Cath Kidston Rebrand.

Cath Kidston History

  The brand Cath Kidston aims to offer a 'homely' vibe, by using floral patterns and keeping it very 'English countryside'. In this sense it grasps the attention of the elder community  (females), and the elderly more in particular as the brand began in 1994, so is a familiar brand to them, not too recent and 'updated' but also not too old and 'vintage'.  I performed some research and the information it gave me was that the brand 'aim to the typical housewife with the 40's/50's' aesthetic'. On the contrary to this, the brand also offers a range of children's wear (very little male clothing) and boast to appeal from '16 year olds to 46 year olds'. The clothing and accessories it offers are mainly bags and clothing, handbags being their best seller, followed by coats and outer wear. Their best sellers however also include mugs and watches, both products being mainly aimed at the older audience/ the audience with a family, homeowners and the like.

  The brand are starting to introduce new products such as laptop and phone cases, these appealing to the younger generations and in addition to this they also offer 10% student discount, really reaching the younger audience.
 In regards to competition, the brand offers clothing, accessories and also homeware as they provide bedding, kitchen ware etc. There isn't a particular competitor on the market as they all can apply in some sense, for example Claire's Accessories, the difference being however Claire's appeal to slightly younger audiences and not elderly, this is the same as a lot of other brands on the market.





My Idea

 My idea for a rebrand for Cath Kidston was to change up the target audience ever so slightly, to appeal to the slighter younger end of the scale. I though of a collaboration with a celebrity, like other brands are doing and doing so successfully, for example Rihanna X Puma. For this I needed to think of a suitable celebrity in which would appeal to teenagers / early - mid twenties, that is suitable in not only age but style and 'profession'. By picking someone that is in to the fashion industry would boost sales and attraction to the product. Kendall Jenner was someone who came to mind as she's always in the public eye and is very influential for the younger generations, both in a fashion sense (what she wears, they wear) and a mind sense.
 Although this collaboration wouldn't reach a whole 'ew' target audience, it would shine some light and appeal to the younger generation Cath Kidston boats to reach. There was of course the option to produce products aimed more for men, however I think by using Kendall to promote clothing / bag / some accessory it could create a whole new world, that can later be added to (males). I had this thought as now a days a lot of things, such as fashion, don't have a label on them as much as they would have 10 years ago, what women wear, men can wear, and visa versa. SO by initially having Kendall come out with a predominantly female based product (s), it can open up the world of fashion and accessories Cath Kidston provide to males, perhaps with a different collaborator.

 As for now I can distinguish the specific younger audience Cath Kidston aim at by visiting the store and seeing the customers as well as products, and the same for Kendall, I can see who she's worked with already and the type of brands she associates herself and her brand with, and look further into their target audience. In addition to this I can create a survey / questionnaire to give out, asking questions such as age, are they employed (this would influence the price of the finished product), what influencers/ artists they like (this would give a good view of the people they look up to and how, for example on tv, magazines, instagram etc)

Kendall&Kylie Collab

  When it comes to price range, Cath Kidston's price range is quite high, for example a faux fur coat - the one in which gave me initial inspiration- retails at £160, so to most teenagers an unrealistic price.However saying that, Cath Kidston seem to appeal to perhaps 'middle/upper class' families, therefore for a good quality faux fur coat from a well trusted good quality brand, £160 is good! As previously mentioned, I would need to carry out research into Kendall, for example she did a collaboration with High street brand TopShop, a clothes shop in which is very appealing to the audience I am aiming at. In this collection there was in fact a floral top and the items were very girly, fitting the aesthetic of Cath Kidston. This will be further researched and analysed.




 Once I have completed the further secondary research on Kendall's brand and collaborations I am able to draw inspiration from those brands and incorporate different aspects of that into my project.
 In regards to the physical idea, I was going to create a coat and bag, the main focus being Faux material as although the faux fur coat they currently have on sale is fake, their handbags are still made of leather, so I want one of the main factor of the collaboration to be against the use of animal skin etc ( like the brand Lush with their products), taking a more ethical route than Cath kidston currently are on.


Links : http://quirkydom.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/brand-study-cath-kidston.html