This story caught my eye and demonstrates, among other things, the enduring power of (1) controversy and (2) sex…
“Jack Wills censured for ‘overtly sexual’ catalogue”
There’s also a “Royal” connection (apparently Prince Harry is a fan of the label) which always adds spice to stories like this.
And to support my argument about the attention grabbing properties of stories like this, I note this item was one of the “most viewed” on the site.
Note that the racy photo at the top of this post is NOT from the Jack Wills catalogue. Check the link for a look at what’s caused the controversy.
Now, I confess that I’d never heard of Jack Wills before I saw this story. I discovered that they are a UK fashion company catering primarily to the children of the well-to-do…
…”Outfitters To The Gentry”, in fact.
Ignore for the moment the faux controversy over the catalogue (shades of “French Connection” methinks). I’m guessing that this will do no harm to sales and the catalogue will quickly become something of a collector’s item.
(See this comment for some support on this point.)
No, more interesting to me is the example of a very clear positioning strategy taken by the company. They know what they stand for and they’re very clear on who their customers are (note the care they take over the location of their stores and the promotional strategy).
Another example of a company being successful marketing to the affluent.