Whenever someone in the agency reaches out to us to help them navigate the sea of marketing rules, techniques and what works, we go back to the classic and tried and tested truths. I found a nice article about the transformation of the traditional HUGO BOSS brand, which was losing its influence in the fashion industry and becoming oldschool. However, smart decisions and sticking to the “old” truths have brought them back into the game. So which are the rules?
- Leadership and vision – Daniel Grieder was trusted after 20 years of working for Tommy Hilfiger and presented a clear division between HUGO and BOSS, set bold financial goals, brought in his own team and wasn’t afraid to rebrand, push for 100mil euros and start collaborating with Khaby, or Hailey Bieber, Chris Hemsworth. A leader who doesn’t doubt and has a clear vision is a gift and a must in today’s well for any organization.
- Brand awareness (mental accessibility) – Marketing spend is an investment, not an expense. A 100mil euro marketing spend may look crazy, but when in the very first year the sales increase by 27% to 3.65bn euro, it doesn’t seem so crazy. You just can’t do it without knowledge, everyone needs to know about you and preferably globally if you are a global brand.
- Physical and e-tail availability – if they already know about me, they all need to know where they can and can buy me. And both HUGO and BOSS will therefore no longer be available only in their own stores, but in various other boutiques, selected chains and eshops, just the closest to the target.
- Creativity and design attract and sell, whether it’s Khabi or designers creating new collections, merging with street fashion (which we write about elsewhere).
- Rebranding – in our experience, a good rebrand raises positive expectations, people like new things or old things in a new guise. They want to be modern. Targeting and specifying your target audience helps to clearly define who we do things for, it also indicates where we can get a quick payback on our investment. On the other hand, with clever and planned surface communication, brands can also reach other target groups, so in the end both HUGO and BOSS can be more attractive to a wider audience.
Think about these things as you read the following article.
Leadership and vision
Hugo Boss CEO Daniel Grieder is leading the company’s transformation, from marketing to design. In short, Boss is for millennials, Hugo is for Gen Z.
Two brands, two younger demographics. German luxury brand Hugo Boss is looking to the future with a radical rethink of its direction, focusing on much clearer targeting of its two brands, Boss and Hugo.
Reassessing the existing situation took quite a long time and required a lot of courage. Finally, it ended with a full-scale rebranding – with new logos, claim, campaign and is supported by two of the biggest marketing campaigns (over 100mil EUR) in the company’s history. Boss is now firmly aimed at millennials aged 25-40, while Hugo is targeting Gen Z, under 25.
Who is Daniel Grieder, who took up his position in June 2021? After more than 20 years at Tommy Hilfiger, he has decided to take on a new challenge and has very boldly convinced shareholders that he can double the company’s sales to €4 billion by 2025. Despite initial scepticism and caution, 2022 has already ended just below this target, and although Hugo Boss expects a weaker 2023, it is almost certain that these plans will be achieved by 2025. “Ten to 15 years ago, Hugo Boss was on the pedestal of many brands, with impeccable positioning and strong relevance,” says Daniel Grieder in an interview. “In the last six years, Hugo Boss has maintained its brand awareness but has fundamentally lost its influence and relevance in the fashion industry. The heritage is great and I realised that the potential of the brand is huge – but we need to change and redefine ourselves.”
Hugo and Boss
Reinforcing the differences between the Hugo and Boss brands, which were not always clear to the end consumer, is at the heart of the company’s new strategy. Boss, the flagship brand, is aimed at millennial shoppers. The #BeYourOwnBoss campaign that kicked off the change included boxer Anthony Joshua, rapper Future and models Kendall Jenner and Hailey Bieber. The main marketing spend focused on Instagram.
Hugo’s slightly more affordable prices include modern cuts, denim and streetwear. It speaks of the future and is youthfully brash and aggressive, just as Generation Z customers want it. “When someone graduates and starts their first job and wants and needs their first suit, we want their first choice to be Hugo,” says Grieder. Generation Z stars such as dancer Maddie Ziegler, model Adut Akech and Korean-American rapper Big Matthew are featured in Hugo campaigns. The marketing spend in this case will be focused on TikTok. The new tagline #HUGOyourway reflects Gen Z’s emphasis on individuality and flow.
Marketing costs increase by €100 million
Boss didn’t go in headfirst and tried the brand rejuvenation beforehand with American sports brand Russell Athletic. Daniel Grieder had already tried a similar collaboration from his days at Tommy Hilfiger.
The show, which took place at Milan’s Kennedy Sport Center (deliberately not on the classic pier) with mascots and cheerleaders, was a huge success. It featured Big Matthew, model Gigi Hadid and above all Khabane (Khaby) Lame, the second most followed person on TikTok with over 130 million fans. Boss also launched the #BossMoves TikTok dance challenge in tandem with the show in which he gave away an NFT jacket to the winners. In the first four days, the show saw 4 billion views on social media platforms.
Boss has since signed Khaby as a long-term brand ambassador. “We saw consumer response very quickly on social media,” says Grieder. “We saw new customers, younger customers and people who were absolutely in love with Khaby.”
“It’s something unexpected from Hugo Boss,” acknowledges Grieder. “Boss, a former serious German menswear tailoring brand, has surprised the industry with all these activations, and has regained the attention of the fashion world. It’s a way to regain global influence.”
A renewed focus on the omnichannel mix
Hugo Boss has focused on its own single-brand stores and e-commerce in recent years. The new strategy will rebalance its omnichannel mix to place both Hugo and Boss in more department stores and boutiques. It doesn’t matter where the end consumer buys the brand. What matters is that they buy it.” He says. The goal is to identify retail or e-tail partners that are aligned with customers of one or both brands. Digital and e-tail sales accounted for 20 percent of Hugo Boss group sales in Q4 2021, according to the company.
Modernisation of design codes and logos
The rebrand includes new, simplified logos for both Hugo and Boss and a clearer design direction to attract younger shoppers, Grieder says.
In 2021, the tailoring industry recovered better than Grieder expected. However, while traditional suits continue to work for casualwear sales, the design teams at Boss and Hugo are working hard to modernize everyday tailoring by inserting a performance element. Key tailoring is now focused on comfort with stretch fabrics that appeal to the modern customer, says Grieder. Within the basic colour palette, which includes red, beige, black and white, fabrics with water resistance and anti-wrinkle properties are given a new priority. “You can sleep in that suit and you can get up and it still looks like you just put it on,” Grieder says. “This is the new definition of tailoring.”
If you believe in the principles we believe in, let us know and we’ll be happy to talk about the issues facing your brand or business.
