Megan’s blog post on Chip Wilson’s recent comments have provoked me to wonder why big successful CEO’s such as Chip WIlson and Mike Jeffries (owner of Abercrombie and Fitch) put their companies at a significant risk by saying that a certain type of people (referring to people who may be obese or larger in figure than most people) are not fit to wear their clothing.

Then I realized it is because they have spent such a signifcant time trying to build brand positioning for their company that they do not want to take a chance to ruin it. Companies use brand positioning to create an image for themselves that they would like to be seen as for the general public. Since Chip Wilson had built its company to have the brand positioning of an athletic brand, him wanting to maintain that image probably provoked him to make a risky comment as such.

Although brand positioning is great to attract a target market, professionals such as Chip Wilson should know better to make comments that may be offensive.

Picture:

(Web Photo). Retrieved from http://www.mullen.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/zappos-team.jpg