I’m sure at this point in time everyone has heard of Supreme in some way or form. Supreme is a hugely popular streetwear brand that was started in New York. The support for this brand is crazy. In London, for example people waited outside the store for more than 48 hours(Vice, 2016) in order to pick up some Supreme merchandise. Items sold by Supreme can sell for anything from $1oo to $7000. But the question is how does Supreme command such a strong following and why is their merchandise able to command high prices?
I believe the answer lies in the marketing strategy of Supreme. The company is able to display itself as a brand thats authentic. Supreme tells a rags to riches story(Business Of Fashion, n.d.) that is able to capture the imaginations of millennials (it’s primary market segment). In a world where quality of clothing is constantly rising fashion brands find it increasingly difficult to differentiate themselves from their competition But this is something that Supreme has done with flying colours.
Though Supreme is a huge brand it has only 10 stores worldwide. It has opened only 2 new stores in the last 6 years(Vice, 2016). While the main point of Supremes marketing is its authenticity, a point thats equally as important is its exclusivity. Though companies like H&M and Zara manufacture clothes of the same quality as Supreme there is a huge price gap between the two. H&M and Zara look to increase production and relentlessly look to open as many locations as possible while Supreme follows the complete opposite strategy. Supreme intentionally restricts production to control the demand(Business Of Fashion, n.d.). Thats what attracts people to the brand. Musa Ali, a Supreme collector, explains: “In some regards, what makes people want to buy Supreme is the competitive, social aspect – to be able to go out in public and feel like you’re less likely to be wearing clothes that everyone else is wearing.”(Vice, 2016) Additionally, Supreme collaborates with many other brands like Nike, Louis Vuitton, Vans and Brooks Brothers. These collaborations are extremely limited and its almost impossible to buy any of it. This just further adds to the Supreme marketing of exclusivity and uniqueness.
Through intelligent marketing Supreme is able to charge exorbitant prices to their customers, who seem to want more Supreme even as the price continually increases. Supreme has managed to create a sub culture for itself. They manage the image of the brand extremely well, through astute sponsorships with the right celebrities like Kanye and Drake the brand of Supreme just manages to reach wider and wider. This represents and interesting dilemma for Supreme. Do they open more stores to cope with the demand? Do they increase production? The headache with exclusive street wear brands is to find the line between mass market and niche market, in order to make sure they are making the most profit but also managing to keep the exclusivity of the brand.
Word Count: 481
Sources: