2. History
Abercrombie and Fitch was founded in
1892 in Manhattan New York by David T.
1892
Abercrombie and Ezra H. Fitch. It was an
outfitter of sporting and excursion goods 1976
such as shotguns, fishing rods, tent etc.
Then in 1976 Abercrombie and Fitch filed
for bankruptcy, closing its Manhattan store
in 1977.
In 1978-79 The name was then revived when
Oshman‟s Sporting Goods bought the name and
mailing list. They re-launched A&F as a mail
order retailer for hunting wear and novelty items.
Finally in 1988, Oshman‟s sold the company
name and operations to The Limited, a clothing
chain based in Columbus Ohio.
1988 Now A&F sells mostly clothes instead of sporting
and excursion products and describes its niche
as an aspirational “casual luxury” lifestyle brand.
...2012

3. Brand Values
Abercrombie and Fitch is a
lifestyle brand. In their words
they are „aspirational‟ they
c a t e r f o r o n l y t h e p r e p p y, I v y
league lifestyle with no real
variation in style these are
all qualities that make this
brand extremely
recognisable...
They live and breathe the lifestyle through every
aspect of their brand. In their store the staff are
really models. The black and white
advertisements/photos of young people living the
lifestyle they want you to buy into. The shopping
theatre experience, dark lighting, iconic scent and
so on all create that lifestyle and atmosphere...

4. Product Lifecycle
Some products go out of fashion shortly after it going mainstream
but some once increased in popularity eventually reach a plateau
and stay in fashion and continues being worn by a certain
demographic. This is exactly the case with almost all A&F
products. The people wanting the „aspirational lifestyle‟ will always
wear the brand and stay loyal.
A while after the innovators have Abercrombie and Fitch has a quarterly
began wearing an item small groups ill magazine in which they will promote new
gradually find it acceptable and begin fashions and the loyal customer will roll with it
to adopt the trend themselves and so and wear what they‟re told as they have
on and so on, it becomes mainstream. bought into the brand.
The beginning of Abercrombie and Fitch's products
lifecycle often starts with something edgy, out there
and is advertised with „politically incorrect‟ ads. This is
for innovators to want and start making fashionable,
they will pay more for a product to be the first one to
have it and set the trend.

5. Target Audience
Abercrombie and Fitch is
aimed at both genders aged 18
to 22.
They are all about exclusivity
and with that they
subconsciously limit who buys
there clothes buy promoting
the image of beauty and
perfection and this gives
supposedly „less attractive‟
people a feeling that they
aren't worthy of the brand
therefor the type of people
they want to come forward and
buy it do. These being the
p r e p p y, i v y l e a g u e t y p e
demographic who can afford
the clothes and will buy into
the brand lifestyle.
They cater for the „cool kids

6. Pricing Strategy
There are three different brands
operated by A&F
• Abercrombie and Fitch
• Hollister
• Gilly Hicks
There strategizing is charging more
for A&F products that are no better
product value than a Hollister item
but Hollister are half the price.
Although the two brands cater for the
exact same audience people will
always pay more for A&F knowing
that the same item can be purchased
for a lot less.
An Abercrombie and Fitch logo is
worth a lot more than a Hollister
logo.

7. Product Life Cycle
The A&F brand name has
been used many times and
has gone through many
stages including
bankruptcy but the current
A&F brand is at it‟s
maturity stage.
Its gone through all stages
in the US and was growing
largely within the Uk in
2010. And now in 2012 it
is still steadily growing in
popularity but not as much
craze about it as it was a
year or so.
Although loyal customers
have stuck with the brand
since the start and still
will.

8. Marketing And PR
Abercrombie and Fitch use classical
conditioning within their marketing and
this is massively effective for their
brand as associating their clothing
with perfection, beauty and
sexualisation everyone who wants that
lifestyle see‟s the logo and thinks all
those things.

9. Place And Distribution
Most A&F stores are located in the U.S but have
since branched out world wide and have many
stores across the globe. Sister brands such as
Hollister are even more accessible.
There clothing is also available online on all A&F
brands websites.