2007
Urban and Streetwear Clothing Commercials…Where are they?
Posted by: Fashion06 in Financing, Starting your own line |
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I was just wondering after watching a little bit of television the other day and looking at some magazines at Books A Million. The idea blossomed when I was looking at a commercial from the clothing line I love to hate Gino Green Global. The actual advertisement looks more like a rap video more than a commercial with some unknown personality rapping a Gino Green Global clothing skit. At the end of it all I noticed their slogan is “If the G’s don’t get you , The 9’s will”, which is basically a play on their marketing strategy of sparking up conversation amongst consumers trying to figure out if the rhinestone encrusted shirts are G’s or 9’s.
Well by now most know that they are in fact G’s, but that is a whole other topic. After seeing the commercial I thought about how many clothing commercials have I seen from urban or hip hop influenced and streetwear brands. The latest I could remember besides the Gino Green Global one, was when Fubu Clothing used to do the Fubu Presents The Collection commercials that used to run back in the late 90’s. How many have you seen? This is not including shoe lines from the clothing companies or other branches of their business like cologne, perfumes or accessories (The numerous Sean John Unforgivable Cologne Advertisements).I had to come to a conclusion on why they aren’t using this outlet to access the millions of consumers they are missing out on? Clothing companies like Tommy Hilfiger, Old Navy, and The Gap have numerous advertisements on television.
What could be the reason? I think maybe, because TV does offer millions of viewers, but how targeted are they? and how much is it going to cost me? Will I get a return on my investment? Are questions they probably ask themselves. If you notice most advertisements from urban or street wear clothing companies seem to be in magazines or just off of celebrity sightings in the fashion brands. I know just reading Complex (My favorite magazine) I saw ads from Stussy the original street wear brand and in the style section Mighty Healthy NYC, Fuct Clothing, and Reason Clothing. Most new clothing companies can’t afford the price tag of a television advertisement (On a good time slot during prime time) on a worthy station like VH1 or BET that would probably be targeted more toward their audience like Gino Green Global. Their is definitely nothing wrong with that..u just have to be a little more creative and put your dollars elsewhere in a magazine or in an online publication such as a niche blog or targeted website. Because every clothing company isn’t as well financed as Gino Green Global I heard they were financed by I guess what you could call a serial clothing company investor…meaning he has invested in a couple of successful apparel ventures. With that kind of backing money is no object and your spending habits can get kind of frivolous and you definitely don’t want that!
Why do you think TV hasn’t been a more used outlet for advertising in the urban and streetwear fashion segment of the clothing industry? or are our consumers just more into magazines and the Internet?
Do you think brands like The Gap, Old Navy and Tommy Hilfiger are getting a great return on their investment or do they just have too much money on their hands and nowhere to put it?
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April 30th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
I think its really as simple as their not being a need. Since most of these companies produce small runs, its pretty pointless to buy tv time. Their shit will sell out on digital gravel in a week or 2 anyway.
April 30th, 2007 at 5:05 pm
I mean I could see that with the street wear lines that like to stay exclusive…but most of the now well known street wear brands weren’t relevant up until a couple of years back…most of their urban ancestors didn’t care about being exclusive and if they could have an ad on television I think they would take the chance…but as far as the new street wear brands they are very stuck on the aspect of being exclusive and very limited in their runs…so I see your point in their case.
It is fairly easier to sell out and create the impression of your brand being heavily accepted but exclusive… when your only producing 40 t-shirts per color…so it puts in the mind of the consumer that it is very much wanted and most of them build from there.
April 30th, 2007 at 7:40 pm
TV commercials, even the ones on B.E.T. are too broad. It would naturally be a waste of advertising dollars. The Gap can afford to advertise on television because their clothes aren’t as specific as “urban” or “street wear”. Also Gap ads and the like, have a larger broader audience since they aren’t targeting only minorities. Gap makes more profit per item article since they are not wholesalers. They sell the items they produce at full price. I don?t want to just target Gap commercials, but the same company also owns Banana Republic and Old Navy. Everyone can do they math on that. But the “real” urban and street wear television ads are around us everyday and indeed a lot of dollars are being spent. But the “urban” advertiser uses a method that is not as obvious, but very effective. Larger “urban? brands are paying artist, stylist, and producers to make sure well known artist are wearing their clothes in music videos. A music video gets played over and over (if hot) at no additional cost to the advertiser. Also a music video is over 3 minutes where as a TV commercial is only 60 seconds. Urban brands operate by the basic rules of the street. If consumers see their favorite artist or athlete wearing a brand, they will follow. In terms of Rocawear (recently sold), Sean John, and the like… these brands success is often correlated to level of music success from their respectful owners. As far as advertising an urban brand, you can’t beat celebrities wearing your ish and getting caught by video producers or paparazzi. By the way,….Anybody see Jay-z wearing the Crooks and Castles hoodie at the New Jersey Nets playoff game last night?… prime example. It?s no mistake that Jay-Z, Kanye, and Rick Ross keep getting caught in Crooks and Castles. They are all on the same record label and share the same stylist team. Get to know stylists, they?re instrumental and they’re everywhere
MASTER YOUR CRAFT
“what ever your Hussel, keep it Premium”
-Hussel Premium
p.s…. I?ve been getting quite a few emails from readers of this blog; I promise I will answer all your questions soon. I’ve been busy and out of the country.
April 30th, 2007 at 7:50 pm
Nicely put Hussel Premium!….
I’ve referred a couple to you for that New York Show you made reference too….
May 1st, 2007 at 8:03 am
C.R.E.A.M. Its all about the dollar.
Why pay almost all that scrilla for a 30 to 60 second commercial spot when a celebrity wearing your ish will get your ish seen and sold. Imagine someone wearing your ish for an entire 30 minute interview and you didnt have to pay a dime.
Hussel P. is right on all fronts.
If you didn’t know now you know:
GAP will probably be closing its doors soon if they cant get the consumer in the doors like they used to in the 80’s and 90’s….they are losing money and sinking fast. I always considered GAP to be very targeted to a specific niche anyway and rarely went in their stores.
Link: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/04/30/8405468/index.htm?section=money_latest
May 1st, 2007 at 11:05 am
Iceland&Powder…that is crazy…I guess nothing last forever…they made their money anyway that’s is why it is good to have an exit plan.
May 1st, 2007 at 2:10 pm
The Gap Family of brands will probably be o.k. as long as they can hire some new Board of Director members who can come up with a different business model. They will now have to slightly re-invent themselves, since they now have competition that they didn’t have when I was growing up (ie. Abercrombie and Fitch, American Eagle, and J. Crew). Just like with anything else, when you get very successful, other competitors will enter your market share (American Economics 101). But back to the subject at hand…, if you want celebrities to wear your brand, it is not always a good idea to let just anyone them that you run into wear your apparel. Find a celebrity that represents the same message that you want your clothing company to portray. Also, some celebrities can hurt your brand. If you meet a celebrity, instead of having him hold up your shirt and taking picture with it, ask him for the name and number of his stylist (after commenting on what he/she has on already of course !). Celebrities are more prone to wear your shirts (if that?s all you produce) , if they can find a matching hat, jeans, or sneakers. So to get a certain celebrity to wear your shirt on a television interview and the like, it is better to be contact with his or her stylist to co-herce the entire outfit…. its ya boy, Hussel Premium…signing off
MASTER YOUR CRAFT
“what ever your Hussel, keep it Premium
-Hussel Premium