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Brand Research: Modcloth

Image Reference: Lubitz, R. (2017). Modcloth's 15th anniversary: A look at how one tiny brand changed the landscape of inclusive fashion. Retrieved from: https://mic.com/articles/182273/modcloths-15th-anniversary-a-look-at-how-one-tiny-brand-changed-the-landscape-of-inclusive-fashion#.JyuiGl4su

 Modcloth is a vintage apparel, décor, and lifestyle goods e-retailer based in the United States. They started off as a fashion retailer at first, before branching off into lifestyle goods and gifts in more recent years, in hopes to rebrand itself as a lifestyle brand. The main selling point of Modcloth is still its apparel. While having a relatively limited presence outside of the States, the brand is no new kid on the block, counting pop princess Taylor Swift, indie singer Kate Nash, and 500 Days of Summer actress Zooey Deschanel as part of their cult following. I’ve always loved their quirky style and products, and I think perhaps 2017 is the year where they can start establishing a presence in Asia or Europe!

Brand/Product History

Fifteen years ago in 2002, Modcloth came into existence where many a wild, ridiculous, and lofty idea do – in a dorm room. Founder Susan Gregg Koger, then student at Carnegie Mellon University, had set up a website to sell some of her favourite vintage pieces that had left her closet overflowing, and had roped-in her then-boyfriend and now-husband Eric Koger to help her (Lubitz, 2017). Fifteen years later, Modcloth is arguably one of the most inclusive and progressive brands around.
Image Reference: Modcloth. (2017). Retrieved from: https://www.linkedin.com/company/modcloth_3

The brand has been exclusively running its business on online platforms until recently, where it changed its marketing channel tactics. In 2015, Modcloth became a multi-channel retailer by opening its first pop-up in Los Angeles, followed by another in San Francisco. These pop-up shops carry a curated collection of Modcloth clothing and home decor, along with select pieces from local artists. As the number of these pop-up stores continue to increase, it points to a trend of Modcloth possibly opening their first permanent physical store after these temporary store experiments. The owners have already acknowledged this plan. Henceforth, I think an advertisement pictorial spread in a magazine would be in line with Modcloth's decision of going offline.

Unique Product & Value Proposition

For starters, Modcloth does not want to just sell clothes or lifestyle goods or gifts or furniture, they wanted to build a story around the product to tell the customer. A quick look at the products on the site revealed creative names for each product, such as "Travelling Cupcake Truck" Dress, "A Grand Weekday Out" Dress and "Karaoke Songstress" Jeans. They view their clothing as content and not merchandise, and by bringing its products to life with stories, Modcloth inspires its Millennial customers to imagine themselves in its merchandise, which is an effective strategy for selling to its target market (Brennan, 2012).

Target Market

Which brings us to our next point, the target audience of Modcloth’s communication. Modcloth targets millennial girls and women aged between 15 – 30, with a particular focus on those aged 18 – 24. With such a positive, tech and pop-culture savvy generation of target customers, Modcloth has tapped on to social media to build a tight-knit, supportive, and non-judgmental community of users. On Modcloth’s blog and Style Gallery (Adams, 2013), users can upload photos of themselves in Modcloth’s products and offer reviews, and it sure has gone a long way. Enabling customers to give and receive advice from their peers has a strong draw for Millennials, who actively seek input from their peer groups in purchasing decisions – and over two-thirds of customers have posted product reviews that have their body measurements attached, which attests to the culture of sharing and love in the community Modcloth has helped to foster.
Screenshot showing Modcloth's Style Gallery, where customers can share their looks and give feedback to each other. Rania. (2016). Got Featured at Modcloth Community Style Gallery! Retrieved from: https://stylewhimsical.blogspot.sg/2016/06/got-featured-at-modcloth-community.html

Company Ethics

Modcloth prides itself on female empowerment and promoting body positivity. Before any brand chose not to photoshop their models, or to feature plus-sized models or their employees as models, Modcloth was already at it. These are brand and advertising campaigns that I will go through in greater detail in the Historical Campaigns section. They are truly at the epicentre of what many deem progressive retailers now, and I think this rhetoric of female empowerment is a good idea I can employ in the advertising sequence.

On top of that, Modcloth maintains high internal accountability standards (Modcloth, 2017), with assurance for ethically sourced products. Their business partners are expected to similarly comply with these high accountability standards, with suppliers who fail to do so having to terminate their business relationship with Modcloth.

Branding Imagery
Image Reference: Lubitz, R. (2017). Modcloth's 15th anniversary: A look at how one tiny brand changed the landscape of inclusive fashion. Retrieved from: https://mic.com/articles/182273/modcloths-15th-anniversary-a-look-at-how-one-tiny-brand-changed-the-landscape-of-inclusive-fashion#.JyuiGl4su

Image Reference: Pinterest. Modcloth Header. Retrieved from: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/74/41/3e/74413e19a6fcc1782419f225b67cef66.jpg

Image Reference: Modcloth. (2009) ModMen of 2009! Retrieved from: https://blog.modcloth.com/misc/modmen-of-2009/

 Modcloth uses branding imagery that is playful, fun and imaginative. Like the bold and confident, yet quirky girl-next-door style that the brand infuses their designs with, Modcloth’s advertisements have been consistently aligned with their brand image. I have noticed that Modcloth uses a lot of collage techniques in their layouts, web banners and advertisements, so this is perhaps one tool I can look forward to using in the upcoming Project 1B.

This is Modcloth’s original brand logo.


