First, let me say, I believe in capitalism. I don’t think that any company should
be forced to produce or offer any goods outside of its plan, beyond its
wheelhouse or that it can’t sell to its target market. A good company knows its audience.
With that said though, clearly there are some people just so
insanely insensitive that they shouldn’t go out in public, let alone run those
companies like that.
You could be living under a rock if you’ve missed the flap
over a certain mall-based clothing store (which means you probably aren’t
reading this blog either). For
reasons that escape me, some fairly older, ridiculously insensitive comments by
this chain’s CEO are currently causing a stir. These aren’t new comments, but they are certainly making
news right now.
What did this opinionated leader allegedly say to a magazine
a few years back? (Note, I am not printing his name or that of the publication.
Frankly, I don’t need to give them any free promotion.)
"In
every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the
not-so-cool kids," Mr. So & So supposedly told such & such
magazine. "Candidly, we go
after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great
attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don't belong [in our clothes],
and they can't belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely."
Who knows whether this was taken out of context? Regardless
of the context, the reason any CEO would spout such rhetoric doesn’t actually
escape me at all. Hello …
Marketing 101. How much free
publicity has X Brand store received in the last 10 days? Boo-ya! Or maybe, Cha-ching…
straight from the cash register.
This company has a defined market. That market is made up of people of a certain size.
That market is made up of young people. Those things are no real surprise. Most successful retailers do have their
own demographics. Lane Bryant
sells clothing for plus-sized women.
Men’s Warehouse isn’t exactly selling clothes for 3 yr. old ballerinas.
But you don’t hear the bigwigs at Men’s Warehouse belittling
female toddlers for not being the right size, shape or gender to wear their
clothes. Or, Lane Bryant execs
saying rude things about skinny 20 year-old men, which is why I don’t mind the
names of these stores here at all.
Not all companies need leaders blathering on to promote their
products. Instead they have other
well-reasoned marketing plans.
THAT is the difference and the REAL story here.
The market for the store in the controversy undoubtedly
contains a fair number of impressionable parrots who will take the attitude of
the poorly spoken CEO to heart. After all, that is exactly how 7th
grade bullies … I mean popular kids… roll. And, those kids just usually steam roll right through high
school and into college. Who
doesn’t remember those “cool kids” from middle school? We all experienced them. (Well, if you
didn’t, that means you were probably one of them.) And, most of us didn’t like
them all that well. And, frankly, many of us wouldn’t trade places with many of
those kids as today’s grown-ups, even if they were “all that” back in the day.
Which is why we’re raising our daughters to walk the middle
ground. These girls frankly have
already defined themselves as “cool.”
Actually, I think my soon-to-be-freshman girl prefers to say, “’Cuz I’m
just awesome like that.”
These girls have a bevy of friends. And, I’m proud to say
that these friends come from all walks of life. My children are comfortable speaking to adults and will not
ignore adults as some in the current popular ranks of junior high students are
wont to do. I’m not sure how it
happened, but these girls are comfortable in their own skin. Our pastor recently complimented our 14
year old’s poise and presence. She
called our daughter a good kid.
And, she saluted us as parents for raising her that way. Shhh … don’t
tell Pastor Janet, but I don’t know how much of K’s ability to impress adults
has anything to do with us. I
think we just happened to win the parent lottery.
These girls are bright and droll and can be wicked
funny. They have kick-ass
attitudes … well … most of the time. Let’s face it, they are 11 and 14, and all
kids that age, especially girls, have crappy attitudes some times. It comes
with the territory.
Know what kids with good heads on their shoulders call the
people in Mr. CEO’s preferred market?
“Perps.” Yep, short for
perpetrators. Not everyone thinks
the popular kids are all that.
Apparently, not every middle school girl aspires to be the kind of
person in Mr. CEO’s preferred market, even if they are the right size.
How cool is that?
Here’s some of what my girls have had to say about Mr. So
& So:
-“Man, that dude’s old.”
-“Has he looked in a mirror lately? ‘Cuz he kinda scares
me.”
-“That’s not a cool thing to say.”
But, the best is this comment from my 14 year old, “There’s a reason I like
Hollister, Aeropostale and Charlotte Russe better.”
Are you paying attention Mr. So & So?
Cool is in the eye of the beholder. And you clearly don’t pass the test
among some of the coolest kids I know.
Remember, pretty soon, your currently cool shopping demographic will get
older, put on weight and become middle aged. Then, they won’t be suitable
customers for your chain’s “cool” products.
Let’s hope Marketing 101 doesn’t come back to bite you in
the ass. You might gain some sales
now but don’t count on kids like mine to be your customers in 10 years.
