Lilly Pulitzer For Target: Bullseye Or Bust?

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The first diffusion line I covered for
Target CorporationTGT
as a baby bunny analyst, was the Isaac Mizrahi for Target collection in September 2003 during Fashion Week. I remember the pop-pop they had at Rockefeller Center and women furiously trying on pieces OVER their clothes on their lunch hour. Madness. This was the early stages of Target making value seem sexy. Wall Street wondered, would it play in Des Moines? The answer was an obvious yes. Next came the Missoni line where the country essentially crashed the company's website, and remarkably Target seemed completely ill-prepared for a launch of this magnitude, with SKU after SKU being either unavailable inshore, or more infuriating, online. Rookie move. One hopes on the eve of the Lilly for Target launch - the diffusion line from Lilly Pulitzer (a subsidiary of
Oxford Industries Inc.OXM
) debuting on April 19 - the company will be prepped and ready for Pink and Green vigilantes from Palm Beach to Phoenix to snap up some of the 250 SKU's in 15 lush and tropical patterns that would make Slim Aarons drool. If the pop-up at New York's Bryant Park is any indication, I hope their IT department is ready to work overtime. I have never witnessed a bigger demand/line before the launch of a diffusion line.
Full disclosure: I was outwardly negative on this collaboration. I understand the lure of mass audience exposure to one's brand, but at what cost? Lilly Pulitzer ain't cheap, people. Which begs the question: Will the new Target customer who falls in love with the brand be WILLING to trade up to its actual price point of between $88-$250 for its classic shift dresses? Only the management of Oxford Industries will be able to decide if the opportunity cost was worth it. On one hand, Lilly Pulitzer is put in the hands of a brand new audience it may have never had the opportunity to reach. That's where the question of CONVERSION comes in to play - a retail term we like to use for leading the consumer to actually purchase merchandise, from merely browsing the aisles. On the other hand, what will die-hard Lilly fans think about the brand - that they've been paying full retail for years - when it's thrown into a plastic red lattice cart along with dog food and the large economy size Clorox Bleach? There is a risk of alienation of one's core audience. We'll see if Lilly Pulitzer comes out in the pink.
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Posted In: Retail SalesTravelEventsOpinionGeneralLilly for TargetLilly Pulitzer
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