How A CEO Can Wreck A Brand In One Interview

[Malthus]

Their business is to sell to those who wish to be thought of as "slim, pretty and young" - a rather larger demographic. 

Quite true.  And all the more reason it is a bad idea for the CEO of such a company to remind those people that really they are not, and rub their noses in it.

Dunno. Part of the appeal of being thought "slim, pretty and young" is that you are (at least in your own mind) part of an exclusive group - namely, you are excluding the fat, ugly and old.

Obviously, the profit lies in fudging around the edges - if you make stuff that only fits supermodels, you won't sell anything; but equally, it does your "exclusive to the slim, pretty and young" clothing brand no good if it comes in extra-extra large. If people who are quite obviously not even able to fudge being "slim, pretty and young" are seen wearing your stuff in large numbers, the fantasy that you are trying to sell loses value, and people will be less inclined to pay a premium to buy your stuff.

[merithyn]

Dunno. Part of the appeal of being thought "slim, pretty and young" is that you are (at least in your own mind) part of an exclusive group - namely, you are excluding the fat, ugly and old.

So, Marti's of the world, unite under the A&F flag!!

[DontSayBanana]

Ugh.  As if that wasn't bad enough, the smell of that perfume they douse their stores in is positively nauseating.  It's at the point where the girlfriend and I have to cross to the other side of the hallway in malls because the perfume literally sends her into a coughing fit.

[Martinus]

Unlike most other industries that have succumbed to the lowest common denominator, the fashion industry has had aspired to the ideal for a long time, embracing not the fat, ugly and disgusting masses, but the few slim, pretty and young. Unfortunately, now even this is falling under the stampede of disgusting ugly slobs.

How strange that a profit making business should seek to sell to the many, rather than the few.
Surely business schools all over the world will puzzle over this unusual new business model.

Meh, all your sarcasm aside, a lot of brands actually are marketed as exclusive/luxurious, which means deliberately limiting the client base.

[Jacob]

A bunch of fat people boycotting a store that doesn't sell clothes to fat people?

I wonder if this doesn't work to the store's advantage. 

[Jacob]

Yeah, I'm not sure to what degree this is wrecking the brand, however much of a douche the CEO seems to be.

[Grallon]

Pretty interesting on the lasting power of words today.

Rather on how shallow an epoch we live in.  And another illustration of the herd mentality of people - multiplied to infinity by the net.




G.

[Valmy]

Yeah, I'm not sure to what degree this is wrecking the brand, however much of a douche the CEO seems to be.

Or at least how douchey the CEO was seven years ago.

[Barrister]

Yeah, I'm not sure to what degree this is wrecking the brand, however much of a douche the CEO seems to be.

My wife saw this story the other day, became outraged and said "we're never shopping there".

I did think to myself "well, we never did shop there, and I always associated A&F with douchebag college students, so I have no intention to start".

[The Minsky Moment]

Meh, all your sarcasm aside, a lot of brands actually are marketed as exclusive/luxurious, which means deliberately limiting the client base.

Exclusive/luxurious means selling to people with money.
Selling to people with money is a long established successfuly business strategy.
However, there is not exactly a clear overlap between "young, pretty, rich" and lots of dough.

Malthus is more on the right track, but the trick to that marketing strategy is maintaining a certain degree of subtlety and indirection.

[The Brain]

Luxury cars, champagne, watches and whatever that get associated with Hip Hop are things I will never consider buying.

[merithyn]

Yeah, I'm not sure to what degree this is wrecking the brand, however much of a douche the CEO seems to be.

My wife saw this story the other day, became outraged and said "we're never shopping there".

I did think to myself "well, we never did shop there, and I always associated A&F with douchebag college students, so I have no intention to start".

Even douche-bag college kids don't go there very often anymore. *shrugs* My kids think their stuff is over-priced crap.

[The Brain]

Yeah, I'm not sure to what degree this is wrecking the brand, however much of a douche the CEO seems to be.

My wife saw this story the other day, became outraged and said "we're never shopping there".

I did think to myself "well, we never did shop there, and I always associated A&F with douchebag college students, so I have no intention to start".

Even douche-bag college kids don't go there very often anymore. *shrugs* My kids think their stuff is over-priced crap.

You shouldn't badmouth your kids IMHO.

[merithyn]

You shouldn't badmouth your kids IMHO.

The truth is the truth.

Besides, my kids are college drop-outs.

[The Larch]

Wasn't A&F also in trouble for not hiring minorities or something like that?