Tommy Hilfiger: How Do We Get To The Classic American Route?

On the evening of February 16th, designer Tommy Hilfiger staged a brilliant red, white and blue show in London, inspired by the iconic style of the brand, displaying classic Street clothing and American style college wind products. At the same time, people can buy all the new T products online and around the world.
As early as 2016, Tommy Hilfiger began to compete with some of its peers in the seasonal fashion show, that is, the fashion show at the same time, but he was the only designer who still invested in the "look to buy" mode.
Tommy Hilfiger's London show on Sunday was held in the Tate Modern Art Museum with a strong industrial atmosphere. It was also released jointly by the brand with the British driver, formula one champion Lewis Hamilton fourth season series, and also released a time series with American artiste H.E.R. A vibrant chorus sang for this show. The group played the back lights and sang the popular songs of the British singers Stormzy and Ed Sheeran. A lot of British supermodels show up, Naomi Campbell. The clothes displayed at the scene reflect the latest trend of street fashion, such as Gothic blackbody and graffiti letter elements, and multifunctional practical vest and overalls. But the leading role is still the classic design of Tommy, such as the white waffle knitted sweater decorated with the American flag and the printed silk scarf.
This marketing gimmick will help Tommy Hilfiger sell shirts for men and women and promote business development. From 2016 to 2018, the brand revenue increased by 24%. In the last quarter, its revenue increased by 12% to 1 billion 200 million dollars at fixed exchange rates. In the 10 years of being acquired by PVH PVH, Tommy Hilfiger's revenue grew by 123% over the past 123% years.
For modern fashion brands, such sustained growth is almost unprecedented. Similar competitors to Hilfiger brand positioning include Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors and Diesel. Considering that these brands are still in a difficult position, the growth of Hilfiger is even more noticeable.
The problems encountered by the above brands are also related to several factors: first, the golden age of American department stores no longer (at the beginning of this month, Messi's department store announced plans to close 125 stores and lay off 2000 people). Secondly, the clothing market tends to be fragmented, and the fast fashion and DTC's new mode of facing consumers are more popular with consumers, while the traditional brands relying on wholesale mode have been left behind. In addition, the outbreak of new coronavirus is affecting sales in Asia, and Sino US trade tensions are also a worldwide problem.
But the Tommy Hilfiger, founded in 1985, seems to have survived. For decades, the brand has been leading the fashion topic, which is no less influential than today's Gucci. Unlike Brandy Melville or VSCO, the brand does not try to define a new generation of styles, nor does it follow the fast fashion business like Boohoo, and launches a cheap display.
Supporting Tommy Hilfiger can not stand down. First, the founder is still in the company, which is conducive to confirm the company's affairs. Two, products are easy to identify color matching and design concepts. The brand focuses on the more lucrative regional markets outside the United States, maintaining brand recognition flexible enough to reflect changing trends, and stimulating the trend of the retail industry's flagging.
1. focus on the United States
In recent years, Tommy Hilfiger has always held a big show in cities like London or Shanghai, because the focus of the brand's business is to sell energetic American classic clothing to people outside the United States.
Tommy Hilfiger has 2/3 of its sales from the international market. From 2014 to 2018, sales in the international market increased by 37.5%, compared with 2% in North America in the same period. In the past 20 years, the brand has always attached great importance to the international market. The reason can be traced back to around 2000. When Tommy Hilfiger has been saturated in the US market and has been on sale at a discount, many domestic consumers are tired of brands.
In Europe, the design and production of Tommy Hilfiger are independent of the United States. The brand's positioning in Europe has always been the luxury market rather than the mass market. In 2000s, it achieved rapid growth and higher profits in Europe. In 2006, after the privatization of Tommy Hilfiger by Apax Partners, the management and staff of the company moved from New York to Amsterdam, Holland.
Even though the brand is currently owned by PVH group, its management is not in New York, but European products are still designed in Amsterdam. In the United States, Tommy Hilfiger produces its own men's clothing and authorizes G-III Apparel Group to manufacture women's clothing.
Tommy Hilfiger "products that are designed in Europe are better looking," analysts Jane Hali pointed out.
