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Abercrombie & Fitch: Sex Obviously Doesn't Sell
If “sex sells” then why have they lost so many of their customers? Sure their Manhattan store sells $100 million a year to gawker tourists, but how about the 100 locations they are looking to close in the US?
June 29, 2010 by Bob Phibbs — CEO, The Retail Doctor
Blame Marky Mark and Calvin Klein for igniting the half-naked boy phenomenon back in 1992. It launched the underwear category to new heights. It was new. It was bold. It was eye-catching.
Fast-forward 18 years later…
I was on Alex Witt’s MSNBC program last weekend to talk about Abercrombie & Fitch and their reissue of their soft-porn catalogue. It ran from the late 90’s until 2003 and features semi-naked and naked boys and girls shot in black and white by photographer Bruce Weber – just like the last time.
But a lot has changed in 7 years …
Back then, many parents were upset about it and launched boycotts. That was before Facebook and other social media let them spread the word quickly.
A bigger problem bringing it out in 2010, is the way it ties into the very real problem of sexting with teenagers sending naked photos of themselves to each other. If you doubt the problem, check out the new PSA about it here.
My take on the Abercrombie & Fitch catalogue? Emperor's New Clothes.
Pundits have stated that it is a “brilliant move” to “reconnect with their core customers.” Maybe. Maybe.
Here are the bare facts...
The real story is same store sales were down double-digits in 2009 and still down 3% in May of 2010 when other retailers were posting increases, some in double digits. Take a look at these charts from retailsails.com
Time magazine did a great Abercrombie profile a couple months ago on CEO Mike Jeffries. He was named one of the five Highest Paid Worst Performers of 2008 by the Corporate Library (his 2009 compensation has yet to be disclosed.)
At a time new clients are contacting me as the Retail Doctor® to hire better, sell the merchandise better and rebuild their stores, this brand proudly continues off-course.
Yes, there is definitely a swagger and arrogance to Abercrombie & Fitch — whether it is the over-perfumed stores, loud music, model hopefuls as store display fixtures or using sex to sell. But there's more.
One site has a comment from a person saying they were an A & F manager. “It is true that the company cares more about whether we have a hot new girl working than if we made a customer angry or not. We are to keep the store looking up to 'standard' so associates have to constantly fold and replenish, regardless if there is a long line at the register.”
Last weekend, when I asked Alex if she would let her kids shop at Abercrombie & Fitch, she immediately said, “No.”
What if I had asked Alex if she would let her kids drink Starbucks and she had said, “No”? Can you imagine what Howard Shultz would have done? Called up his marketing guys immediately, “Find out why, correct it, get them back. We can’t afford to lose customers.”
As much as Abercrombie wants to be a club, its not a celebrity – its a clothing store. If “sex sells” then why have they lost so many of their customers? Sure their Manhattan store sells 100 million a year to gawker tourists, but how about the 100 locations they are looking to close in the US according to istockanalyst.com?
- Abercrombie & Fitch
What’s different from 2003 when their last catalogue was printed is many kids still live at home and mom and dad have to pay for their clothes in light of high credit card bills, decreased income and job uncertainty.
So you want to piss them off? There's cutting edge and then there's what my mom used to call cutting your nose off to spite your face.
This is a desperate measure to try and say how the brand is still relevant when the market has shifted.
Remind me again, why does this CEO still have a job? Naked pictures of his boss? Oh right he is the boss. Naked pictures of teens.
How do you know if your brand is out of touch?
- Are sales increasing or decreasing?
- Do you know what people are saying about you on the Internet? Not just news sites but blogs, Yelp, Facebook, YouTube – the works? If so, are you working to correct them or just writing “those people” off?
- How many times are you going back to the well hoping to duplicate the success of something versus trying something new?
- Are you more concerned with the tangible things like fixtures, paint and marketing or are you concerned about your customers?
These are by no means all the ways but whether you are Apple, Aeropostale or Abercrombie & Fitch, you still need to take in what others show and tell you. If its not working, you change course to move forward, not hope for past glory.
Otherwise, your own hubris lets you think you’re parading in diamond-encrusted robes when in reality, you’re naked.
What's your opinion?
