2. Agenda
• The Problem
• The Target
• Why it’s a Problem
• Solution
• Key Message
• Execution
– Channels
– Print Ads
– Social Media
Mapping
3. Lululemon’s founding focus on women and yoga, continues to dominate their
brand identity while attempting to expand into the men’s fitness apparel
market.
The Problem: Female Oriented Brand Identity
4. The target for the men’s wear line is the active male pursuing his career, fitness,
life and happiness with strength, courage and determination.
Demographics
Men
22-45
College Educated
HI of $40,000+
Psychographics
Practices healthy lifestyle
Enjoys being part of a community
Trend Setters - Style Conscious
Tech Savvy
Adventure Seeker/Risk Taker/Explorer
Driven & Ambitious
5. Lululemon wants a part of the men’s fitness apparel market, but it’s roots in yoga
apparel for women have imprinted a lasting female brand perception; reinventing
itself for a male audience will be a tough challenge.
MENSWEAR IS THE BIGGEST OPPORTUNITY FOR EXPANSION (1)
PLANS TO START OPENING MEN’S STAND ALONE STORES IN 2016 (2)
YOGA IS FOR WOMEN
“20.4 million Americans practice yoga, with 82.2 percent being women and 17.8 being men” (4)
MOST BRANDS THAT START OUT AS WOMEN’S FAIL IN REACHING OUT TO MEN (2)
“Men will not want to get caught dead going into a store called ‘lululemon’” (3)
6. Lululemon needs to be more accessible to men and builde awareness for the new line by
convincing them that they provide a superior product which meets their needs
without making them look or feel like a lady.
BRAND PERCEPTION
"There is no sense of a man in current stores whatsoever, which is a huge turn-off, you have to go through the neon women's clothing to get to
the men's section. There is no reason for men to go in stores right now."
LACK OF MALE EMPLOYEES
"It's seen as a very pro-female brand and that is intimidating to men."
FEMININE NAME & LOGO
"The name needs to be shortened, and the logo is an even bigger problem."
MEN DON’T WORRY ABOUT LOOKING GOOD AT THE GYM
"Most men are happy to wear a t-shirt and pair of old shorts to the gym."
ONLY KNOW HOW TO MARKET TO WOMEN
"Nike and Under Armour have been using professional athletes to market to men for years and have a lot of that market."
Quotes from Brian
Sozzi, chief equities
strategist at Belus
Capital and a
contributor to
Men's Health. (1)
7. The solution is to create a new men’s ‘cult’ure through trial development in their
existing male markets, removing the fem vibe, highlighting their unique selling
point and getting involved in men’s fitness communities.
BUILD PILOT STORES IN KEY AREAS
Look to online sales for geographic locations of where men’s clothing is currently selling, hire a predominantly male
athletic staff.
CREATE MASCULINE NAME & LOGO
Alpha male logo with name such as Lumen: luminous flux or luminous power is the measure of the power of light.
HIGHLIGHT PROPRIETARY ANTI-STINK FABRIC
Lululemon has signed an exclusive deal with x-static, an anti-stink fabric manufacturer.
GET IN ON THE “GUY TALK”
Get conversations started on social platforms used by men.
8. The key message “Be Great.” relates back to Lululemon’s mission of “elevating
everyone to greatness” but also addresses the major differences in personal
confidence levels between men and women.
9. Advertisements will show new men’s line logo, duel messages of challenges
and inspiration with #nosweatlife promoting the new anti-sweat x-static fabric
technology.
10. “Man up” the proven successful Lulu grassroots marketing strategy by having
men’s stores serve as information hubs, a website not be buried with women’s
product, pro athletes seen wearing the products at pro events to build awareness.
CREATE MALE-CENTRIC EXPERIENCE IN STORES
Resource for biking clubs, running clubs, triathlon training clubs, events, group sports, indoor basketball hoop.
NAVIGATABLE WEBSITE FOR MEN
Must make it easier for men to find their content and products. Adventure. Gear. Life. Blog: Provide pro athlete videos, healthy pre/post
workout meals, fitness tips, lifestyle articles and inspirational videos.
