Ch. 16 - Advertising, Public Relations and Sales Promotion

Tommy Hilfiger advertisements are commonly found in the form of print ads in magazines and billboards in major cities.When Tommy Hilfiger was just about to launch his Tommy Hilfiger brand and clothing line he approached advertising wizard George Lois. George Lois already had quite the resume before working with Tommy Hilfiger. His area of expertise in advertising stretched from creating the “I Want My MTV’ campaign for MTV, to creating winning campaigns for senators Jacob Javits and Robert F. Kennedy making him just the man for the job. George

knew that Tommy was looking for something big to launch his brand. The ad depicted a fill-in-the-blank style list with the names of the worlds most popular clothing designers Ralph Lauren, Perry Ellis, and Calvin Klein. George suggested to the world that Tommy Hilfiger should be added to the list. Tommy was nearly mortified by the idea of the ad. Being that those people were legends to him, and as a up and comer in the business, he didn’t feel qualified to be listed amongst the ranks. Eventually Tommy ran the ad campaign, which included a billboard in Times Square. Tommy Hilfiger became a near overnight sensation, and he booked dozens of TV appearances worth millions in free advertising. I think this story gives us a look at one of the most important lessons in business and marketing. Sometimes you need to be a little bit uncomfortable.

Tommy Hilfiger spends over 20% of annual sales on advertising. The company advertises primarily in fashion and lifestyle publications for men and women. In 1997, Tommy Hilfiger decided to sponsor “If It Makes You Happy” tour by singer Sheryl Crow. After being deemed a huge success, the following year sponsors The Rolling Stones tour. In 2012 Tommy Hilfiger announced they will be the official sponsor of the Golf Club at Chelsea Piers through 2013. Also announcing Keegan Bradley, the 2011 PGA Championship winner and PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, as global ambassador for the Tommy Hilfiger Golf men’s collection and, in March, British golfer Melissa Reid was named the ambassador for the Tommy Hilfiger Golf women’s collection.

Ch. 14 - Marketing Channels and Retailing

I visited the Tommy Hilfiger flagship  store located 681 5th Ave, New York, NY 10022.The building is currently owned by the Fortunoff family. It was designed by renowned architects McKim Mead and White in 1912, boasts 8.5-foot-tall, energy-efficient windows and 14-foot ceilings. Perks include a freight elevator and a hotel-trained, 24-hour concierge service. A previous building at that address was the original home of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which opened there in 1872. It took over 3 years to complete the renovations on the interior of the building for Tommy Hilfiger to occupy the building. Although slight renovations have been made on the exterior, the building remains luxurious still giving off a "old money " vibe upon looking at its white exterior and Gothic style engravings.

The Tommy Hilfiger 5 ave flagship store truly offers a truly unique shopping experience to its customer with its huge collections of men's, women's and children's apparel. The showcase window out front doesn't fail to catch your attention with they're well dressed manikins. The interior displays are elegantly furnished, every item seems scream for your attention.Its displayed with a manner of vintage Americana, placed together from the famously sprawling Brimfield Antique Show in Massachusetts. In the middle of every bit of Tommy you can imagine  are transfixing oddities like one of those chairs shaped like a hand, and a Marilyn Monroe decoupage dress form. Also the customers service is great, the sales associates dress casual with the tag of their name and roam around not really pushing sales,they well informed about the products and very professional. The atmosphere is without any doubt welcoming and is really hard to get out without buying anything.

Ch. 6 - Consumer Decision Making

What drives consumers to buy Tommy Hilfiger is its well respected name in the fashion world and classic preppy designs. Tommy Hilfiger is one of the most recognized fashion brands in the world, grossing a billion in sales every year and containing a big presence in different market across the world. When purchasing Tommy Hilfiger products, things like social factors, cultural factors, psychological factors and individual factors are taken into account. The stimulus of the consumers comes internally and externally from a range of factors such as the continuous classic look and perception of the brand in ones mind. Tommy Hilfiger is notoriously known for not bringing new styles to the fashion world but better yet a 'lifestyle' behind the clothing attracting its customers. Upon being a 'lifestyle' brand has expanded its horizons adding, watches, bed sheets and shoes to its collections. 

Tommy Hilfiger advertises its products through every marketing channel possible whether it be, print advertising to commercials, billboards, magazines and social media. In addition to that many blogs, and review websites where people talk about the brand help market the brand. Tommy Hilfiger is found fond by middle class and high class culture between the ages of 20-40 providing it with a big target market. When purchasing Tommy Hilfiger products consumer are influenced by conscious and unconscious motives like quality of the product, friends, colleagues or acquaintances that already have Tommy Hilfiger products and represent the 'lifestyle' image they see in their head. This is why a big reason for Tommy Hilfiger success is due in part to marketing by other celebrities.

Ch. 5 - Developing a Global Vision

The global expansion of Tommy Hilfiger began in 1988 when Tommy Hilfiger, Mohan Murjani and two others formed Tommy Hilfiger Co. Inc and bought out Murjani International. During this process the company found a financial backer in Silas Chou. Chou's firm, Novel Enterprises, was one of the largest sweater manufacturers in Asia, and the company was willing to invest money in Tommy Hilfiger Company to allow it to expand. With extensive contacts in the Asian garment industry, the new company not only designed but manufactured Hilfiger clothing, using Asian factories that produced low-cost, high-quality goods. Its first year the company made 25 million dollars which was a little under of what was expected. Upon entering the New York Stock Exchange in 1992 with stocks going for 15 dollars a share, the company made 70 million dollars in stock offerings that year alone. The company used this cash to expand its in-store shops and to develop new outlet stores, which would sell past-season Hilfiger garments at reduced prices. 

Hilfiger's sales continued increasing every year, from $107 million in 1992 to $138 million in 1993 and $227 million in 1994. Tommy Hilfiger had almost 500 sections in department stores alone the big 3 being Dillard's, Federated, and May. Sales and earnings kept going up dramatically. The company used its profits to expand in various ways. Between 1994 and 1995 Hilfiger Corporation added over 200 in-store men's shops. The company had introduced boys' clothes in spring 1995. The company had close to 500 in-store boys' shops. Hilfiger had a presence in Japan, with 36 shops inside Japanese department stores by 1995. Also in that year, the company launched 12 in-store shops across Central and South America.  The company had to move cautiously on its own stores in order not to appear to compete with the Hilfiger shops operated by its best customers, the large department chains.