HOW DOES AN ICONIC WOMEN'S BRAND
BUILD A $1B MEN'S BUSINESS?
When you think of Lululemon, you probably don’t think of men’s performance apparel. But that is precisely the mindset the company was looking to change when it set a goal to create a $1B men’s business by 2020.
Lululemon was founded in 1998 with a vision to disrupt the women’s athletic apparel industry by creating a new market that intersected athletics and lifestyle. Ten years and $2B later, the “Big Three” in the sportswear world took notice and began to follow suit. That's when Lululemon set it’s sight on disrupting the men’s athletic space.
But how do you build a thriving men’s business when the brand is synonymous with women’s yoga? And just as importantly, how do you do so without alienating it’s core female guest who viewed the brand as uniquely theirs?
This was our challenge.
BEFORE WE BEGIN...ONE BRAND OR TWO?
We began by exploring whether we should create a sub-brand to create distinction, eliminate the stigma men associated with the brand while protecting the loyal female base. This was the popular opinion expressed on business shows, marketing sites and online forums.
We ultimately decided to build two businesses under the same brand. Doing so would allow us leverage the strengths of the brand while also differentiating it from the other male dominant athletic brands.
And what about yoga?
Yoga is at the core of the Lululemon brand and would be a key differentiator for the men’s brand. However, the access point to yoga would be different for men. Rather than connect with men directly through yoga (as they do with their female guest), they would reach him through sport, which in turn would be the access point to yoga as a performance and recovery tool.
This completely shifted how the brand approached community outreach and ambassadorships, which featured athletes from team and adventure sports.
PHASE 1 - POSITIONING
Through analysis of the competitor landscape and cultural insights, we identified key opportunities for Lululemon to differentiate themselves from a crowded and testosterone fuelled market and take a leadership role in the athletic space.
These insights, combined with the brand’s core values would lead to three own-able traits:
mindfulness
Amidst the weekly media reports of athletes behaving badly, we believed that who you are off the field is just as important as your game day performance.
We re-imagined the brand’s muse, focusing on the mindful athlete - one who takes a holistic view of athletics by integrating body and mind. Socially conscious and multi-dimensional, we’d connect with him through the brand’s core values and provide tools for personal development through the practice of yoga, meditation and goal setting.
versatility
The multi-dimensional man requires efficiency from his apparel. He leads a life in perpetual motion and needs gear that is versatile enough to handle all the activities of his day. Working with the product team, we established a value proposition around versatility. Want to go for a hike after work? No problem. Blending technical performance with refined style gives the Lululemon man freedom of choice and lets him do more with less.
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fun
The marketing messages from other brands focus on competition, winning at all cost - they skew aggressive and are as serious as a heart attack. We saw opportunity in bringing some fun to the party. We would connect with our guy through a sense of adventure and laughter - while pushing through his boundaries. Our guy is confident and looks at the lighter side of life, where appropriate.
PHASE TWO - CREATIVE EXPRESSION
A strong brand position comes to life through compelling and consistent creative expression. Lululemon’s de-centralized model provided an additional layer of complexity to maintaining consistency of message. With this in mind, we created new brand guidelines for the men’s business, outlining the brand personality, visual look and feel, tone of voice, design/graphic elements etc. in order for our global creative teams to express the brand in a cohesive way.
PHASE THREE - IMPLEMENTATION
There was no major launch campaign - no big PR event or media buy. Instead, our largest investment was to launch the new positioning internally. We knew the success or failure of the men’s business would be determined by the 8000 employees that work in-store. They’d be the ones going out in their communities and spreading the message. All we needed to do was inspire them.
EXPERIENCES
To connect with the male guest, we created distinct experiences designed specifically for him. From digital channels to standalone stores and events, these experiences would bring the new brand positioning to life.
CASE STUDY - MEN'S STANDALONE STORE IN SOHO, NEW YORK
CASE STUDY - LAUNCH OF DEDICATED MEN'S CHANNELS
RESULTS:
Within the first two years of rolling out this positioning, Lululemon saw:
- Internal Alignment and Clarity - from the board to the backroom of the stores.
- 69% Year over Year Growth (and on track to hit their $1B target in 2020)
- 250k following on dedicated men’s social channels
- The women's business evolved their brand positoning, based on the success of the men’s work.
- Mindful Performance, introduced through this work, was adopted by the larger brand as it’s central brand message
- Men's launched it's first global brand campaign "Strength To Be"