Originally lululemon’s purpose was to “elevate the world from mediocrity to greatness,” they have since brainstormed, or assessed the market and their new purpose is to "create components for people to live long, healthy, and fun lives.”
So what is lululemon? (A reference to their “Who is John Galt?” campaign, where the question appeared on their reusable red and white bags.) And why has this over priced Canadian yoga-wear company seen such success?
In this paper I will attempt to uncover the secret to lululemon while comparing them to other apparel companies. There is no golden secret, however this company differs from others in their marketing techniques, brand identity, and community outreach.
I was a junior in High School when Melissa Joseph entered my world. As she improved some movement Dance Company, a group of bitchy girls was silent. We had all been put in our place. Words cannot describe what watching her dance felt like. So who was she and why were her leggings never faded? She was the new artistic director of my school’s dance company and a lululemon ambassador. According to their website “The lululemon ambassador program is extended to unique individuals in our store communities who embody the lululemon lifestyle and live our culture.” This is lululemon’s efficient and innovative way of marketing that differentiates them from companies like Nike, American Apparel, H&M, and UNIQLO who spend billions of dollars on advertising and are confined to their stores.
Nike spent over $260 million on sponsorship in 2008, and that is not all positive. They received backlash for continuing their sponsorship of golfer Tiger Woods after the media gained knowledge of his lady problems (“Nike uses Endorsements and Sponsorship”). According to Tory J. Lowitz at American Apparel, “We spend most of our advertisement budget on print ads… our staff wears American Apparel in our store” (Fashion Makers Fashion Shapes, 82-91). The second statement regarding employees wearing the brand seems short sighted as lululemon ambassadors wear their chosen brand in the store and while dancing, hiking, and running. Margareta Can Den Bosch, head designer for H&M for 21 years and now artistic director for the company also stresses the importance of the store, “the store is our primary channel where we communicate our latest fashion and our offering to the customer…Our total market communication budget is around 3 per cent of group sales excluding VAT which amounts to 6.7 billon pounds” (Fashion Makers Fashion Shapes, 92-101). In regards to lululemon dressing exceptional yogis or in my case dancers the brand advertises to a new active consumer that has not yet entered the store, while H&M relies on the consumer to enter the store to receive marketing information. Uniqlo, a Japanese company, is floating between Nike’s sponsorship of famous athletes and lululemon’s ambassador program. Yukihoro Katsuta, head of the international design team at UNIQLO discusses their marketing, “Our global advertising campaigns are associating ourselves with credible actors, designers, and artists renowned for their personal style, is to reinforce the idea that UNIQLO is a brand for everyone…to ensure we are aligning the brand with the art and design industry, again reaching a wider audience and appealing to niche sectors” (Fashion Makers Fashion Shapes, 102-109). I recently saw an image of a dancer in the new UNIQLO store on 5th avenue and must admit amidst the chaos I identified with the brand.
Tory J. Lowitz of American Apparel described American Apparel perfectly, “We are a T-shirt company disguised as a 21-year-old girl. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter what you buy we are still a T-shirt company” (Fashion Makers Fashion Shapes, 82-91). Lululemon is a disguised T-shirt company; both of these brands prove Clive Dilnot’s idea that modern design is purely redesign. He elaborated on this idea in his discussion of the Oxo Good Grip. Though Dilnot claims to use his Good Grip daily, one must acknowledge that this plastic grip kitchen utensil has landed many useable potato peelers in dumpsters, just as lululemon leggings have left many leggings to collect dust at the bottom of our drawers.
Lululemon, a disguised T-shirt company, was founded by Chip Wilson with the idea of self betterment through exercise. Though active sports wear was originally worn by young boys, the nineteenth amendment passed decades ago. Lululemon was one of few active wear companies to begin designing for women. The industry continues to forget about the female consumer and her buying power. I recently spoke with Danielle Wigley, a salesgirl in the Equinox located in Century City, who has always felt Nike was the superior athletic brand. However once she began working at Equinox, she was exposed to lululemon via the female trainers. Now she laughs that she owns everything on the rack. In the New York Times Article, Curbside at School, A Red Carpet, Hyland discusses the high fashion garments worn: Prada, Rodarte, etc. Among such names in fashion this Canadian brand gets a shout out, “Others come in sweatpants, of a kind: by Lululemon, favored by yoga enthusiasts.” Another key component to the brand identity is the association with yoga. Though buying $100 leggings does not directly contradict the Five Principles of Yoga, consumption isn’t an adjective yogis strive to define. Jacqueline Nelson feels that for some shoppers “$98 stretch pants are the path not only to a cuter bum but also a spiritual awakening” (LOCO FOR LULU, 28-32). Lululemon is virtually selling a lifestyle that seems to defy selling. Though some consumers feel enlightened by their purchases why has lululemon athletica seen such success? and such little backlash?
Much of their success is due to the design of their stores. Lululemon’s comfortable setup exemplifies the “salon” business model, a core of Apple retail, placing the buyer and seller on the same side. (LOCO FOR LULU, 28-32) All merchandise can be wheeled away to provide space on their ballet wooden floors, which function as perfect studios for their free weekly classes. There are also two free classes in video format on their website. I often utilized their free Sunday morning yoga but swore I would never buy the gear, now I take their Sunday morning yoga in my lululemon leggings and currently have my eye on the running jackets. These classes are often crowded and have seen such attendance that the brand now invites guest teachers mid week and leads community runs. This relationship advertises to an athletic group, the ideal Lululemon consumer.
Katsuta from UNIQLO discusses their focus on brand identity in regards to store locations, “We look for the best retail locations to communicate the right brand message. We opened the UK flagship store in Oxford Street, Europe’s premiere shopping street, in New York we made the decision to open the global flagship store in Soho rather than on Fifth Avenue, to introduce the brand to a ‘cooler’ audience (Fashion Makers Fashion Shapes, 102-109). Though they have since opened an overwhelmingly large store on Fifth Avenue. I am a young consumer, part of the ‘cooler’ market and feel Union Square would have been a much more appropriate location for UNIQLO. This Japanese company could be neighbors with lululemon.
In Conclusion, this T-shirt company has seen enormous growth and has many lessons we can all learn. Of course there are the haters. Facebook contains countless “I hate lululemon,” groups. Many plus size women are understandably unhappy to find the size 12 bins often empty.
Here are some images I included with my paper...
Bibliography
Alison Gill, “Sneakers,” in Design Studies a reader, ed. Hazel Clark and David Brody (New York, 2009) 516-20
Anne-Celine Jaeger, Fashion Makers and Fashion Shapers, (New York, 2009) 82-109
Grace Krenzer, Cathy Starr and Donna Branson, “Development of a Sports Bra Prototype,” Clothing and Textiles Research Journal (2005), 23;131, accessed October 26, 2011, DOI: 10.1177/0887302X0502300206
Ligaya Salazar. Fashion V Sport, editor (London: South Kensington, 2008)
Nelson, Jacqueline, “LOCO FOR LULU” Canadian Business 2011, volume 84 issue 8, p.28-32, November 23, 2011
“Nike uses endorsements and sponsorship,” E-how accessed October 23, 2011, http://www.ehow.com/about_6465548_nike-uses-endorsements-sponsorships.html
Veronique Hyland, “Curbside at School, a Red Carpet,” New York Times, October 19, 2011, accessed October 26, 2011
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