Nadia Gonzaga's Blog

I found Brian Wei Gonce’s blog post on Nike’s Appeal to Women particularly interesting because it highlighted the importance of segmenting to a certain audience and having good positioning. Nike has ventured into the female athletic-clothing industry and has witnessed an great increase in sales. According to the blog, “Nike has realized the importance of broadening their audience to…target [women].” Other companies, such as Adidas and Reebok are also following suit and are fabricating advertisements targeting women. Brian also mentioned how Lululemon’s focus on women is becoming more prevalent. What makes Lululemon position different from Nike’s is that the company started off revolving around female apparel instead of male. In contrast to Nike, I wanted to find out how Lululemon is currently appealing to the male market.

According to an article by Bloomberg, Lululemon plans to open standalone men’s stores by 2016. And as of this year, sales for menswear have increased by 5%. Although most men are not active enthusiasts of yoga, which is the physical activity the company bases its apparel, Lululemon offers running gear which has appealed to many more men than women.

I think that venturing into such a market was a good move for Lululemon. Back then, whenever I saw a man wearing Lululemon sweatpants I would make a big deal out of it because I thought it was weird. But now, understanding why men would purchase the gear because of the good quality and observing how successful sales are, Lululemon made the right choice in creating men’s clothing. When the announcement of men’s standalone stores first came out, a big challenge according to Business Insider was the brand perception. Lululemon is obviously more female inclined and the men’s section in every store is minimal relative to the women’s section. This has possibly deterred men from even entering the store and making their way to the men’s area. However, these standalone stores should appeal to men since they will be completely filled with menswear. Making the expansion can definitely strengthen Lululemon’s diversity in the market.

References

Kell, John. “Lululemon Is Striking a Stronger Pose With men.” Fortune. Time Inc., 12 Sept. 2014. Web. 05 Nov. 2014. <http://fortune.com/2014/09/12/lululemon-men-sales/>

Lutz, Ashley. “6 Reasons Men Don’t Want To Wear Lululemon.” Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc., 13 June 2013. Web. 5 Nov. 2014. <http://www.businessinsider.com/lululemon-opening-mens-stores-2013-6>

Rupp, Lindsey. “Lululemon Plans Men’s Stores by 2016 in Bid to Maintain Growth.” Bloomberg. Bloomberg L.P., 13 June 2013. Web. 05 Nov. 2014. <http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-13/lululemon-plans-men-s-stores-by-2016-in-bid-to-maintain-growth.html>

Wei Gonce, Brian. “NIKE’S APPEAL TO WOMEN.” Brian Wei Gonce’s Blog. WordPress, 27 Sept. 2014. Web. 05 Nov. 2014. <https://blogs.ubc.ca/brianweigonce/2014/09/27/nikes-appeal-to-women/>

Images

Carter, Lisa. Lululemon Athletica Inc. plans to expand its global markets in 2013 and beyond. Digital image. Medill. Medill Reports, 20 Mar. 2013. Web. 5 Nov. 2014. <http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=219239>

Villagomez, Andrew. Lululemon Menswear. Digital image. Askmen. N.p., 26 Aug. 2014. Web. 5 Nov. 2014. <http://ca.askmen.com/fashion/trends/lululemon-menswear.html>