January 22, 2009
Obama Family Good for Retail
The National Retail
Federation and others have called on President Obama to
include a sales tax holiday or some other mechanism to help jump start
retail sales. It may turn out that Mr. Obama’s administration
will not need to do anything special to help retail since he and his family
have managed to drive the sales of a whole host of products, including BlackBerry cell
phones, J. Crew’s kids clothing and chocolates made in Seattle.
An article in the New
York Daily News, reported that after seeing the attractive outfits
worn by the Obama children at the inauguration
ceremony, there was a rush to order similar outfits from the J. Crew
site. The traffic was eventually overwhelming for the site and it went
offline for about 30-minutes.
Michelle Obama’s choice
of clothing has also drawn attention and generated interest in the work
of fashion designers such as Mario
Pinto, Narciso Rodriguez, Isabel Toledo and Jason Wu.
Discussion Questions:
How will the Obama family affect what consumers buy from retail stores
and websites in the near future? When will the demand for Obama merchandise
and other products used by the first family begin to tail off?
- Obama merchandise: Bright spot for stores – CNNMoney.com
- First daughters Malia and
Sasha Obama wear J. Crew; retailer’s Web site
goes down – New York Daily News - Michelle Obama carries U.S. designers into spotlight – Reuters
- Obama’s favorite
gadget a hot seller – Sun Journal - Fran’s Chocolates
scrambles to meet salted-caramel demand as fan Barack Obama is inaugurated – The Seattle Times - Obama soda leads 7-Eleven into new era – The Southtown Star
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I was just thinking this morning that President Obama could do our industry a favor by buying and wearing a different retailer’s outfit every day until every major retailer’s stock goes up 10%.
Michelle’s influence may, and can ultimately be great for fashion retail–but only if she ultimately settles on a signature style or look that people immediately recognize and can copy for themselves at many price points. Michelle is a beautiful woman and looks good in clothes, but so far her style has been all over the map. It runs the gamut from simple classic “lady” occasionally almost to the point of being matronly, to sexy such as her fab inauguration gown, to more than a few eyesores such as the dress she wore on Wednesday and another whose floral fabric was once described as a “remake of grandma’s couch with bows.”
As they grow, the Obama kids definitely will be major fashion influencers from clothes to shoes to purses.
This will be hard to judge. Perhaps we can take a lead by looking to see how the British Royal Family affects retail. Or popular celebs on the tabloid covers. I think most Americans can’t tell the difference between the designer clothes worn by the Obamas and the clothes sold at Kmart.
The merchandising of the first family that we’re witnessing doesn’t seem too different from previous inauguration hoopla (just on a larger, more creative scale). Nor does it seem much different from how consumers shop for memorabilia when other once-in-a-lifetime events occur.
It’s great that citizens feel a sense of hope about the future during these difficult times, and that they’ve found a way to express that renewed optimism via products related to the Obamas. Citizens feel connected to this historic moment, and they want to have a piece of it for all time. And the sale of Obama-related products is obviously one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dreary industry.
Still, I don’t think the shelf life of Obama-related goods is terribly long. At the end of the day, we’re still talking about politics. Approval ratings can’t help but be high when the sun is still rising on a new administration. The ultimate test is how consumers feel a year from now. I’m all for selling Obama-related goods, but there’s not nearly enough Obama merchandise or marketing schemes to sustain the consumer confidence that retail so desperately needs.
I appreciate Michelle Obama’s support of up and coming designers, and those who have been on the scene for a while yet under-exposed such as Maria Pinto; however, I do believe that her fashion sensibilities have been over-played (as were Sarah Palin’s). Mrs. Obama is always wonderfully put together; however, departing a bit from the dowdy standard does not a Jackie O make (and that’s not a bad thing)!
Michelle Obama might be the new Jackie Kennedy but more so for the mainstream.
Americans are famously impatient, and our attention spans are short. But as long as President Obama enjoys public support (and, more importantly, as long as his family commands wide public interest), their shopping behavior will be of interest to the rest of us. Of course, not every outfit they buy will get as much publicity as Tuesday’s inaugural clothing–and you won’t necessarily see coverage of Mrs. Obama and the girls hitting the J. Crew at Tyson’s Corners.
But there is little doubt that Mrs. Obama in particular will be a fashion “influencer” with her preference for striking color and accessories. Past economic downturns have seen the emergence of bright color as a counterbalance to the dark national mood, and it’s likely to happen again.
The renewed sense of enthusiasm and good feeling surrounding the new president certainly can’t help but be a positive for the overall economic climate.
But I’d like to drill down a bit. For almost 5 years now the women’s apparel business has been in a funk because there’s been no fashion direction, no new must-have look or item.
(That’s actually also an instructive way to look at the overall retail downturn–things got stale, there were no new compelling must-have’s coming along, nothing worth continuing to pay full ticket for.)
