UNIQLO Solves The Mystery Of Brand Strategy

Last October, the legendary creative director John Christoj (John C. Jay) joined UNIQLO to inject new vitality into the brand of UNIQLO.

John Christoj has long term partnership with UNIQLO. He was a global creative director of Wieden & Kennedy, the most famous advertising agency in the United States. He is most widely known for his work for Nike.

"The most important thing is how we can show our brand to our customers, our company and our products," replied Katsuda Yuki when asked how UNIQLO should win the US market.

"I don't think we have done that yet.

We are working hard to expand our business and store network.

But at the same time, how can we convey our brand story and product story? I think this is the key.

"We are just beginning.

There are 39 UNIQLO stores, but there are 39 Starbucks in every block in the United States.

"We barely touched our fur," said Jill, who was full of enthusiasm.

"I want to raise this brand to a higher level. The first task is to let the whole world know the real us, people either misunderstand us, or basically do not know us."

"As we expand in the United States, brands are becoming more and more important," said Jay.

"It is one thing to succeed in Suho and Fifth Avenue, but now we have to expand to the west coast and enter the central part of the United States. This is another story.

Brand is really important because price is not the only factor to judge, "he added.

"Even in New York, which has a high reputation in UNIQLO, the relationship between the company and its customers is mainly based on the quality and affordability of the products.

If you need a well-designed, reasonably priced basic fund, you can go to UNIQLO.

But the brand of UNIQLO is still not very clear, and its emotional connection with customers is also very limited.

"Let customers know that the best quality of our products is not enough," said Jay. "We must have connotations.

Great brands must give meaning to people's lives.

First, I need to say, "why do we exist?" and then the next question is: who cares? "Why should I care?"

In many ways, UNIQLO is not a fashion brand.

It is not based on specialization, seasonal trend or fashion view from top to bottom.

By contraries,

We create simple, intimate clothes, and customers can match their own unique ways like building blocks.

"I want individuals to have their own styles and fashions," Katsuda Yuki said.

"The products we hope to provide can help customers build their own fashions.

We don't want to impose our wishes on customers: you must wear them or wear them like that. "

"The brand of UNIQLO equates to" taking care of life ".

Said the gentleman.

"We hope to provide our customers with comfortable clothing based on Japan's simple, quality and durable values, so as to make people's lives better.

Indeed, from all the products of UNIQLO, from hot underwear to cheap cashmere clothing, UNIQLO really identifies itself as a convenient brand for everyone and all lifestyle.

But is the concept of service life a strong representation, which resonates with American consumers and leads UNIQLO to achieve a performance target of US $50 billion?

"Life at least conveys some information: our products can make everyone's daily life better," Jay said.

"People can understand that what we are trying to do is to improve the quality of life of everyone.

I hope this can be pformed into a part of our meaning, "he continued.

"Obviously, the principle of life, that is, constantly improving things to make your life better, can be reflected in many, many aspects. I hope not only through the exhibits we display, but also through the stores we build, and the actions we take as citizens of cities.

What matters is our actions, not just words. "

"But UNIQLO is not without style. It's not lack of elegance or intelligence," Jay cautioned.

Indeed, on the basis of a series of successful fashion collaboration, UNIQLO will launch the capsule series with Karin Roitfeld (Carine Roitfeld) and Christopher Lemerre (Christophe Lemaire) this autumn, hoping to bring vitality and originality to its brand and products.

"Those are all very important," said Jay.

"That's another pitfall: we make basic money and very simple styles, and soon become boring, or" who cares? "

For Jay, the solution to the brand puzzle of UNIQLO ultimately depends on talents.

"The world revolves around talents.

So, we need more talents, more types of talents, more diverse talents, people from different aspects.

This is the advantage of going global.

Now we can attract talents from London, China, Japan and New York.

"As a brand that pays more attention to people, I think we can say that at the moment, we do not have our own voice.

If you close your eyes and ask, "what does UNIQLO tell me?" it may be hard for you to hear the answer, at least outside of Japan.

We are trying to make our own voice. "