Shame on those of you who haven't dropped your copy of Media and headed straight to e-bay. Surely you wouldn't want to let a bargain buy of Sass and Bide's pass you by ?
For those of you still reading let me explain a great fashion design brand story from which brand marketers in any category can learn. And its only three years old. Making the Sex in the City 'TV catwalk' was the most public confirmation thatSass and Bide was not a flash in the pan.
The revolutionary offer was signature stretch denim hipsters, all stitched with the crafted label created from the mutual nicknames of the design's creators Sarah Jane Clarke (Sass) and Heidi Middleton (Bide). Since then Sass and Bide have gone beyond jeans to offer a range of styles all delivering the promise 'creative energy made wearable'. And wear them they do - whether its Kylie, Kate Moss, Victoria Beckham or Liberty Ross. So what's relevant to those of us who sell detergents and shampoo?
1. Insight driven creativity to the core.
Just have a look at the clothes themselves (Lane Crawford in Hong Kong, BlackJack in Singapore or Harvey Nichols in London). Middleton comments: "It all started with Sarah Jane and my passion for dressing up and fashion, we could see substantial gaps in our wardrobes so we were always customising. We saw the opportunity to produce well cut basics with a twist."
Whether or not the clothes are for you, the look and feel of every touchpoint on the customer journey shows a deep understanding of the consumer mindset.
2. High level industry relationships enabling effective channel blurring.
Clarke and Middleton were guest editors of Vogue Australia (December 2002 issue) - they edited and shot 12 pages of content. This would never have happened unless the existing editorial team had felt they were bringing new talent to the core of Vogue. Twelve pages is significant ad revenue to give away. I have worked with a number of consumer and corporate branding businesses - yet few have relationships at such a high level to enable this type of idea exchange and channel blurring in key target publications.
As Middleton says: "We are always looking for cross-over into other design industries in ways that haven't been done before."
3. A compelling brand story, from the inside out.
For those of you who hadn't heard of Sass and Bide before, I trust you now have enough snippets of their 'brand story' to inspire you to re-investigate your own. In a consumer environment where brands must be transparent to succeed, Sass and Bide, now an emerging international fashion icon, still manages to feel accessible and passionate about its business - they pride themselves in avoiding the all too familiar industry aloofness.