Brent Felgner

Here’s your hat. What’s your hurry? (Part II)
July 13, 2007

(Cover Factor: The extent to which the area of a knitted fabric is covered by yarn. Also an indication of the relative tightness of the knitting.)

Cover Factor
For Friday, July 13, 2007
This is the first blog in this series. Thanks for stopping by. It’s supposed to be a dialog, so please chime in any time. 

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Quotable:
“While I’m not a Mackey groupie, I do admire what the man has accomplished”
—John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, under the alias “Rahodeb”
 in a posting about himself on a Yahoo! Message board
(reported by the Wall Street Journal)
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On Point: 
It’s not branding, it’s ‘logo-slapping’

It’s the cynical marketer/investor slang du jour and we’re seeing examples of it everywhere. Names extracted from corporate estates that were once well-respected brands with definable attributes.

So, are there any real brands left in home textiles, or are they all just labels? That was the distinction made last market by Trudy Sullivan, the about-to-depart president at Liz Claiborne (she’s moving on to the CEO spot at Talbots).
So, what are the current brand attributes of, say a Martex, Utica, Springmaid, Wamsutta, Fieldcrest or Royal Velvet? Have they all been reduced to just labels?

On point, American Pacific’s Liz line might be a brand in home textiles, if simply for its identifiable place in the market. But it’s much easier to make the case for a Nautica or Ralph Lauren (maybe a bit tougher for Calvin) — all labels that have grown into brands through careful management and cross-marketing from apparel. (Make your own list). But wait, those are all licensed to the ht industry. 

Some have advanced the notion that there’s just no need anymore — the stores have taken nearly all of them over. Anyone can logo-slap. Do you see any brand builders in HT?

Watch out: off-shore mills seem endlessly intrigued by U.S. branding. They’ve got a lot of cash, are relatively patient and run on an ever-shorter learning curve. #

On Point: ...Speaking of the brand de l’heure 

Everyone wants to be the next Martha. Of course, her brand (read: license in ht) seems indefatigable, indeed pretty near bullet proof. TV designers and home “pros” continue to line up (often with the backing of their cable networks) in search of licensing deals and retail placements. Of course, for every star that even approaches success, there are dozens of others who come up short. We’ve been to one of two of their (extremely painful) previews.

Still, look for some developing exclusives in the coming months. Whether, and how far they’ll translate is a wait-and-see story. More details later. #

Comments? Respond right here or email me at brent.felgner@reedbusiness.com
Thanks. See you on 5th!

Posted by Brent Felgner on July 13, 2007 | Comments (0)