Dive Brief:
- Lands’ End is targeting its products to a younger, hipper audience as well as older parents this fall under new CEO Federica Marchionni.
- Business has declined almost 10% during Lands’ End’s final few years under Sears’ ownership, with annual sales falling from $1.7 billion in 2012 to $1.55 billion in 2015.
- Lands’ End is also relaunching its website and introducing its first digital catalog, while revamping its print catalogs with a more cutting-edge look.
Dive Insight:
Lands' End, which spun off from Sears as an independent company last year, is using twin marketing campaigns to try to tap younger customers without alienating its core audience of preppy moms, dads and kids. Ads in Good Housekeeping, O ,and The Wall Street Journal will target families with multigenerational imagery and a back-to-school push for its substantial uniform line, while a separate campaign appearing in fashion bibles such as Elle, Vogue, and GQ will depict stylish young men and women in nature settings.
Comprised of high school-aged kids and young adults without children, Lands' End's "lost generation" represents a huge gap in the retailer's appeal. The retailer will roll out slimmer silhouettes, shoes and handbags in an effort to reach them, with recent hires from Saks Fifth Avenue and J.Crew helping steer design, merchandising, and sourcing for the company.