Fred Perry Brand Story (Part 3) ------ The Balance of Brand Heritage and Innovation
It is obviously
tough for sportswear brands to retain their market positions in the crowded
marketplace only by means of sponsorship and endorsement. A majority of
sportswear brands carry rich historical cultures of several decades in this
traditional industry. They are all committed into telling different heritage stories
behind the brands and connecting themselves with their past so as to create a
stronger emotional bond with their consumers. Keeping long-term development and
sustainable competitive advantages, however, requires the balance of brand
heritage and innovation. Fred Perry is a strong model of combining its past and
present, and it has successfully increased its competitiveness for subsequent
developments.
The Founder and His Rebellious Spirit
Mr.
Perry was born into a working class family in 1909. Although he won the world
table tennis champion at age 19, it was quite difficult for him to join All
England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club and a tournament since he was not a public
school boy. The barrier motivated him and made him more determined instead of
dispiriting him. He suffered from erroneous judgment in his first Wimbledon
final, and missed out on the championship. When the International Lawn Tennis
Club of Great Britain asked him not to wear the club sweater again, he
expressed his feelings to them through giving them a sleeve of club sweater. After
his dream was broken by the social hierarchy, he went to America which was a
classless society and joined US Air Force during the World War II. As the king
of court and the former world No.1, Mr. Perry won 10 championships in the major
competitions such as Grand Slam tournaments, and he was a record breaker and a
record holder. He enjoyed high life and dated with the most beautiful women in
the world such as Marlene Dietrich and Jean Harlow in his life.
Promoting Heritage in New Ways
As a
personal brand, Fred Perry has been deeply influenced by its founder Mr. Perry
thanks to his outstanding achievements and colorful and controversial life. He
is an inspiring role model of striving for ideals and dreams for the people
with great ambitions. His rebellious spirit, talent, and desire for excellence have
shaped the brand personality, which reflects and expresses its brand mantra. Fred
Perry is a representative of breaking the social hierarchy between working
class and upper class. Its slogan of 1950s, “Struggle against the class
society” was synonymous with Fred Perry’s essential heart and soul.
The most
important thing is that Fred Perry has delivered its brand spirit in new ways
from generation to generation. It has connected the rebellious spirit with the
contemporary subcultures including 1950s’ Mods, 1960s’ Skinheads, 1970s’ and
1980’ Soul boys and 1990’s Britpop. According to Richard Martin, Fred Perry’s
Global Director of Marketing, the brand needs to constantly remind people of
its history, and meanwhile maintain its relevance with contemporary.
It is
the fact that a brand could leverage its brand heritage to attract consumers’
attention and build a deeply emotional connection with them so as to charge a premium
price. However, it is maybe not enough to drive consumers to make purchasing
decisions in a competitive context. The innovative integration of the brand
heritage and the contemporary relevance could motivate consumers to be willing
to pay more for its products, namely validating a premium price.
The
combination of the past and present, moreover, is a significant contributor to differentiating
Fred Perry from its competitors. When it comes to differentiation and
innovation, the product aspect will be first emphasized. However, it is
increasingly tough to differentiate the brand from its rivals only by means of
products. Compared with Lacoste, the key rival of Fred Perry, both of them
provide the similar looking tennis shirts at the similar prices. However, if
you further explore, it will be found that the creators of two brands are completely
different. Mr. Lacoste was born in France, was the son of a rich businessman, and was educated in the most prestigious schools. The difference
leads to the fact that you just wear a tennis shirt, but the tennis shirts of
two brands respectively stand for distinctive person. If you wear Fred Perry,
you will be proud of being Freds or Perry Boys.
Today’s
innovation will become tomorrow’s history. It is the reason why Fred Perry has
become an iconic heritage brand in different periods and could continue to
attract the followers of new generations.
Sources:
Heritage
branding: making the most of the story behind your brand
Who was
Fred Perry?
Fred
Perry
FRED
PERRY – MEANS OF EXPRESSION FOR SUBCULTURES, PART 2
A Tale of
Two Tennis Shirts
Understanding
brand heritage
Richard
Martin of Fred Perry Talks About the Iconic British Brand's 60th Anniversary
Team
4: Florine Bonduelle, Shensheng Dai, Arthur Jourdan, Erin Palmeter, Joséphine
Peyre
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire