The Story Wave 25

1: Skechers Footwear Makes Serious Strides in 2023 – Brand Story

Skechers took its first steps as a footwear company in 1992. Thirty-one years later, and the Skechers brand is still running hot! In Q1, Sketchers hit over $2 billion in quarterly sales. In Q2, Skechers made the Fortune 500 list. It is one of only four apparel brands that are ranked. 

• According to QuestBrand data, Skechers significantly gained momentum throughout Q2 after their strong first quarter. Momentum reflects a brand’s market position and its ability to beat out competitors. 
• The graph below illustrates Skechers’ momentum throughout the first half of 2023 – broken out by the age of respondents.
• Historically, Skechers has been popular among older consumers. You can see older consumers’ preference for Skechers reflected in the data below (Dark Blue=Baby Boomers and Silent Generation).

• Skechers’ rise in momentum may have been positively impacted by the company’s strong marketing efforts in Q2 – including partnerships with Doja Cat and Mr.T.  Among older consumers, we see ad recall jump (+8.3) from Q1 (36.1) to Q2 (44.4).

Read the full brand story for more information about Skechers’ rise in momentum and growth in ad recall this year.

2: Fall Fashion Marketing – AdAge Op-Ed

In a recent op-ed for AdAge, Harris Poll co-CEO Will Johnson explores consumers’ apparel purchasing habits to help companies with their fall fashion marketing. Here’s a peek at a few of Johnson’s insights:

• Cost is king: When shopping for clothing, 67% of consumers identified price as a consideration, followed by quality (62%), and style (55%).
• Sustainability is not always top of mind: The factors above outpace the percentage of shoppers who take where the apparel is manufactured (22%), a brands’ sustainability efforts (17%), or stance on social issues (15%) into consideration.
• Women and men approach shopping differently: Women more often consider price (73%), quality (66%), and style (59%) than men do (59%, 59%, and 50% respectively.)
• Women break their budgets more often than men: 71% of women who set a budget before shopping say they at least sometimes overspend their budgets, versus 65% of men.

“The bottom line: Know your customers and sell to them where they are, and your fall fashion season can be a success.” – Will Johnson, Harris Poll co-CEO

3: Barbie Made a Splash with Consumers This Summer – Brand Story

Winding down from a surge in toy sales during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mattel, like other toymakers, has been fighting a slump in sales. However, this summer’s highly anticipated Barbie movie served as a much-needed sales catalyst for the Barbie brand. 

• After the Barbie movie became Warner Bros.’ highest-grossing movie of all time, it comes as no surprise that this billion-dollar film renewed consumers’ interest in the Barbie brand. 
• Ahead of its success at the box office, Mattel made sure that Barbie remained at the forefront of consumers’ minds with an extensive marketing campaign.
• Barbie’s marketing push ran across multiple channels, including partnerships with nostalgia-evoking brands like Gap and Forever 21, Barbie-branded home products, and even a rentable Malibu Dreamhouse available through Airbnb. 
• This multi-pronged push to keep consumers engaged with Barbie content paid off for the brand. According to QuestBrand data, we saw Barbie ad recall jump (+24.1) from pre-Barbie movie (14.0) post-Barbie movie Q3 (38.1) among US adults.

Read the entire brand story for more information about Barbie’s successful marketing efforts, and to see how this summer’s Barbie-bonanza impacted the brand’s momentum.