“Free People is a specialty clothing brand featuring the latest trends and vintage collections for women who live free through fashion, art, music, and travel. Free People offers a one-of-a-kind and compelling shopping experience that makes women feel beautiful, confident and connected with their inner being”. This value proposition of the lifestyle brand Free People portrayed on an external blog on blog spot, pin-points the very idea of what Free People is as a brand and as a company.

I am absolutely captivated by the marketing scheme of which Free People prides itself on. In an interview with Senior Marketing Manager Kathryn O’Connor, readers are introduced to the behind the scenes of Free People’s solely digital marketing campaign. The company strives with many Points of Differences, and in their positioning of marketing tactics. For instance, Free People’s advertising is based on short films which capture beauty, plays with the viewer’s emotions, explores ideal relationships, and incorporates captivating settings and plot lines. Free People stirred up the online fashion industry through disruptive innovation when they released their first short film titled “Roshambo”, a mesmerizing story of a young man who re-connects with an old acquaintance right before he leaves town. I feel that this short film, along with every video that has followed, toys with girl’s dreams, and aspirations of living a life similar, but in such a way that fills the viewer with love, hope and inspiration. This as a marketing strategy is immensely successful. Girls feel connected, a part of something, and when they are a part of the Free People lifestyle, chances are they will be attracted to the clothes as well.

Another point of difference for this innovative company is the way they gather their inspiration for new clothing lines, and movements. Free People is all digital, and therefore uses social media sharing tools and word of mouth to promote their company. However, instead of utilizing third-party social sharing tools like Facebook, Free People uses primary sources such as their own blog site, and their own social media sharing site called FP Me. A place where women can come to connect with others, post pictures of what inspires them, clothing styles they are into, to write blogs of their thoughts, and it offers them many customer benefits. By having such site, Free People is constantly engaging their customers and through them, they gather inspiration that contributes to ideas for the brand. In my opinion, Free People has made it so that customers are not only being inspired and enthralled in the unique and accepting lifestyle of Free People, but they are adding to it in their own way, and making the brand their own.

I believe that Free People has mastered what it means to position the product in the mind of the consumer. It is not only a clothing store. Free People has developed itself through its marketing strategies into a lifestyle, one that is based on the consumers thoughts and own ideas. This ensures total customer loyalty as the products and line becomes their own. I would classify Free People as a marketing icon for this generation.

Sources:

Dixon, Erica. “Value Propostion.” Free People Blog. N.p., 12 May 2013. Web. 2 Nov. 2014. <http://freepeopleblogbyericadixon.blogspot.ca/2013/05/value-proposition.html>.

Free People. “FP Me.” Free People. N.p., 2014. Web. 2 Nov. 2014. <http://www.freepeople.com/fpme/>

Noricks, Crosby. “How Free People Succeeds with Branded and Customer Generated Content.” PR Couture. N.p., 2013. Web. 2 Nov. 2014. <http://www.prcouture.com/2013/04/25/how-free-people-is-succeeding-with-branded-content/>