NEW YORK — Few would question the emergence of an American consumer who is far more savvy and demanding than she was five years ago. What is open to question, though, is what fashion brand marketers, among others, are doing to win her loyalty.
No longer able to lean on the presence of a label alone, no matter how luxurious or well established, fashion brands are facing knowing shoppers who want them to offer more than simply the latest look from the runway or street.
Brand names, once one of fashion’s biggest differentiators, are increasingly perceived by consumers as a commodity, observed Mary Wang, president of 16-year-old DKNY. “I think the image of the DKNY brand has changed recently,” Wang said, citing the label’s efforts to market better-quality goods at higher prices. A few years ago, the brand could have been viewed, she said, as “the commodity of a big name” rather than as one providing consistent quality and the resulting ability to last.
“Customers, particularly at the higher end, are looking for higher levels of products and services,” said Robert Triefus, executive vice president of worldwide communications at Giorgio Armani SpA. “As the notion of luxury has been diluted with the ‘massification’ of certain products, like the bag of the season, there’s a desire to break away and get personalized products or services.”
DKNY and Giorgio Armani are two of seven apparel brands that rated as people’s favorites, yet fell below people’s average level of expectations, which was 151 in the 2005 Brand Keys Loyalty Index. The index measured the desire for stylish design, fit, price, distribution and quality. It’s a group led by Ralph Lauren, which lagged 20 points behind the average at 131, followed by Giorgio Armani (129), J. Crew (126), Isaac Mizrahi (125), DKNY (123), Brooks Brothers (120) and Gap (116).
This year, Americans’ expectations of apparel brands rose 8 percent, while the success of the sector’s seven leading brands in satisfying those desires declined by 17 percent, according to the Brand Keys index, compiled in March. The resulting difference of 25 percent meant apparel ranked as fourth least-satisfying among 36 goods and services; long-distance phone service providers were deemed most disappointing, with a gap of 30 percent.
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The ability of apparel brands to meet people’s expectations has slowly but steadily declined since Brand Keys created its cross-category loyalty index in 1997. “There have been small movements, but if a category of brands falls by two or three points a year, it adds up,” Robert Passikoff, president of Brand Keys, said of apparel’s descent.
Attempts to satisfy an ever more demanding apparel consumer range from offering more versatile or personalized products and services to ongoing efforts to improve garment fit, materials and construction. They include:
- Gap’s offer of items designed to be worn in a number of settings, from the workplace to the weekend — a reversal of the brand’s emphasis on occasion dressing begun with the launch of its prototype in Denver this April.
- Giorgio Armani’s made-to-measure apparel, and jewelry for which customers choose their own stones, as well as the formalization of a service begun 18 months ago that brings products to the workplaces of loyal customers too busy to get to Armani stores.
- DKNY’s focus on a tight group of lifestyle items that can be combined in various ways. The lifestyle approach will be complemented by the second DKNY newspaper, to be published in late August, and distributed in several places, including in September in 25,000 copies of The New York Times and 75,000 copies of New York magazine.
- Brooks Bros.’ persistent attention to construction, fit, comfort — what Simon Kneen, the brand’s vice president and creative director, calls the clothes’ hidden qualities.
It appears the customer is having a bigger say in such decisions.
Despite Brooks Bros.’ ongoing initiative to improve quality, Kneen said, “You hit an obstacle, you think you’re over it and the customer is demanding something else.” At Gap, the move to sell more versatile pieces was prompted by the chain’s Pass It On survey, in which store managers relate conversations with shoppers to management, noted Kimberly Terry, a spokeswoman at Gap Inc. And at DKNY, customers’ clamor to express more individuality spurred the emphasis on lifestyle items.
“What could we do better?” Armani’s Triefus asked. “Know our customers better and anticipate their needs, since all luxury retail has been more reliant on local customers, with the decline of tourism following 9/11.”