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| Jack Wills SS11 campaign |
I read a Financial Times article on Jack Wills recently, the university uniform brand that is popular in the United Kingdom. Jack Wills’ unique selling point is that it is super expensive – with hoodies priced at GBP69 (ZAR 760) and a pair of socks at GBP19 (ZAR 210). Despite these high prices, it’s not clear to me if this automatically positions Jack Wills amongst the likes of Wood Wood, ACNE, or even Rugby by Ralph Lauren, all of which are highly positioned and cater to their various niche markets. Take the example of Rugby by Ralph Lauren; the brand was launched in 2004 as a diffusion line of the more mature targeted Polo brand. In other words, Rugby is targeted at a younger consumer who identifies with Polo, taking into account the brand's history and its heritage (the name Ralph Lauren is attached to it). Jack Wills on the other hand fulfills none of the mentioned criteria, yet it is one of the UK’s fastest growing clothing brands. Why?
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| Swedish brand Ambition to Create Novel Expression (ACNE) SS11 |
A growing number of consumers are failing to say ‘I can’t afford this’, instead they’d rather say;’ I’ll save up for this’, or ‘I have buying power on my card’. If there is one thing that is clear to me is that today’s consumers will buy anything they feel like buying, not because they can afford it, but because they must ‘absolutely have it’. The problem also goes further into how governments shape their consumer policies, and in most cases these policies are shaped in a manner that allows creditors to convince us to purchase more. The case of Jack Wills isn’t new. In fact, Jack Wills draws its inspiration from the likes of Abercrombie and Fitch and Hollister, brands which are virtually nonexistent today, either because they’re financially nonperforming or simply not cool anymore.
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| Rugby by Ralph Lauren store |
So how is it possible that a brand is able to position itself high up in the market without any credibility what so ever? Well, it does this through creating a strong following from would be consumers. In turn, these consumers create the demand for it, and help maintain its buzz. I think we have to go back to being honest with ourselves.
