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March 31, 2009

Vineyard Vines: Brand naming Co-Opts the Prepsters

The Off the Cuff blog recently quoted an irate consumer, bemoaning the fact that the brand name Vineyard Vines seems to incorporating a luxurious lifestyle into their brand solely for material gain: "I myself just cannot accept a company that blatantly exploits the place I've summered all my life," said the plaintiff who labeled himself "Upset." In other words, how dare people from off island buy these pastel colored garments with trust fund money?

Despite Mr. Upsets' reservations about the exploitation of Martha's Vineyard, the Vineyard Vines brand is simply an example of really well thought out lifestyle branding, where the products fit the aspirations of the buyer perfectly.

Ralph Lauren must look at Vineyard Vines and gnash his teeth and the Izod alligators doing flip flops, because this stuff just sells.

It's one thing to create surf/skate labels, but trading on preppiness is just taking things too far! Oh, come on...

Never mind that people have personal web sites called Preppy Petit and Cardigans and Clogs that hijack the lime green and sunset pink that is de rigueur for the Holden Caulfield crowd. Never mind that we live in a country where, let's face it, if you want to be known as a true islander you just have to plunk down enough cash for a cottage.

Vineyard Vines is an example of how a company overcomes the seemingly insurmountable difficulties of lifestyle/luxury branding. To do it right, you need to create a brand that is bought by insiders and outsiders alike.

People who live on The Vineyard actually do buy this stuff, while outsiders who couldn't find the island on a map buy it as well.

Luxury branding and naming embraces the fact that people who buy brands like Vineyard Vines make the conscious choice to embrace a lifestyle that others gravitate to instinctively. They have focused on the core market, and have made customers ask, "Does this product reflect who I want others to think I am?"

Starbucks, Harley Davidson, and Apple do this every day of the week. And McDonald's would love to do it.

This is, of course, a sanitized version of what it means to be preppy. It is a carefully commercialized simulacrum of the real life led by those born into money.

As for me? I'm going to order one of those great ties. It should be here in Minneapolis in two days.

Technorati Tags: Vineyard Vines, Martha's Vineyard, Preppy Brands, Apparel Naming

Posted by William Lozito at March 31, 2009 1:07 AM
Posted to Apparel | Brand Naming | Branding | Company Naming | Industry | Marketing | Naming | Product Naming

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