Toth, Hilfiger Return to Roots

NEW YORK Can Tommy Hilfiger change its stripes?The brand, which was embraced by the urban market only to be ditched for Sean John, Phat Farm and other labels with more street credibility, is attempting to reconnect with its preppie roots via Toth Brand Imaging's spring campaign playing up the apparel's iconic blue and white stripes. The ad spreads also feature polo shirts and crisp summer tops worn by fresh-faced American youth against a sunny Sag Harbor landscape. The effort is part of a strategy to reconnect with its core consumer, the upscale twentysomething who initially bought Tommy Hilfiger button-downs and cable-knit sweaters in the '90s. To do so, the company—which declined comment for this article—tapped Toth, the Concord, Mass., agency that helped propel Tommy Hilfiger into the national consciousness a decade ago. Toth, which won the account last summer, created a fall campaign that recaptured the brand's WASPy style.The spring effort seeks an even deeper connection. Mike Toth, agency CEO and chief creative officer, called it a "true branding effort where we take the Ithaca stripe, which has been in the clothes since the very beginning, and associate the campaign with reminding people of that really clear and identifiable stripe." That strategy was driven by research showing 58 percent of the people who left Tommy originally were excited about returning when they saw product that they felt was something they would wear.The campaign launches in March issues of upscale fashion and lifestyle publications and will run through Father's Day. Outdoor iterations will appear in New York, Dallas and Miami. Media spending will trump last year's budget, per sources. The company spent $35 million in 2004 and $15 million through November 2005, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus.The return to the brand's preppie roots comes after a wild ride for Tommy. The designer originally came on the scene in 1980 with Rodeo, a line designed to take advantage of the urban cowboy chic at the time. After that fad died, he founded the company that bears his name in 1984 and the next year Murjani International picked up the then-33-year-old designer and spent upwards of $20 million to make Hilfiger a household name. In the '90s, Hilfiger made his mark with colorful, preppie designs and by mid-decade found a surprising following among urban youth and hip-hop entertainers who flocked to his catwalks. But by 2000, the brand was losing favor with its newfound audience. "Tommy Hilfiger didn't go after an urban market," said Marshal Cohen, chief analyst, NPD Group, a market research company based in Port Washington, N.Y. "The urban market is a market that looks at a brand and says, 'We're going to endorse you. We're going to call you cool. We're going to say you're worthy of our money.'" Cohen said that while other brands in a similar situation, like Ralph Lauren and Timberland, managed to maintain their core brands, Tommy made a mistake by embracing the following instead of remaining aloof. The brand "converted its whole business to it and its core consumer didn't understand it. They no longer felt connected to it," Cohen said.Tommy's not the only fashion brand to lose its focus after being embraced by the urban crowd. Fila, the luxe Italian sports brand that once enjoyed an urban following, is returning to its roots with a global ad campaign and product designed to appeal to affluent older consumers. Herbert Hainer, Adidas' CEO, also said last week that he planned to bring Reebok back to its performance roots after recent ad campaigns with hip-hop icons like Jay-Z and 50 Cent.The Hilfiger campaign also comes as Apax Partners, a private equity firm, is in the process of buying the trademark for $1.6 billion (Hilfiger himself will stay on as chief designer). Tommy reported a 23 percent drop in profits for the fiscal third quarter, with revenue down to $397 million from $430 million a year ago. The company attributed the dip to its exit from the young men's jeans business last year.Jack Trout, president of consultancy Trout & Partners, Old Greenwich, Conn., said Tommy Hilfiger faces an uphill struggle: "Once you've moved on, no one is waiting for you to come back. You have to do something interesting and dramatic to re-connect."

Brand Marketing

Toth, Hilfiger Return to Roots

Sandra O'loughlin

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