Bill Emerson

Retail TouchPoints: Ralph Lauren Looks to Stay Relevant Amid Shifts

February 2, 2012

FROM RETAILWIRE:
After more than 44 years in the retail industry, Ralph Lauren sought new strategies to reinvent itself to stay relevant with the next generation of consumers. To reaffirm its stance as a desired luxury brand, the company turned to "merchantainment." What are the particular challenges a storied brand such as Ralph Lauren has in connecting with younger consumers?      [more...]

All brands, including a storied brand like Lauren, face a huge and, for most, insurmountable hurdle. Their very success inexorably identifies them with a particular generation, in this case the boomers. As one generation leaves the acquisitive cycle, the next searches for brands which are "theirs" and consciously choose them over the brands of their parents. This is just human nature.

Retail history has lots of examples of once-dominant brands that either disappeared or morphed into something unrecognizable compared to the original. At one point there was a moderate apparel chain called "Casual Corner" that set specialty fashion. Gone. Gap once ruled the malls and set the fashion trends for a generation. All but gone. Abercrombie & Fitch was once a "gentleman's" boutique with a distinctly English Squire feel. Now it's an icon of promiscuity among teenagers.

Ralph and his team are as smart and capable as you will find and they have clearly been experimenting in different labels and brand positioning. Will they succeed? Time will tell.