“Rather than having to trawl around malls all day with their girlfriends or wives, what we’d like to provide men is a one-stop shop,” says Smith. “You come in, get what you need and get out — a watch, tie or cap, and soon, eyewear.”
Dockers eyewear? This may surprise baby boomers, who probably best remember Dockers for its khaki pants. The brand began in the ’80s offering only khaki pants, and was a leader in the evolution into ‘casual officewear’. But its pole position quickly waned in the face of stiff competition from brands such as the Gap, Eddie Bauer and even Smith’s former employer, Lee jeans, leading to debt of almost US$2 billion in 2004. To add insult to injury, parent company Levi Strauss nearly sold off the struggling division.
But clearly someone believed in Dockers, if not its positioning. That year, the holding group decided to keep the 20-year old khaki company, but turn it into a holistic lifestyle brand selling clothing and accessories to fit all sorts of occasions. It even has a new spirit: the ‘joie de vive of San Francisco.’
Thus, Smith’s job, which he gamely took on two years ago following a 20-year marketing career with fashion labels around the world, is to instil this city spirit across a remit that spans Asia-Pacific (including Japan), Africa, Latin America, Australia and Central Europe.
Fortunately, research has told him that most people have an aspirational perception of San Francisco.
“Many people get their perceptions of San Francisco from TV and movies, like the classic Steve McQueen movie Bullit or the TV series Streets of San Francisco, or even the film When Harry Met Sally,” he says.
“So their takeout from the city is that they know there’s a high standard of living; it’s a casual, relaxed city. It’s not uptight like New York City. San Francisco has a creative, relaxed lifestyle.”
Smith believes this is a perfect reflection of the changing lifestyles in Asia, which he claims are shifting towards a greater work-life balance. “I think people in Asia are beginning to reassess their priorities in life. People are allowing themselves more leisure time, travel time — they want products that meet different usage occasions.”
And for Smith, to change a longstanding preconception of the brand begins with the store revamps. Lots of them. “We must be opening one store a week in Asia. We’ll be opening or upgrading 80 to 100 stores in Asia this year,” he says, admitting that his team is “flat out” at the moment.
In Asia-Pacific, Dockers most recently introduced its new retail concept in India, Singapore and Thailand. Hong Kong, China and Korea will see new stores next year. “It should give you a sense of the scale of growth, given that we’re not in two of the biggest markets yet,” he says.
For anyone familiar with the old Dockers stores, the new ones will take your breath away: high ceilings, dark wooden floors, a chill-out seating area and shelves lined with everything from casual wear to business attire. And, perhaps most importantly, the revamped dressing room.
“We did research that says that most guys spend 13 minutes in our stores and nine minutes are spent in the changing room,” Smith says. “You can’t have a beautiful store, but a nasty little changing area. So we gave our changing rooms a ‘gentleman’s club’ kind of feel, rather than the boxy little cabin you get in most stores.”
Smith’s also gearing up for the summer launch of the Asia-Pacific website, which is being designed by Singapore interactive shop, Kinetic. “I’m really excited about working with a small, independent creative company,” he says.
Given Smith’s wide-ranging geographical remit, it should come as no surprise that he is a firm believer in global mesaging rather than overly localised campaigns. “We’re still using regional creative work, but in the long- or even medium-term, we’ll probably use more global work,” he says. “For a global brand, it’s important to have as much consistency as you can. We’re at ground zero, so we’ve got huge opportunity for the brand. But we expect continual growth over the next few years. We’re doing a lot of the right things now.”
David Smith's CV
2005 VP of marketing, Dockers Asia
2004 VP, Earl Jeans International (Brussels), VF Corporation
1999 Managing director, VF Asia Jeanswear (Hong Kong)
1991 Business development manager, Lee Europe (Brussels), VF Corporation
1987 International marketing and business development manager, Pepe Group
