Jeans West has been a dominant player in the jeans category since the 1980s, despite its humble beginnings.
The fashion chain was established in Perth in 1972, operating primarily as a jeans stockist, purchasing denim jeans from wholesalers across Australia. In 1985, the company's operators took the next step, expanding into Queensland and growing store numbers to 60 before stepping across the border into NSW in 1987 and growing to 100 stores. In 1994, Glorious Sun took 100% ownership of the Jeans West brand and added another 50 outlets. Today, Jeans West is one of the best-recognised fashion brands in the country, with over 200 stores nationally. The Glorious Sun Group ownership has boosted the operation significantly, growing to a diversified multinational enterprise with headquarters in Hong Kong and more than 80 subsidiaries and affiliates across the world. The Group listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1996. However, having strong financial backing is only half the battle. Establishing a well-recognised brand identity among the core market is the only way to make it to the top. Jeans West marketing director Beverley Johnson is the backbone of the brand's national advertising & marketing activity, and has established Jeans West as a force to be reckoned with since stepping into the role just over three years ago. She came with strong credentials, having worked as head of marketing at the trendy Warehouse in London, at Jag in Australia prior to that, and at an ad agency earlier still. One of the first things Johnson did was to relaunch a flailing loyalty program that wasn't capturing additional sales. The program, which offers customers a 10%-off card when they spend $150 in one transaction, already represents 10% of Jeans West sales, with members spending up to 20% more than the average customer. The system also allows Jeans West to track individual customer buying habits, making it one of the one of the most sophisticated loyalty programs in the nation's fashion industry. Johnson's hard work has paid off; the brand celebrated a record year last year, and is already tracking well again this year. This is likely to sound alarm bells at the headquarters of some of the brand's biggest competitors, including Just Jeans and Jay Jays. "We've broken records with our sales, so someone in the marketplace has to be missing out," Johnson says. The fashion marketer believes brand consistency is the key to standing out in the cluttered fashion market. While Jeans West is viewed as a youth brand, Johnson sees it as being a broader brand for those with a youthful outlook on life. "We use innovative imagery, not just fashion shots, which allows us to inject attitude into the brand," she says. "We're not a 'me too' brand - we strive for difference." Jeans West does this by keeping a close eye on overseas fashion trends to ensure stock is desirable to consumers. A product teams travels to various overseas locations six times a year before stocking the shelves of Australian stores. "I use trend-spotting websites, which also prove a good tool," Johnson adds. Ad agency Smart, which holds the Jay Jays creative account, says Jeans West is aiming higher than it ever has before. "Given Jeans West's mass heritage, this is a brave direction for them to take - they are certainly aiming higher than they have before," Smart CEO Ben Lilley says. The youth brand specialist agency believes pitching fashion to youth requires a careful balance between brand and product communications. "Jeans West's work seems to be focusing pretty heavily on shifting the brand to a position that reflects higher fashion values, but doesn't say a lot about the product offering. This could be a risky creative road to go down from a retail sales point of view, but is certainly an interesting new direction for their brand. Whether their youth target audience will buy it is another question," Lilley says. He adds that Jeans West's advertising is an interesting reflection of a broader trend towards a yearning for higher - some might say overly ambitious - fashion values among mainstream brands such as Target. Johnson says she and her team of graphic designers work closely with its advertising agency, The Campaign Palace Melbourne. "My desire is to work with just one advertising partner, because this gives you greater control and ensures brand consistency. We see ourselves as the brand ambassador. We are there to ensure the brand is consistent across all touchpoints." Every project begins with a clear brief and face to face meeting of both parties, Johnson said. Janet Coningsby, The Campaign Palace's group account director on Jeans West, credits the brands' success to Johnson's approach to teamwork and her willingness to take risks. The agency has held the account since 1993. "She is one of the best clients I have ever worked with; she's open and honest, and is definitely a risk-taker," Coningsby says. "We look at new initiatives we've got in the marketplace and monitor very closely if something is working or not." Johnson rates the 200-plus shopfront windows as one of her best marketing assets, saying images reflecting the brand rather than the latest fashions are changed monthly. "This is very challenging and a big ask, but it has proven very worthwhile for us," she says. "You have to be prepared to take criticism from the target market and react to it accordingly. It's really about listening to the feedback your staff hear from customers. "You also have to constantly move forward, because in fashion you can't stand still." Jeans West also releases TV and cinema ads twice a year, as well as using radio and magazines, spending about $2 million per year. "Our budget has to stretch quite far, so we have to ensure we get value for money. The truth is, marketing managers always want more money to play with, so we really have to turn up the volume with what we have," Johnson says.
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