Lululemon Loses Love: Will Women Keep Buying?
This just in: Lululemon, a yoga/fitness-wear maker with much marketing savvy and that I, for one, have been going ga-ga overfor a few years (even though it is not inexpensive), has been caught in a contradiction. This is something that could happen to any brand, but this news is worth mentioning here for its broader, "women notice everything" implications.
According to an article by Louise Story (reg. required) in The New York Times, Lululemon’s "VitaSea" product line, with tags claiming the inclusion of some sort of seaweed in the fiber mix, may not have any seaweed-specific substances in it at all. When questioned, the Vancouver, B.C.-based brands’ executives commented something to the effect of - they couldn’t afford to test the claim of the line’s manufacturer before presenting it in stores. Hmmm.
One of the things a brand, any brand, has to be very careful of, in this era of consumer-demand- for-corporate-transparency, is just what happened to Lululemon in this case. Will the brand lose some of its luster, and see a decrease in sales, with its fanatical customer base (again, count me as one)? I can’t say for sure. But, here’s the thing: it will be a negative notch along a female consumer’s complex path toward a yoga-wear purchase decision. Particularly for a product 99% of whose buyers would definitely be talking about with other women (yoga and pilates practitioners are notoriously free with words) - that "notch" could prove to create a significant trust issue in the long run.
Yikes.
November 15th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
Andrea,
Personally, I was shocked at how unapologetic the company was for the mistake. I’ve worked for an apparel retailer with far fewer financial resources that Lululemon and if we couldn’t verify claims, we didn’t make them. Though it hasn’t seemed to affect their stock price, I think it puts into question other product claims and values. This is especially critical in a brand whose cornerstone is an inspirational manifesto (their word, not mine) about “living longer, healthier, more fun lives.” With all the scary news as of late re: product sourcing, from spinach to toys, you’d think knowing the source and claims of their fibers would be at the top of the list. I say this with disappointment because I’ve also been a huge fan of the brand. A great next move would be for them to do an audit of all their fabric resourcing and communicate the results back to the public.