Image Reference: Modcloth Logo. Retrieved from: http://lifelistened.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Modcloth-logo.jpg

More recently, with their decision to rebrand themselves as a lifestyle brand, Modcloth has undergone a change in their logo design (Le Coz, 2017).
Image Reference: Le Coz, N. (2017). Work: Modcloth. Retrieved from: http://noemielecoz.com/hello/work/modcloth/

I believe their branding imagery can be summed up in four words: Bold, Romantic, Quirky and Fun. Instead of thinking of themselves as a corporate or profit-making entity, Modcloth thinks of themselves as a fashion friend. According to the Modcloth’s Marketing Writing Manager, Natalie Brova, “We don’t want fashion to be something scary or unattainable. We like to say we’re the fashion company you are friends with” (Goldman, 2013). In fact, many of its employees originally came from its customer base! Reading the product descriptions and reviews on the Modcloth site feels like listening to a best friend telling how gorgeous you would look with that checkered dress on you. As founder Susan Koger puts it, “Instead of telling our customers what to wear, we lead a conversation” (Brennan, 2012).

Historical Campaigns

Despite its rather short company history, Modcloth is rich with a whole spectrum of campaigns which again pays homage to its continual effort to engage its target audience. I will be picking out a salient few, arranged in chronological order, to illustrate what I think is representative of Modcloth’s brand history.

Modcloth & The Truth In Advertising Pledge
Starting from 2014, Modcloth began rolling out their photoshoots and advertisements without any airbrushing or material photoshopping of their models’ bodies. Rather than adopting a superficial and commoditised approach many other brands have taken, Modcloth believes in inspiring a personal style and helping their customers feel like the best versions of themselves (Modcloth, 2016).
Image Reference: Murray, R. (2016). Here's why you may never see another photoshopped ad again. Retrieved from: https://media3.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2016_24/1130526/modcloth-ads-today-160617-tease-02_406165c6e02bf42186fb87c5f401e655.jpg

Modcloth Features Employees in Swimsuit Campaign
Abiding by the ethos of “Real is Beautiful”, Modcloth featured its own employees in a swimwear campaign in 2015 (Feldman, 2015).
Image Reference: Feldman, J. (2015). Modcloth Goes One Step Further and Puts Its Employees in Swimsuit Photoshoot. Retrieved from: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/19/modcloth-employees-photo-shoot_n_6697400.html

They wanted to support their customers for who they are, and they thought that using non-professional models – their own employees, which would be people very close to the heart of Modcloth’s brand – would best represent an authentic and diverse portrayal of women, which I thought was an ingenious idea.

Modcloth Features Plus-Sized Models in Swimsuit Campaign
Keeping the momentum from the series of advertisements in 2015 which featured its employees as models, the spotlight was turned onto plus-sized models in 2016 (Complete Fashion, 2016).
Image Reference: Manning, C. (2016). Modcloth's New Swim Campaign is Feminist AF. Retrieved from: http://www.cosmopolitan.com/style-beauty/fashion/news/a57797/modcloth-swim-campaign/

While it was not the first time Modcloth has used plus sized models in its advertisement, it was a momentous milestone for Modcloth as they had stopped putting plus-sized clothing in a different category, truly embracing inclusive sizing (Lubitz, 2017). They believed that using models of all sizes would be in line with the realistic portrayal of women which is essential to fulfilling their brand purpose of empowering women to be the best version of themselves. Modcloth wants to make it normative that women are considered capable and confident leaders no matter their size.

 Overall, I'm really much more in love with Modcloth now, if I already wasn't before conducting my brand research. Their bright branding imagery and commitment to empowering females is definitely something I can play to my advantage in Project 1B, given that the images I have sourced so far are mainly of females rather than male models, and I have many colourful images in my repository too. This was definitely a much-needed exercise because understanding the needs of our client and the target audience of choice is definitely fundamental to any good visual communicator.

References

Adams, E.R. (2013). How Modcloth Tries to be a Fashion Friend and (Amazingly) Succeeds. Contentyly. Retrieved from: https://contently.com/strategist/2013/09/11/how-modcloth-tries-to-be-a-fashion-friend-and-amazingly-succeeds/

Brennan, B. (2012). The Retailer Winning the Battle for Millenial Women. Forbes Magazine. Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bridgetbrennan/2012/11/16/the-retailer-winning-the-battle-for-millennial-women/#33a16a486ea9

Complete Fashion (2016). Modcloth’s Swimwear Campaign Spotlights Plus Size Women. Retrieved from: http://completefashion.org/modcloths-swinwear-campaign-spotlights-plus-size-women/

Feldman, J. (2015). Modcloth Goes One Step Further and Puts Its Employees In Swimsuit Photo Shoot. Huffington Post. Retrieved from: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/19/modcloth-employees-photo-shoot_n_6697400.html

Goldman, J. (2013). Going Social: Excite Customers, Generate Buzz, and Energize Your Brand with the Power of Social Media. New York: American Management Association

Le Coz, N. (2017). Work: Modcloth. Retrieved from: http://noemielecoz.com/hello/work/modcloth/

Lubitz, R. (2017). Modcloth’s 15th anniversary: a look at how one tiny brand changed the landscape of inclusive fashion. Mic. Retrieved from: https://mic.com/articles/182273/modcloths-15th-anniversary-a-look-at-how-one-tiny-brand-changed-the-landscape-of-inclusive-fashion#.LJ20Wtm6a

Modcloth. (2016). We Support the Truth in Advertising Act (& So Can You). Retrieved from: https://blog.modcloth.com/behind-the-scenes/news/support-truth-in-advertising/
Modcloth. (2017). Ethical Supply Chain Disclosure Statement. Retrieved from: https://modcloth.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/218098363-Ethical-Supply-Chain-Disclosure-Statement
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