Around the London based concession, there were competitors such as Kenzo, and Bape. From the primary research, an Off White employee also stated that Vetements is one of Off White’s biggest competitors. Being that Off White has a premium high priced designer department and a slightly lower priced department dedicated to streetwear, their competitors can range from Alexander Wang to Supreme. In particular, the researcher is going to focus on the brands streetwear competitors. The researcher is going to focus on three of the brands main competitors and their past PR and marketing campaign(s).
BAPE
Like Off White, BAPE (A Bathing Ape) has used people they know will appeal to their core consumer to market their product. In past advertisements, BAPE have used musicians such as Kanye West and Pharrell – people they know have a particular, core following that they can market their brand to. Also, within the Oxford Street and Bullring Selfridges stores where Off White is available, BAPE is one of the brands that is placed by the brand, making it one of Off White’s main competitors. Where BAPE and Off White differ, BAPE offers not just men and womenswear, they also offer apparel for babies and children – which also diverts the brand in the way of being available for the whole family to wear. BAPE and Off White can only really compare in the factor that they offer streetwear. The prices also differ slightly in that BAPE is slightly cheaper – with prices of hooded sweatshirts at about ¥24,000 (£174.56) (Bape, 2017) whereas a hooded top from Off White comes in around £345. (Off White, 2017)
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ALEXANDER WANG
In the past, Alexander Wang has used people of great influence in their editorial advertisements, many including: Jhene Aiko, The Weeknd and Cara Delavigne for their ‘Do Something’ campaign. Similar to BAPE and Off White, Alexander Wang pick particular people to market their campaigns so that they will appeal to a particular, core consumer. In terms of price points, Off White and Alexander Wang’s pricing is similar – with a pair of trousers priced at £475 (Alexander Wang, 2017), a pair of trousers from Off White is priced at £454. (Off White, 2017) Something that sets Off White and Alexander Wang apart is that AW have collaborated with mass market company H&M – created a range with lower price points and put the products in selected H&M stores. This made their product more accessible to people that normally may not be able to buy AW products.
KENZO
Kenzo have also made collaborations with high street retailer H&M and also made their normally higher priced garments available to people who wouldn’t normally to buy Kenzo whenever they wanted to. Kenzo also offers a range for children and baby – something that Off White doesn’t do. In terms of marketing and PR, Kenzo have worked with a plethora of influencers and celebrities, for example: as part of their collaboration with H&M, Kenzo held a debut of their collection in New York last year, with this they invited a range of different people including Joe Jonas, Charli XCX and Rosario Dawson and more. (Buro 24/7, 2016) This made good PR for the brand. Marketing wise, the company produces advertisements that are very creative, bright and eye catching – something they know will draw attention to them. Like most other high quality brands, they make sure to strategically place their ads at the front of the magazine so that their ads are the first thing consumers see when opening a magazine.
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