Abercrombie and Fitch is making a bold move: it’s distancing itself from its own brand.
Abercrombie & Fitch is making a bold move: it’s distancing itself from its own brand.
In an announcement made last week, the clothing company (worn by seemingly all middle schoolers) thinks it can attract more consumers by not plastering its brand all over their clothes.
Abercrombie & Fitch made this decision after it took a sales loss of one percent in the second quarter this year. Hollister, which is also owned by Abercrombie & Fitch, took a 10 percent hit in the same quarter in 2013, according to a Huffington Post Business article.
As a strategic communications and marketing student, this is fascinating. All we ever hear in class is the importance of branding and how pivotal it is to make your company recognizable.
According to a segment on NPR’s Morning Edition, teens are ditching brand labels for “fast fashion,” like H&M and Forever 21, which means that the inventory is cheap and turns over every few weeks, as opposed to seasonally.
The company’s change comes after its public relations nightmare in 2013, when Abercrombie & Fitch’s CEO Mike Jeffries was quoted in a Salon article saying the brand is aimed at “cool kids.”
The same article quoted Jeffries saying “we go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.” Jeffries’ remarks sparked the controversial #FitchTheHomeless campaign, that encouraged people to donate Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister clothing to homeless shelters. However, the campaign angered some people who thought the homeless people were being exploited to make a point.
I think that this is a very interesting strategy. I know that I hardly ever wear anything that has a brand on it. When I was younger, I was a walking billboard for whatever the cool brand of the year was, be it Converse, Limited Too or American Eagle. Now, not only would I not be caught dead sporting a brand like Abercrombie & Fitch, I would never buy it in the first place.
Does this mean I will start buying Hollister starting in the spring? Definitely not. Abercrombie & Fitch removing their logo from their clothing does not change my opinion.
However, I am intrigued on what this move might have on branding and marketing for the clothing industry going forward.
