Blog
'What Would Tommy Do?' The straightforward question that defines the brand strategy at Tommy Bahama
September 4, 2012 by Annamaria Turano — Executive Director, MCAworks
Defining a brand strategy that is differentiated, sustainable, and successful long-term is critical to retailer success. Tommy Bahama, a lifestyle company that defines elegant tropical living with clothing, accessories and home furnishings, has been successful by answering the key question "What would Tommy Bahama do?" in developing and executing its strategy.
Tommy Bahama was "born" as a brand in August 1992. Currently, there are over eighty Tommy Bahama retail locations across the country. Upscale retailers carry the brand as well as boutiques in high profile resort locations around the world.
The key to Tommy Bahama's success is woven into the fabric of the lifestyle brand. In a July, 2012 interview in WWD, Rob Goldberg, SVP Marketing for Tommy Bahama, stated that "When you think about what a lifestyle brand really is, it really touches the five senses. You don't think of a shirt or a pair of pants, you think of a place, and you picture yourself in that place... That's one thing that we've done very well by doing stuff that we love doing. It just happened organically."
Interestingly, he calls Tommy Bahama "a couple's brand." "There's a travel story, there's a getaway story, and there's a romance story, too. It's a romantic brand of people spending time together and being relaxed. Who doesn't want to stick their feet in the sand?... From a marketing standpoint, I think we look at everything through that relaxation lens, and if it passes that, then we ask, 'Does it fit into our world of understated, approachable luxury?'" said Goldberg.
The merchandise is just one way that Tommy Bahama exudes its "approachable luxury." The restaurants (currently twelve of the retail sites also include a Tommy Bahama restaurant & bar) also bring the brand to life by giving patrons a taste of relaxation lunch or dinner. The communications strategy also reflects the essensce of the brand: high-end mailers with beautiful visuals and copy make the original J. Peterman's catalogues seem quaint in comparison; Tommy Bahama sponsors food and drink events at their stores, restaurants, and high profile pop-up locations; the brand sponsors like-minded events (e.g., paddle-boarding; and most recently, Tommy Bahama launched a campaign to make August 15th an official U.S. holiday - the National Relaxation Day.
Although the brand has evolved and expanded across multiple lines and locations, a few of Tommy's Rules of Branding (according to an Inc. magazine article in Dec, 2001) likely remain pretty true today:
1. Product design:The brand is built on a solid product. Tommy designers spend less time devising cool tropical patterns for their clothes and more time on the feel of the fabric, the silhouette, and details like buttons and zippers.
2. Iconography: A sailfish, the word "relax," a jazzy palm tree. To underscore the many facets of the brand, Tommy designers employ many different logos rather than one image or logo.
3. Distribution: The more exclusive, the better. And don't let multistore chains put your products in every venue, the Tommy philosophy goes. If only 2 of 50 stores are genuinely up to snuff, then stick with them.
4. Merchandising:A wide variety of products displayed together provides shoppers with more information about your brand. However, the product must be displayed at its best at all times - arranged neatly, no wrinkles, easy to access, etc.
One can imagine that innovation meetings at Tommy Bahama headquarters now focus on answering the question: What should Tommy Bahama do now?