Michelle Obama, and her stunning fashion sense, her flair for dramatic lines and colors, could very well prove to be a one woman anti-recession program, at least for the fashion industry.
There are endless product placement advertising dollars at stake here. They might help cover the federal deficit. Think about everything from dog food to brand of gasoline in the limo.
President Obama could do the retail industry a favor by canceling or postponing the Sept 1 TSR express consent regulations that eliminate their current ability to communicate with existing customers. Doesn’t make sense to eliminate a channel of marketing to existing customers when retailers are going out of business or experiencing double-digit declines.
Designers pay celebs to wear their clothes. This isn’t new, it’s been done since the 1800s. The British royal family issues endorsements (royal warrants). So why shouldn’t the First Family endorse American-made products? When you visit Key West and see Harry Truman’s house, you learn which Miami department store supplied the furniture.
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I was just thinking this morning that President Obama could do our industry a favor by buying and wearing a different retailer’s outfit every day until every major retailer’s stock goes up 10%.
Michelle’s influence may, and can ultimately be great for fashion retail–but only if she ultimately settles on a signature style or look that people immediately recognize and can copy for themselves at many price points. Michelle is a beautiful woman and looks good in clothes, but so far her style has been all over the map. It runs the gamut from simple classic “lady” occasionally almost to the point of being matronly, to sexy such as her fab inauguration gown, to more than a few eyesores such as the dress she wore on Wednesday and another whose floral fabric was once described as a “remake of grandma’s couch with bows.”
As they grow, the Obama kids definitely will be major fashion influencers from clothes to shoes to purses.
This will be hard to judge. Perhaps we can take a lead by looking to see how the British Royal Family affects retail. Or popular celebs on the tabloid covers. I think most Americans can’t tell the difference between the designer clothes worn by the Obamas and the clothes sold at Kmart.
The merchandising of the first family that we’re witnessing doesn’t seem too different from previous inauguration hoopla (just on a larger, more creative scale). Nor does it seem much different from how consumers shop for memorabilia when other once-in-a-lifetime events occur.
It’s great that citizens feel a sense of hope about the future during these difficult times, and that they’ve found a way to express that renewed optimism via products related to the Obamas. Citizens feel connected to this historic moment, and they want to have a piece of it for all time. And the sale of Obama-related products is obviously one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dreary industry.
Still, I don’t think the shelf life of Obama-related goods is terribly long. At the end of the day, we’re still talking about politics. Approval ratings can’t help but be high when the sun is still rising on a new administration. The ultimate test is how consumers feel a year from now. I’m all for selling Obama-related goods, but there’s not nearly enough Obama merchandise or marketing schemes to sustain the consumer confidence that retail so desperately needs.
I appreciate Michelle Obama’s support of up and coming designers, and those who have been on the scene for a while yet under-exposed such as Maria Pinto; however, I do believe that her fashion sensibilities have been over-played (as were Sarah Palin’s). Mrs. Obama is always wonderfully put together; however, departing a bit from the dowdy standard does not a Jackie O make (and that’s not a bad thing)!
Michelle Obama might be the new Jackie Kennedy but more so for the mainstream.
Americans are famously impatient, and our attention spans are short. But as long as President Obama enjoys public support (and, more importantly, as long as his family commands wide public interest), their shopping behavior will be of interest to the rest of us. Of course, not every outfit they buy will get as much publicity as Tuesday’s inaugural clothing–and you won’t necessarily see coverage of Mrs. Obama and the girls hitting the J. Crew at Tyson’s Corners.
But there is little doubt that Mrs. Obama in particular will be a fashion “influencer” with her preference for striking color and accessories. Past economic downturns have seen the emergence of bright color as a counterbalance to the dark national mood, and it’s likely to happen again.
The renewed sense of enthusiasm and good feeling surrounding the new president certainly can’t help but be a positive for the overall economic climate.
But I’d like to drill down a bit. For almost 5 years now the women’s apparel business has been in a funk because there’s been no fashion direction, no new must-have look or item.
(That’s actually also an instructive way to look at the overall retail downturn–things got stale, there were no new compelling must-have’s coming along, nothing worth continuing to pay full ticket for.)
Michelle Obama, and her stunning fashion sense, her flair for dramatic lines and colors, could very well prove to be a one woman anti-recession program, at least for the fashion industry.
There are endless product placement advertising dollars at stake here. They might help cover the federal deficit. Think about everything from dog food to brand of gasoline in the limo.
President Obama could do the retail industry a favor by canceling or postponing the Sept 1 TSR express consent regulations that eliminate their current ability to communicate with existing customers. Doesn’t make sense to eliminate a channel of marketing to existing customers when retailers are going out of business or experiencing double-digit declines.
Designers pay celebs to wear their clothes. This isn’t new, it’s been done since the 1800s. The British royal family issues endorsements (royal warrants). So why shouldn’t the First Family endorse American-made products? When you visit Key West and see Harry Truman’s house, you learn which Miami department store supplied the furniture.