Ed Hardy is Everywhere, Just Like Waldo

The big money is in selling to the masses. There has been many a fortune made by appealing to the 'average Joe.'  Why?  Because there are many more 'average Joes' then not. (Hence, the word 'Joe.')  Just ask Christian Audigier, the designer and brilliant marketer behind the Ed Hardy brand.

Note: If you aren't familiar with the Ed Hardy brand, that's OK. It just means you have either been locked up in solitary confinement for the past six years or you live in Maza, North Dakota.

Many companies with trendy brands struggle relentlessly to hold on to their core audiences and sustain meteoric sales only to watch the brand's value disintegrate before their eyes like a shooting star entering the atmosphere. And, the worst part is that these companies often painfully spend gazillions of dollars trying to prevent this from happening. Often, to no avail.

So, what makes Christian Audigier so smart?  Simply that he has been able to extend the reach of the Ed Hardy brand so that it is simultaneously accessible and still reasonably desirable to a wide range of consumer types, many who are usually mutually exclusive.  For example, just last week I saw an Ed Hardy t-shirt merchandised at a high-end fashion boutique for close to $100 and then three days later encountered a table full of Ed Hardy t-shirts at Costco.  The Costco shirts were retailing in the $20 range.  (I have since discovered that you can also buy Ed Hardy at Marshall's.)  While this cross-consumer phenomenon probably won't last long because the trend-setting types who frequent high-end boutiques normally run as fast as they can from brands that are accessible to the masses, the Ed Hardy brand is doing a great job of fully taking advantage of its shining star (read: 'sales, sales, sales') before it fades. 

Many marketers would cringe at this sales and marketing approach, however with trendy brands it is often best to get what you can while the getting's good. I could write an entire dissertation on every hot restaurant that soon became yesterday's place to eat, every popular night club (with 3 hour lines and rude bouncers) that quickly lost it's cache to a newer club down the street and every clothing trend that disappeared seemingly overnight.  Speaking of that, I just heard about this new brand of rubber shoes called Crocs . . . .

- chillin' at the cooler.  Mark Willingham

Comments

[DJ Rockher]

i owned a popular club in Vegas and wish i would have sold when it was still growing in popularity. lesson learned and some money lost.