SEO FOR MENS WORKOUT GEAR, MENS BLOG
Google “Lululemon Men’s Blog” doesn’t come up first. Google “Adventure Gear Life” doesn’t come up at all.
BRAND AMBASSADORS
Get on the course, court, field: Pro athlete sponsorship, local fitness guru’s and bloggers as brand ambassadors.
PRINT ADS IN MEN’S HEALTH & LIFESTYLE PUBLICATIONS
Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Esquire, Runner’s World, Men’s Fitness, Details, etc.
SPORTS EVENT SPONSORHIP
Sponsor men’s sporting events with outdoor ads and product placement (ie. Golfing, Tennis, Baseball, Basketball, etc.
11. A focus on local with social media, events and an app are a prime opportunity
to get men involved with the brand and their community by offering them
benefits they can’t get from competitors.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fabceook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, tumblr, and where the brand users take it organically (no pinterest!)
EVENTS
Organization of bike races and marathons, group work outs
THE APP
Store locations, store events, brand events, men’s fitness class finder, social posting board to create groups for pick up games
12. The social media strategy will be highly interconnected with a focus on
inspiring, educating and challenging male consumers within their own distinct
communities.
Social Media has a Defined Voice, Connects and is Transparent
14. References
1. Lutz, Ashley. “6 Reasons Men Don’t Want to Wear Lululemon,” Business Insider, June 13, 2013.
http://www.businessinsider.com/lululemon-opening-mens-stores-2013-6#ixzz31FIxTIMe
2. Rupp, Lindsay, “Lululemon Plans Men’s Stores by 2016 in Bid to Maintain Growth”, Bloomberg News,
http://www.bloomberg
.com/news/2013-06-13/lululemon-plans-men-s-stores-by-2016-in-bid-to-maintain-growth.html
3. Baker, Michael, “You Want Me To Wear What?”, The Sydney Morning Herald,
http://www.smh.com.au/small-business/managing/you-want-me-to-wear-what-20130625-2otih.html
4. “Lululemon Reaches Out to Men, but Will Guys Buy $100 yoga pants?”, NY Daily News, July 8, 2013.
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/lululemon-reaches-new-customer-base-men-article-1.1393066
5. H. Andrew Schwartz, Johannes C. Eichstaedt, Margaret L. Kern, Lukasz Dziurzynski, Stephanie M.
Ramones, Megha Agrawal, Achal Shah, Michal Kosinski, David Stillwell, Martin E. P. Seligman, Lyle H.
Ungar, “Personality, Gender, and Age in the Language of Social Media: The Open-Vocabulary
Approach”, plosone.org,
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0073791#s4
Editor's Notes
Lululemon began as a female fitness apparel brand specifically yoga apparel which is a majorly female form of exercise. Their focus on women continues to dominate their brand identity while attempting to expand in the the men’s fitness apparel market.
Uggs, Talbots, Express Men
"They don't see any need to put effort into their appearances there."
It’s rather widely known that men have more overall confidence then woman, so there is no need to “elevate” them to “greatness” because they most likely think they are already there.
“To live a longer, healthier and more fun life.”
New key Message resonates with the brand idea of motivating consumers to live healthy inspired lives.
“Lululemon's deal for this technology is well timed. That's because performance athletic clothing with anti-stink properties is a big draw for men.
EXCLUSIVE DEAL: Lululemon has signed an exclusive deal with x-static, an anti-stink fabric manufacturer.
Channels for Men’s Wear need special attention, there needs to be more visibility in search engines. When you google “Lululemons Mens Blog” the site does not show up on the first page. When you google “Mens Workout Shirts”, Lulu comes up 5th after Zazzle.com.
When you google “post workout clothes” Lululemon comes up at the bottom of page two, far behind Gap Athleta.
Currently, Lululemon as a brand is associated with yoga, women and butts. Consumers do not associate the brand with men or fabric technology.
Use facebook to promote events, clubs, videos and blog, disregard other platforms until organic growth causes a need to enter.
Linked In: Use visual board to display health tips for “career” and reasons why exercise makes for a healthy brain. Exercise helps prevent brain skrinkage. What you need to know to sound smart about scotch. Job Listings.
