say you are authentic you better be authentic

If you understood any of that then you must be really authentic. But don’t tell anybody I said so. Afterall, my facebook page is nothing more than a stage-managed version of me. But you knew that — right?