A "fabulously British" Jack Wills window. Image by thinkretail
I’ve not published an essay for a while – mainly because I haven’t written one for a while. I got my marks back this week for last semester. I did alright, but not as well as I’d hoped. I can try to justify it with excuses such as “well, it isn’t easy starting a business, holding down a 9-5 and studying for an MA”, but I know that I’m fooling myself. I got sloppy and decided to write about stuff that I found fun as opposed to stuff that had any real academic merit. Note to self: blog = self-indulgent stuff, MA = controlled, considered and well researched stuff that isn’t quite as much fun.
Anyway, this essay was a blast to write and I hope you enjoy reading it. It isn’t big, it isn’t that clever (I’ve got the “C ” to prove it) but it is mildly diverting and kind of amusing.
BBxx
Jack Wills the “heritage” brand: refashioning the past?
Heritage brands are those that attempt to make the consumer “feel as passionate about the heritage as about the future” (Tungate, 2004, p157).
In fashion, “heritage” has typically been the preserve of “traditional English companies”, including “Burberry, Mulberry, DAKS, Aquascutum, Austin Reed, and Jaeger.” (McDermott, 2002, p85). These are brands that were once synonymous with a certain middle-English stuffiness, they reinvented themselves with a “combination of heritage and hipness…intended to appeal to a more youthful market” (ibid). These brands often have 100 year plus histories, many starting from humble beginnings.
Heritage is powerful, it is the “single characteristic and attribute of a brand that provides sustainable competitive advantage” (Benson, 2007). It establishes trust – encouraging a customer to feel as if they are buying a quality product. Yet it goes deeper, customers are buying little piece of the past, a piece of an idealised world that existed long ago. They are buying “Englishness” – “the class system, sport, royalty, pageantry, eccentricity, the gentleman, and the country garden” (Bolton, 2006)
The power of heritage has been present on the high street for many years. It is in the solid reliability of Marks and Spencer and the frills
and florals of Laura Ashley. Yet within recent years, heritage has become a fashionable and prized marketing tool for companies targeting a youthful consumer. High street fashion brands have started to look to their past to appeal to younger customers. Be it the subtle seventies stylings of Reiss’s “1971” collection to the loud return of “Chelsea Girl” to River Island stores.
One assumes a genuine history is required for the creation of such a brand. And in the cases above, that appears to be the case; they have their “brand story” (Benson, 2007) in place. Chelsea Girl evolved into River Island, 1971 is the year Reiss opened their first shop.
There are some brands that choose their brand story to be, at best, somewhat vague and, at worst, a total fabrication.
In this essay I will be examining the rise of Jack Wills; self-proclaimed “University Outfitters” that has enjoyed rapid success in the UK since its launch in the Devonshire town of Salcombe in 1999. The name is that of one of the founder’s Grandfathers.
Hey Jen,
I loved it. Your essay is too kool for skool ! I bet your lecturer dresses head to toe in Asdawear. Are they really trying to attract poor people with their perfume ? Ha ha I might go and buy some and spray it on Megan the chavdog !
Em x