Beliebers are doing more for your brand than you may think. According to Marvin Cine and Matthew Epstein of Goulston & Storrs, creating brand loyalty among the younger set is “not only highly profitable but also a sure-fire means of expanding a brand’s consumer base.”
However, these millennials aren’t as loyal to their tags as there are to their superstars. Cine and Epstein explain that once-popular Abercrombie & Fitch, Aeropostale and American Eagle have recently taken drastic hits in sales, as teens move toward the cheaper fashion retailers such as Uniqlo, H&M and Forever 21. The preppier brands of yesteryear have been replaced with fast fashion, and industry experts say that’s the point. “[P]roducing a variety of cheap, trendy products may not only shield these retailers from the detrimental effects of the eventual fashion misses (and resultant lackluster sales), but also allow these retailers to be especially sensitive to the slightest shifts in the winds of fashion,” explain the authors, quoting analysts in the field.