The company's latest annual report shows that the brand continues to grow in Europe. In the 2018 fiscal year, revenue was $2 billion 200 million, achieving a "two digit" growth. According to reports, in the last quarter, Tommy Hilfiger's international market revenue increased to $821 million, or 16%, while North American sales remained stable at $423 million.
Compared with the growth rate of US stores, the number of stores in Europe and Asia has increased two times and doubled. In 2019, Tommy Hilfiger closed the flagship store in Manhattan. Last spring, the brand ended its exclusive partnership with Messi. It plans to enter Belk, Dillard's and Amazon. In North America, the vast majority of Tommy Hilfiger products are sold by outlets outlets specializing in brand discount.
2. clear and flexible design concepts
Tommy Hilfiger can maintain business stability to a large extent, thanks to the obvious brand visual logo. The brand brings together classic American elements such as wind, sailing style, sports and concise cowboy products, which can be identified at a glance. Tommy Hilfiger did not launch specially designed clothing or categories. The main method is to continuously strengthen and deduce brand logo, color matching and recent cooperation series.
This is in sharp contrast to the sister brand Calvin Klein, which belongs to PVH. Calvin Klein does not have a clear brand recognition in other cases except for sexy advertising blockbuster launched for lucrative underwear business.
Despite the growth of Tommy Hilfiger over the past 10 years and the return of the trend in the 90 era, its aesthetics is flexible enough to adapt to changing fashion trends. No matter what the latest combination is straight jeans, versatile vest or the 1970s inspired skirt, the brand can borrow.
"The classic American way of life can be extended to the whole world," says Erinn Murphy, analyst at Piper Jaffray. She also said that Tommy Hilfiger has responded to the changing trend. "Brand Logo once occupied a large part of their business, but now its share has decreased."
3. effective global communication
Hali pointed out that although Tommy Hilfiger is "almost regarded as a luxury brand" outside the United States, the marketing strategy adopted by the world is "no different from people's feelings". PVH group has strengthened global control over Tommy Hilfiger through its acquiring company or joint venture in India, Brazil, Russia and Mexico, so it has helped marketing. The vast majority of global brands want to buy local businesses to achieve this goal, but only a few companies have cash to do that.
In April 2016, PVH saw China's growth potential and stronger profitability. (Tommy Hilfiger's operating income was the highest in the group), and acquired 55% stake in Tommy Hilfiger China joint venture company, which proved that it is reasonable to increase its marketing efforts, open more stores and invest more words in China.
This degree of control provides a new possibility for the "Tommy Now" T platform to become popular around the world. Tommy Now reports are often seen in fashion magazines and websites that advertised Tommy Hilfiger. Since 2016, the brand has been widely spread all over the world, and the brand has also established cooperation with celebrities with international reputation, such as Hamilton, American model Gigi Hadid and Chinese actress Shawn Yue.
According to the information provided by Tribe Dynamics, in March 2019, Zendaya first appeared in the Paris show of Tommy Hilfiger, which made the brand's media value (EMV) achieve a monthly growth of 237%. The joint social media label in that month drove the brand to win the total media value of 1/3 growth.
Celebrities and celebrities cooperate to make these activities more attractive to younger generation consumers, and successfully add marketing channels that can be placed on the core products of various regional markets. These limited sales products are narrower in distribution channels and are priced more than most of the brands sold in any region, but they can add halo effect to the more popular foundation.
4. Tommy Hilfiger continues to glow and glow.
Tommy Hilfiger, the co founder of the brand, is currently the chief designer, and is also an excellent ambassador for the brand. It is also a symbol of the dream of American entrepreneurs.
Hilfiger himself has not been overly aggressive, but has been a brand ambassador with Hadid and Hamilton. This is different from other similar brand founders: Ralph Lauren has little contact with other people except for its close ties with the founders, and Calvin Klein has long stopped joining the brand he founded.
Hilfiger's position in the company also helps to confirm the choice of T show and partners. From the nautical wind street costumes (such as the series with Gigi Hadid), to suit the 1970s women's movement (such as the Zendaya cooperation Series), despite the different approaches, he has done his best.
As Hali said, "Tommy has helped me a lot. He invited Zendaya to take the show, which just moved the target customers - millennial generation and Z generation.