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May 19, 2007

Can The Jaeger Brand Name Make a Comeback?

Jaeger logoIt seems as if the brand managers at want to emulate and bring a "musty" old brand name back to life.

Jaeger is a UK fashion brand name that saw its best years decades ago (Audrey Hepburn liked it) before falling into a slump — in 2002 it closed its Madison Ave. flagship store.

The brand is named after a professor of zoology Gustav Jäger who wrote a book in the 1880’s detailing how humans could benefit from wearing animal fibres. The resultant company was called Dr. Jaeger's Sanitary Woolen System and became known for wool, cashmere and angora.

I’m surprised to note that there is such an interest in a brand that has essentially failed and is so old fashioned. Yet a new generation of investors believe that its worldwide recognizability and history could give it a new life, not least in New York, where there is a search on for a new flagship store, as well as in Asia.

Jaeger advertisementIs this an example of a zombie brand comeback?

Only a few years ago we saw Burberry make a tremendous comeback from the brand name your grandfather liked to the handbags Kate Moss favors: Burberry is so hot that it might even ditch its signature plaid, an integral part of its brand, I think, but customers don’t seem to miss it.

I’ve written before about brand names that never say die.

I am sure is watching Jaeger with interest.

Jaeger has a new fashion team, a new brand manager and a whole lot of new money behind it. It has a brand that perhaps never really goes out of style. If they play their cards right, they might just do it — and prove that brand name recognition and history can trump tough times.

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Posted by William Lozito at May 19, 2007 2:09 PM
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