For the first time in several seasons, outerwear makers are breaking away from traditional marketing to try less proven initiatives — and in some cases are pleased to be reaping the payoff of new customers.
How that translates into improved sales remains to be seen, since fourth-quarter business got off to a lackluster start because of unseasonably mild temperatures. Nevertheless, executives believe their willingness to try different avenues can help boost revenues in this crucial selling season. Searle’s director of sales and marketing, Rick Weinstein, may have best summed up outerwear brands’ reinvigorated outlook: “We are willing to try anything within reason. Retail is hard, you know.”
Searle is trying a variety of offbeat initiatives to drum up interest in its products, from hosting a training seminar for a real estate company to marching out a shearling tailor for an in-store appearance. For a few hours Saturday, one of its tailors will sew shearling coats on the sales floor of Saks Fifth Avenue and explain the handcrafting required for each garment.
“We want to show people what goes into making these coats,” Weinstein said. “There’s a real human being behind them.”
Last week, the Douglas Elliman real estate brokerage held a training seminar for 150 staffers at Searle’s 635 Madison Avenue store, Weinstein said. Afterward, Searle founders Alice and Steve Blatt spoke to the group about their company’s experience with real estate. Over wine and cheese, visitors could shop freely, consult with the many stylists on hand and use a one-night-only 15 percent discount. Searle plans to host similar gatherings, including a press event for the accessories firm Foot Petals next month.
Searle is regularly sending e-mail blasts to 60,000 customers — and not just to tell them about what’s in its seven stores. After being featured in Oprah magazine, Searle e-mailed the editorial mention to shoppers. It also uses e-mail to keep them up to speed on special events.
Outerwear powerhouse G-III is exploring the power of online marketing for the launch of its Sean John outerwear for juniors that will wholesale from $55 to $135. The company will introduce a full sportswear component this spring that will wholesale from $13.50 to $43.50. That 12-piece holiday outerwear collection is being sold in 300 doors, and the sportswear collection will make its debut in 200 doors in March, said president Jeanette Nostra.
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G-III executives have been checking out viral marketing opportunities and like the looks of MySpace and fashion blogs where visitors tend to spend quality time.
“We can put up events and everything to do with the world of Sean John,” she said. “We’re definitely finding the consumer on the Web is young and old. It’s intergenerational. There are plenty of people who shave a few years off their ages online.”
The Amerex Group LLC is stepping up its presence in the junior market with next fall’s introduction of newly licensed Hydraulic outerwear and sportswear. The company plans to merchandise the 58-piece collection, which wholesales from $25 to $75, in the junior department instead of the coat department. Amerex is working with Federated and other retailers to offer gifts-with-purchases for the launch, said David Meltzer, vice president. The collection is being positioned as “advanced juniors,” a cross between juniors and contemporary, and will be sold in 400 doors.
“Stores are moving into this area because many customers between the ages of 25 and 30 with good, small figures are looking for fashion items in the junior department. It is also a way to drive up the price of junior outerwear,” Meltzer said.
Cinzia Rocca opted for a one-two marketing punch in Milan. Having recently opened a boutique there — its first freestanding store in the world — the company has invested in diorama ads in Milan’s two airports and in Rome’s Fiumicino Airport. “We thought it would be very impactful for people to see this life-size campaign as soon as they fly into these airports,” a company spokeswoman said.
Besides getting positive feedback from fashion editors who spotted the ads en route to the Milan shows, the company has sold “thousands” of units of the $1,165 rabbit-trimmed green duffle coat that is featured in one of the ads and only has inventory for the style in other colors, she said. Cinzia Rocca’s decision to use a model with dreadlocks gave a spirited feel to the campaign. The company is considering using dioramas in U.S. airports next year.
Another outerwear maker, Free Country, is trying to shake things up with advertising. To give their new TV commercial more of an outdoor-lifestyle feel, Free Country executives jetted to Snowbird, Utah, for the shoot. The 30-second spots — an anomaly in outerwear advertising — will air on MTV, CNN, VH1 and other networks through the end of January. The brand’s Web site, which is flashed at the end of the commercial, has had a spike in visitors, said Jason Worth, director of public relations and advertising. The commercial not only helps drive online hits but has other benefits over print advertising, he added.
“We’re definitely reaching a broader audience.” Worth said. “Most people look at commercials. How long does someone really look at a page in a magazine?”
The company pulled together a seven-digit budget for the campaign and media buy, which includes outtakes from the spots featured on scaffolding on the southeast corner of Broadway and West 38th Street in Manhattan. Sales of metallic satin down coats, which retail for $179 and are featured in both venues, are up and are expected to continue to gain next year, Worth said.
Free Country has overhauled its showroom, adding 500 square feet for a total of 4,000 square feet. That is where buyers will get the first glimpse of the brand’s new activewear collection, which will make its debut next year.
For its second season of sponsoring Bryant Park’s ice rink, the Weatherproof Garment Co. is dressing the facility’s 125 staffers in down coats with its logo embroidered on the front and back. The company will host a market-week party at the rink on Jan. 9, featuring a performance by Olympic skater Johnny Weir and possibly pairs partners Tanith Belvin and Benjamin Agosto. On that day, visitors will be encouraged to donate coats for the annual New York Cares coat drive; Weatherproof plans to match the day’s donations with an equal amount of its own coats. It will give free ice skates to the first 100 people who donate coats and a free skating lesson from Weir to the 101st donor. In addition to its presence in Bryant Park, Weatherproof just introduced a major print advertising campaign. One of the first ads appeared in the Sunday sports section of The New York Times — not the typical placement.
“Some people asked why we didn’t run it in the Styles section,” said Fredric Stollmack, president and chief executive officer of Weatherproof. “We put it in sports because it doesn’t belong in that [Style] section. Basically, we want to raise recognition of the Weatherproof brand.”
The company has doubled its annual advertising budget to $5 million. “Being up against the Polos and Liz Claibornes of the world, we want to have some visibility,” Stollmack said.
Weatherproof hopes to drum up interest with Cozy Coats, outerwear with pile linings and shell fabrics with a luxurious hand. The styles, which wholesale around $45, were tested with Federated Department Stores this fall and will be rolled out more extensively to Federated and other retailers next year.