Apparel Online India Magazine March 1st Issue 2019 | Page 12

WORLD WRAP
BRAND EXTENSION
RETAILERS AND BRANDS TRANSITION
FROM CLOTHING TO LIFESTYLE SOLUTIONS
T
he lifestyle of the consumer is
now diversifying from the usual
‘Get up, Earn bread, Eat, Repeat’
cycle as healthcare, environmental
consciousness, travel and
developmental activities are now a
huge part of the timetables. The only
thing on the low is time, and time is
money. This has driven several brands
and retailers to tap into the potential
of lifestyle, one-stop solution outlets
that provide more than just fashion
apparel, with offerings such as beauty
and accessories, footwear and the
rapidly rising homeware market.
As retailers and brands struggle to
retail relevance in a crowded market,
strategy to attract a large audience
has become a key. What a better way
to do this than increasing product
portfolio not only in its traditional
segment, but also in new areas. The
industry players adopting this trend
were successful enough in sustaining
the extension as it allowed them to
create a new image in the consumer
psyche using the reach of existing
brand image.
ESSENTIALS
Brand Extension is a
trend on the rise since
late ’90s, which started
off as a marketing stint
as the cost of marketing
gets divided over a
multitude of products,
and gives the brands a
way to foray into other
product categories or
radically into entirely
different industries
as well.
stores such as Primark started
retailing licensed products for popular
character-inspired clothing, giving
media an outlet to promote their
entertainment ventures as and when
they launched. Armani Collezioni and Armani Jeans.
It later on explored hospitality with
the launch of Armani hotels that offer
detailed Armani branded experiences
right down to the last throw pillows
and night lamps.
A parent brand can create several
extensions of its offerings to cater to
the masses, providing the shoppers
a single destination to fulfil all their
demands – whether niche or basic.
Ralph Lauren is one of the biggest
and most successful instances as they
harnessed the brand reputation to
extend into Polo Ralph Lauren, Ralph
Lauren Purple Label, and more, to
cater to multiple consumer segments.
High fashion retailer Armani is yet
another brand to provide a lifestyle
solution as they operate through
Giorgio Armani Privé, Giorgio Armani,
Emporio Armani (including EA7),
Armani Junior and Armani Exchange,
after announcing the closing of Footwear also became a go-to for
many retailers as denimwear brand
Paige expanded its merchandise
to foray into the footwear field in
September 2018 with a 19-piece
collection and Indian menswear
retailer Mufti launched its footwear
range after introducing athleisure last
season. Meanwhile, fast-fashion giant
Zara also stretched its horizons to the
beauty sector in November 2018.
HOLISTIC OFFERING
IS THE KEY
Diversification is done at different
levels, as brands first trudged
safer boundaries through basic
line extensions with extended-size
collections or capsules, then went
on to expand their product levels
with added swimwear, kidswear or
athleisure ranges and finally forayed
into adjacent industries such as
homeware and beauty. Plus-size
collections, disguised as a step
towards inclusive fashion, were
deemed as successful line extensions
for Nike, Adidas, Macy’s and Target.
Similarly, departmental all-solution
A Zara Home store
12 Apparel Online India | MARCH 1-15, 2019 | www.apparelresources.com
HOMEWARE –
THE RIPE AVENUE
The popularity of homeware is
entailing a line of retailers and brands