How can a brand stay relevant in uncertain times? Global lifestyle brand Ugg and womenswear label Dai provided an answer to this question at the ‘The Future of Brands’ panel discussion at this year’s Shoptalk Europe retail show in London.
While Ugg is a $2 billion company with numerous outlets around the world, Dai is a fledgling brand that just opened its first physical store in March. The two have very different starting points, but agree on one thing: authenticity and nurturing a community are key to building a successful brand.
“For us, the first question is: What does a community mean to us? What does that mean for us and our customers? The first goal can’t be sales, it can be authenticity and purpose,” said Joanna Dai, founder of Dai, during the panel discussion, which was moderated by retail and e-commerce analyst Suzy Davidkhanian.
“It’s important not just to market to different groups of people, it’s really about cultivating a community and having conversations with and serving communities,” added Carole Diarra, global vice president of marketing at Ugg.
As such, inclusivity and sustainability play a huge role in community building, and both brands take various initiatives to make a positive impact on the environment and promote diversity.
“We aim to feature people from the BIPOC community, the LGBTQ+ community, and different body shapes and sizes in 60 percent of all our marketing campaigns,” Diarra gave as an example of Ugg. “For us, inclusivity and sustainability are very important. So we’re making sure people know that we’re much more than just a shoe brand, that we’re really a real brand connected to the global fashion community.”
Community connectedness
Building a modern brand means constantly evolving and opening up new trade channels. In our digitized world, one of the best ways to connect with potential customers is through the use of social media and other digital platforms. “We really see TikTok as an organic forum for us to bring additional emotion and creativity to our brand and collaborate with our community,” Diarra said, adding that Ugg primarily uses the platform for inspiration and to increase brand awareness.
During the pandemic, the social media platform even unexpectedly made slippers one of the label’s new best-selling products. “We saw on TikTok that people loved our ‘Fluffita’ and then all of a sudden we saw so many young people getting to know the brand from a completely different angle,” Diarra said. “Most people come to the brand through our iconic boots, and here we were with these cool, stylish slippers that you could wear indoors and out, and that actually launched a whole new category of luxury slippers.” Ugg has also started to move into other digital formats, starting with live streaming and the Metaverse, particularly in the Asian market.
Performance wear start-up Dai, on the other hand, focuses primarily on Instagram and Linkedin to reach its target group of strong business women. “It’s about social media, but also about knowing your channels and knowing where you have authentic engagement. Especially as a start-up, we can’t constantly be present on every single channel,” explained Dai.
Connecting with the community and creating experiences around the brand are key elements in staying relevant as a brand, according to the two fashion labels at Shoptalk Europe. “I think we still have a lot of room to grow here. It’s about how we can redefine the entire ecosystem in which our consumers experience our brand,” concluded Diarra.
This translated post was previously published on FashionUnited.uk.
Shoptalk Europe 2022 took place in London from June 6th to 8th and brought together more than 3,000 participants from more than 70 countries. Follow further coverage of the event from FashionUnited here.