North Face 2011 Annual Report Download - page 9

the results we’ve gotten in the marketplace have
only validated it.” Consumer insights aren’t just
gathered in focus groups; they’re deeply ingrained
in every part of the Jeanswear Americas product
development process. “We talk to our consumers
all year long, at every stage of the process,” says
Baxter. “We don’t produce or market any products
that haven’t gone through our rigorous research and
development process.” Insights from ethnographic
studies, home and community visits, empirical
research, rapid prototyping, wear testing, consumer/
designer collaboration sessions, and ad testing
drive the product innovation process, which
Baxter calls “consumer-centric from start to
nish.” In the last ve years, the process has
produced a steady stream of successes, such as
the Lee® brand’s FitInnovations® and Slender
Secret® products. Last year saw the highly
successful nationwide rollout of Lee® Premium
Select jeans, a new straight-legged style for men.
e combination of premium denim and an
updated t, endorsed by Dirty Jobs® TV star
Mike Rowe, made Premium Select jeans one
of Jeanswear Americas’ biggest sellers of the
year. “e number one thing we hear from
consumers who haven’t bought a Lee® product
in a long time is how pleasantly surprised
they are,” says Baxter. “at points to a huge
opportunity for us.”
In , the Wrangler ® brand updated its
legendary Western Cowboy Cut® jean for the
rst time in  years, using insights gained from
rsthand research with working cowboys. In ,
the brand used a similar process to develop the
Booty Up® jean, which uses stretch denim and
new styling to create a more attering feminine
silhouette for women. Now, the brand is looking to
broaden its distribution beyond hard-core Western
consumers with the new Wrangler Retro® line,
which blends fashion elements with Western style
to appeal to younger male consumers who aren’t
ranchers or cowboys, but who still want to live
a Western lifestyle. “Our innovation process is
repeatable and it’s working,” says Baxter.
In Latin America, where the Wrangler ® and Lee®
brands are positioned as premium brands, VF
used a mixed model of wholesale accounts and
partnership stores to deliver double-digit top and
bottom line growth in . “ere’s a natural t
for the Wrangler ® brand in a fast-growing market
like Brazil because of that shared Western heritage,”
says Baxter. “Rodeos, with their local music
oerings, get as many spectators every week as
major soccer matches.” In addition to participating
heavily in rodeos in the U.S., Wrangler is the
ocial sponsor of the Cia Paulo Emilio rodeo
company, which is responsible for more than
 of the most important rodeos in Brazil. 
  | 
Growth in Jeanswear
revenues for , with
growth both domestically
and internationally
Consumer insights shape the Wrangler® brand’s marketing
message. The “It’s All About U” ads for its Wrangler Five Star
Premium Denim line in mass market stores contrasted the
U-shape of the jean’s seat with the V-shape of national
competitors. The idea for using a simple visual in the ads
to show exactly why Wrangler® jeans are more comfortable
came directly from listening to consumers.
Consumer insights
are the single
most important
contributor
to our success
 
—
Vice President & Group
President—Jeanswear
Americas & Imagewear
Another common strategy across VF’s outdoor
and action sports brands is storytelling, which
Rendle calls “the most eective means of
communicating authenticity to loyalists, while
also educating newcomers in emerging regions.”
e authenticity of VF’s brands spawns stories
that consumers want to share. e Vans® brand
uses othewall.tv and a variety of other interactive
platforms to capture and share stories around its
four cultural pillars of art, music, action sports and
street culture. e North Face® brand’s use of its
athlete team in advertising and lms was proled
in Outside® magazine, which featured brand
photographer/athlete Jimmy Chin on the cover of
its April  issue. Brand athlete Alex Honnold
was featured on the cover of National Geographic®
in May  and on CBS’s  Minutes®. Cory
Richards, who photographed his team’s summit of
Gasherbrum II, was named an “Adventurer of the
Year” by National Geographic®. “ese stories give
our brands a meaningful point of dierentiation
that they can own and defend,” says Rendle.
“Anyone can advertise, but very few brands have
such a wealth of organically grown stories to share.”
’     
global icons with roots that run deep. “Our brands
have a rich history, but what really matters is
how well we leverage this history with a constant
stream of consumer-centric product innovation,”
says Scott Baxter, Vice President and Group
President—Jeanswear Americas & Imagewear.
“Consumer insights are the single most important
contributor to our success. at’s how we know
that the comfort of Wrangler ® and the t of Lee®
products really resonate with consumers. e
feedback we get from our retail partners and
 |  
Participation in rodeos is vital to
the authenticity and aspiration of the
Wrangler ® brand in the Western channel.
Wrangler is heavily involved in rodeo
and bull-riding events, sponsoring
top cowboys and bull riders in the
U.S., Mexico and Brazil, a key growth
market. Rodeo is growing in popularity
and spectators in Brazil, rivaling the
weekly attendance of soccer. Wrangler
is the official sponsor of Cia Paulo
Emilio, the rodeo company of one
of the most influential personalities
in Brazilian Western culture.