Lifestyle brand
Encyclopedia
A lifestyle brand is a brand
Brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...

 that attempts to embody the values and aspirations of a group or culture for purposes of marketing.

Each individual has an identity
Identity (social science)
Identity is a term used to describe a person's conception and expression of their individuality or group affiliations . The term is used more specifically in psychology and sociology, and is given a great deal of attention in social psychology...

 based on their choices, experiences, and background (e.g. ethnicity, social class, subculture, nationality, etc.). A lifestyle brand aims to sell product by convincing potential customers that this identity will be reinforced or supplemented if they publicly associate themselves with the brand.

Sources

Many lifestyle brands purposely refer to existing groups or cultures.

A prototypical lifestyle brand is Abercrombie & Fitch
Abercrombie & Fitch
Abercrombie & Fitch is an American retailer that focuses on casual wear for consumers aged 18 to 22. It has over 300 locations in the United States, and is expanding internationally....

. A&F has created a lifestyle based on a preppy
Preppy
Preppy, preppie, or prep refers to a modern, widespread United States clique, often considered a subculture...

, young Ivy League
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...

 lifestyle. Their retail outlets reflect this lifestyle through their luxurious store environment, admirable store associates (models), and their black and white photographs featuring young people living the Abercrombie lifestyle. In doing so, Abercrombie & Fitch has created an outlet for those who lead, or wish to lead this lifestyle.

One popular source for lifestyle brands is national identity. Victoria's Secret
Victoria's Secret
Victoria's Secret is an American retailer of women's wear, lingerie and beauty products. It is the largest segment of publicly-traded Limited Brands with sales of over US$5 billion and an operating income of $1 billion in 2006...

 purposely evoked the English upper class in its initial branding efforts, while Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton Malletier – commonly referred to as Louis Vuitton , or shortened to LV – is a French fashion house founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The label is well known for its LV monogram, which is featured on most products, ranging from luxury trunks and leather goods to ready-to-wear, shoes,...

 continues to draw on the opulent tradition of the French aristocracy.

Another source of lifestyle brands is subculture
Subculture
In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a group of people with a culture which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.- Definition :...

s. Burton
Burton (Snowsports)
Burton Snowboards is a manufacturer of snowboards. Founded by Jake Burton Carpenter in 1977, the company specializes in a product line aimed at snowboarders: snowboards, bindings, boots, outerwear, and accessories....

 has built its lifestyle brand by drawing on the snowboarding
Snowboarding
Snowboarding is a sport that involves descending a slope that is covered with snow on a snowboard attached to a rider's feet using a special boot set onto mounted binding. The development of snowboarding was inspired by skateboarding, sledding, surfing and skiing. It was developed in the U.S.A...

 subculture and Quiksilver
Quiksilver
Quiksilver, Inc. , is an American company based in Huntington Beach, California, one of the world's largest manufacturers of surfwear and other boardsport-related equipment...

 has done the same with the surfing
Surfing
Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...

 community.

Brands that "represent" specific stereotypic or lifestyle demographic focus on evoking emotional connections between a consumer and that consumer's desire to affiliate him or herself with the represented demographic.

Success

One key indication that a brand has become a lifestyle is when it successfully extends beyond its original product category. For example, Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...

 used to be a product-focused company focusing on making running shoes. But over time, the company and its logo has become associated with the athlete subculture. This has allowed Nike to expand into related athletic categories, such as sports equipment and apparel. Gaiam
Gaiam
Gaiam is a "lifestyle company" that sells products catered toward healthy and sustainable living.Gaiam is probably best known for fitness media, such as its award-winning yoga routine videos taught by well-known instructors such as Rodney Yee....

 started out as a yoga company, but has had great success in developing a lifestyle brand, which has allowed them to move into other markets as varied as solar power and green building supplies.

It appears that for some companies, an important component of becoming a lifestyle brand is expanding their product line to their company name and image with several products associated with a group or culture. Examples include Calvin Klein
Calvin Klein
Calvin Richard Klein is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc. in 1968. In addition to clothing, Klein has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewelry....

 licensing its name to a perfume called CKOne, and Harley Davidson selling branded merchandise to its customers. By this measure, other successful lifestyle brands include Caterpillar
Caterpillar Inc.
Caterpillar Inc. , also known as "CAT", designs, manufactures, markets and sells machinery and engines and sells financial products and insurance to customers via a worldwide dealer network. Caterpillar is the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas...

, John Deere
Deere & Company
Deere & Company, usually known by its brand name John Deere , is an American corporation based in Moline, Illinois, and the leading manufacturer of agricultural machinery in the world. In 2010, it was listed as 107th in the Fortune 500 ranking...

, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Gucci
Gucci
The House of Gucci, better known simply as Gucci , is an Italian fashion and leather goods label, part of the Gucci Group, which is owned by French company PPR...

.

Although lifestyle brands are relatively uncommon in the electronics and computer industries , Apple
Apple Computer
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...

 became a lifestyle brand after it expanded its market share into the music industry through its iPod
IPod
iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...

 digital music player. The iPod and the ubiquitous white headphones included are also deemed a fashion accessory by some and may be considered a status symbol
Status symbol
A status symbol is a perceived visible, external denotation of one's social position and perceived indicator of economic or social status. Many luxury goods are often considered status symbols...

, although this is somewhat debatable.

Luxury

Lifestyle brands have gained an increased share of luxury market (e.g. Armani Nobu Restaurant in Milan). Luxury-based lifestyle brands such as Gucci
Gucci
The House of Gucci, better known simply as Gucci , is an Italian fashion and leather goods label, part of the Gucci Group, which is owned by French company PPR...

, Armani, Rolex
Rolex
Rolex SA is a Swiss watchmaking manufacturer of high-quality, luxury wristwatches. Rolex watches are popularly regarded as status symbols and BusinessWeek magazine ranks Rolex No.71 on its 2007 annual list of the 100 most valuable global brands...

, Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren is an American fashion designer and business executive; best known for his Polo Ralph Lauren clothing brand.-Early life:...

, and Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton Malletier – commonly referred to as Louis Vuitton , or shortened to LV – is a French fashion house founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The label is well known for its LV monogram, which is featured on most products, ranging from luxury trunks and leather goods to ready-to-wear, shoes,...

 allow consumers to buy products that they associate with a better, more luxurious life.

Dangers

Many companies have unsuccessfully attempted to turn their brands into lifestyle brands. Certain brands appear to lack the cachet or excitement to make the transition. Both McDonalds and Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

 have attempted to become lifestyle brands in the last decade, and had marginal success at best. Starbucks
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...

 has also struggled on this front, with failed or struggling attempts to expand into music, magazines, and merchandising.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK