RESURGENCE OF TRADITIONALISM - Gieves & Hawkes, Birmingham.

Heritage tailoring, paying homage to their Saville Row roots.

Things are continously getting faster - faster trains, faster computers, faster apps, faster days! If you can't keep up with the speed you can even take shots of caffeine and Red bull to stay on point. There's so much more communication and brands trying to speak to the consumer through stealth marketing, guerilla marketing, viral marketing... we are being attacked by branding and advertising, confused by what brands are saying, this equals 'choice trauma'. Therefore brands such as Gieves & Hawkes revitalising their heritage and promoting their roots (brand essence) is acting almost like a friendly, comforting pat on the back to consumers, reasurring them to "calm down and think about what we're famous for". Gucci are also making similar efforts to reinstate their sophisticated, European style as are many other brands such as Pringle of Scotland, Burberry, Fred Perry, Stone Island...

Since the phenomenom of 'technology' and web 2.0 of the last 10 years I think brands have lost track of their brand essence and how to promote this to the consumer. Understandably the rise of such digital communications such as social networking, blogging, video share, chat rooms etc. have been intriguing for brands to play with but perhaps for some brands their heritage and roots don't fit with this 'techno' age, and neither do their consumers. Consumers also are much more clued up on such digital communications now (more so than many brands!) so they can also be more conversational and interactive with what works and what's right. They can let you know if a brand has done something wrong or designed a collection that they don't like and have the power to let everybody know too!

The increase and development of online shopping now also makes the retail store more important to sell the heritage of the brand and the identity/experience in bricks and mortar and to look more local. A really nice example of increasing 'localability' through a brand has been shown by Size? who's new stores look to reflect the history and roots of the city. e.g. the new Southampton store has been given a nautical theme reflecting its coastal roots for recieving shipments from all over the world. Also the Bristol store, which opened back in 2009 kept it local with an oversized horse on the front of the shop, paying homage to the Horsefair in Bristol, where the store is located. (I will go into this local theme in another post!)
OLD'S COOL.