Marketing Peer Post wk 6
Write a reply to the attached peer post.
For this discussion the three brands, focus on Lacoste, Allen Edmond, and Barnes and Noble Booksellers.
Lacoste
Lacoste is a French company, founded in 1933 in Paris, and popularized by a famous French tennis player, Rene Lacoste. Lacoste sells a variety of specialty luxury items from high-quality polo shirts, sewn with mother of Pearl buttons, caps, socks, jackets, tracksuits, and shoes/sneakers. What makes Lacoste stand out is the premium consumers pay for the quality of the brand, in addition to the crocodile appliqué emblazoned on everything they sell as their main logo. The brand personality in my mind signifies casual luxury and sophistication, but also a feeling of simplicity and competence—when you buy this brand you know you are receiving higher than average quality that sets itself apart from the current trend of fast-fashion sold cheaply. I feel this brand is congruent to my personality and has been a mainstay in my wardrobe for over a decade. While the brand has waned in recent years in the eyes of the buying public, I wear their items with pride, knowing a classic never really goes out of style and their resurgence is eminent.
Allen Edmonds
Founded in 1922, Allen Edmonds shoes are not cheap. Catering to men, specifically, these shoes sell for 400-600 a pair but the price is worth it. They are handmade and offer high-end luxury that tend to embolden and sharpen whatever outfit you may be wearing. Sold in a plethora of colors and styles, their customer service team is also of the utmost quality. Their brand personality is sophistication and competence as they last a considerable amount of time. A personal story for me regarding the origin of my brand loyalty was when I gouged a hunk of the leather out of my saddle shoes at work and was able to send them directly to the Allen Edmonds factory for a full repair, free of charge. They care about their customers and the premium charge is worth paying if you want quality that lasts.
Barnes and Noble
This may be an odd choice considering the convenience of ordering books directly from Amazon, but I am also a believer in brick and mortar, being somewhat of a traditionalist. I love frequenting Barnes and Noble as they have an underdog spirit in our globalized, fast world of business, and are still hanging on after all these years. I identify them with sincerity as they are a place for book lovers and writers to explore different titles and get lost—I can spend hours in these stores and quickly lose track of time. For that reason I have no problem spending an extra 10 dollars on a title I can quickly order and have shipped next day for cheaper off the internet.
As for the brands that I believe are incongruent to my personality, I would choose Whole Foods and Gucci. While I am a consumer of healthy foods (meal prepping) I am personally appalled by the prices of Whole Foods and believe I can buy organic from cheaper locations available, such as Publix or Winn Dixie. I find them to be a sophisticated and competent brand for those who enjoy the clout of saying they shop at Whole Foods, but they are completely off my radar in terms of brand loyalty. My negative experience was spending 25 dollars on a salad for lunch. That was my final purchase. Gucci is also incongruent to my personality. While I own several items, in my mind, it has become a store for those on social media who live to conform to the current zeitgeist—to show off their interlocking G belts for admiration and I was never a follower. I believe it is a sophisticated brand that in social media-age has spawned a plethora of hangers-on who need to be “seen” and it gives me a bad feeling all around.
