R.E.A.L.M. Apparel took a poll of around 10 ideal customers asking them their values as it relates to the apparel they purchase or would purchase. The poll was interesting but it certainly confirmed some of what we already knew. The following values were expressed:
-Message
-Quality
-Fabric
-Creativity
-Longevity
-Comfort
Amongst these 6 values the highest equally ranking were message, quality, and fabric and creativity was a close second and longevity and comfort having the same amount of responses of the group.
The insight that was gained from this poll helped me to understand how preferences were prioritized amongst our ideal client. By gathering some of this data it prompted me to do some rigorous research on quality tees for my brand. Last year, we made a switch from a more full cotton tee to a more of a soft-style tee. Even though that change cost us more on the back end I think we were able to deliver a more comparable as well as comfortable product to our client. The data collected will relaunch that search for some of the best tees in which to attach our graphics. I also believe that by polling the client base it helped to build a stronger brand-customer relationship by showing clients and potential clients that we are interested in what they have to say. I think moving forward they will see this as we offer more of what they value. The clients will know that we have listened and this will foster a sense of trust of what can be expected from our brand and thereby opening the window to establish brand loyalty. Also this type of engagement can certainly be considered a form of marketing and will spread to others to encourage purchases. Our customers have shown they are wiling to pay a premium for what we offer. In the past we have had people to tell us that our pricing was too low. So we increased it and we still had people purchasing the product. For this I am grateful but also says that people will pay for what they want or believe in.
What our customers are really buying is empowerment, confidence, and in some instances hope and motivation.
Positioning Statement
R.E.A.L.M. stands for redefining excellence and living manifestation. We are a personal empowerment apparel line, and we seek to help motivate and inspire people in their every day walk of life simply by getting dressed. Our mission is to craft not just garments, but symbols of strength and self-confidence that resonate with the individual spirit of each wearer. We believe that the right piece of clothing has the power to ignite a profound transformation within. Encouraging people to embrace their unique identities and conquer the world with confidence.
Points of contact include Facebook, Twitter (X), Instagram, Tik Tok, Shopify and face-to-face. I will need to research more marketing messages to push to the clients as well as potential clients. The platform in which I learned in the previous assignment that I need to start utilizing is YouTube as over 70% of our ideal client utilizes this platform.
Positioning Grid Explanation
The explanation for the axis’ are that we compared empowerment and pricing. For the empowerment axis this is explained simply as the messages on the apparel being more temporarily trendy or buzz-wordy for lack of a better term (low empowerment) versus a timeless design or message that would not expire (high empowerment). I look forward to your comments. Thank you in advance.
4 comments
Responding to all three comments within one comment.
Tonya,
Thank you for the comments about my blog I really appreciate them. I don’t know that I always considered the cost or what may have been saved due to utilizing social media to market. Thank you for your review and I appreciate the compliments.
Maddie,
Thank you greatly for your responses to my blog and my writing style. You are really making me feel good over here. I’m glad my messages are coming through clear as well as my passion because I have it for this brand, way more that I ever thought that I would. I must say diving deep into this program certainly helped with the inspiration of that.
Zane, Thank you for keeping me on my toes. The question pertaining to whether we would be able to compete amongst the masses is definitely one I don’t see in a near future but with more work and dedication I think we could get pretty close. Thank you for the comments regarding the positioning statement. Also, I agree that people are very trendy this day in time and will sacrifice to be on the hottest tag-line versus how the item feels. I want to change that narrative, I want it to be a powerful message yet comfortable. Something you’re not afraid to always grab as your go to. I have had clients say that their Empower Your Own Dream shirt is their go-to and I love that. I just want to make sure they’re reaching for it more often for both reasons.
Hi Monique,
First of all your blog rocks! I love the colors and your presentation of your positioning grid. I am also loving the mission and meaning of REALM. People love to gravitate to clothing with a purpose. You are right to “milk” social media for all it is worth. Getting started with social media marketing is lower costs and has high reach! Great job on this assignment. Thanks for sharing!
Monique,
Great analysis on this post! This provided great detail pertaining to where REALM clothing falls among competitors. I also, appreciate how you really drove home REALM’s message, purpose, and image. This is great, as it really represents the passion within your company, as well as the focus on inciting emotional response and connection among customers!
The wording choice throughout your analysis further drives home these ideals (I especially enjoyed your positioning statement). Overall, great professional writing!
Best,
Maddie Duffield
Monique,
Nice work with this exercise! I appreciate your usage of empowerment as a measurement tactic in this campaign, as I think it is important for people to feel good with what they are wearing. The old adage, “look good, feel good” seems to ring true here! Your use of primary competitors was also noteworthy, as you are aiming for some of the big dogs! The only question I may have there, is how you might plan to compete against the Target’s and Wal Mart’s of the world, who are enjoying massive economies of scale to validate their pricing points. If their level of empowerment is within range of REALM, can the price point compete with those economies of scale? I suspect the answer is YES, though something to ponder!
The feedback on “message” as a customer desire is very interesting and I would be super curious to understand where it fits in comparison to other markers like comfort and durability. We all know that folks love the latest trends and tend to sacrifice the latter for the former at times. Really nice job getting some honest customer feedback here! Finally, your positioning statement is quite powerful and sums up your brand very well. Personally, I thought your first two sentences were perfect and could likely stand on it’s own as your positioning statement! Great job with this and thank you for the level of detail.
Cheers,
Zane Breeding