Calvin Klein's CMO on Creating Culture and Building Brand Desire
Insights from The Business of Fashion Professional Summit on New Frontiers: AI, Digital Culture and Virtual Worlds on March, 22, 2024.
Heritage and Digital Evolution
At the core of Calvin Klein's marketing lies an unwavering dedication to its heritage, with Jonathan Bottomley, Global Chief Marketing Officer, guiding the brand into the digital age. "The foundations of what we do are really deeply rooted in a brand DNA," Bottomley reflects, underscoring the importance of maintaining the brand’s established values and product icons while innovating for today's tech-savvy consumer.
The Entertainment Mentality
Bottomley has introduced a strategy to cut through the monotonous digital landscape, infusing marketing with the magnetism of entertainment to create compelling, story-driven content. He notes, "We adopt what we call kind of an entertainment mentality," a move that positions Calvin Klein not just as a brand, but a source of enthralling consumer experiences.
The Power of Ambassadors and Timing
The selection of brand ambassadors who resonate with Calvin Klein's ethos is a deliberate and strategic process. Bottomley speaks to the necessity of finding a congruent representation: "What we try to do, in addition to the data, is find people we think kind of have a cultural velocity, that are traveling fast and moving quickly through culture." Jeremy Allen White's campaign is a prime example of this, with the brand tapping into the actor's growing popularity and fandom. White, stepping out from the chef's uniform in 'The Bear' to embody the classic Calvin Klein aesthetic, provided an unexpected and captivating brand narrative that resonated with his fanbase. The campaign's launch was impeccably timed to coincide with a significant cultural event — the award season and White's Golden Globe nomination, demonstrating Bottomley's belief in the power of strategic timing: "We knew this was the first big award season after the strike... And then he won the award so it helped."
Measuring Success Beyond the Conventional
Bottomley challenges the status quo by focusing on consideration and engagement rather than traditional metrics. "For us, brand and product consideration and desire is really one of the most important metric” Beyond consideration, Calvin Klein relies on a suite of interconnected metrics, including engagement levels and search uplift, site traffic that are proxies to capture the brand's performance that ultimately drive business decisions.
The integrated marketing strategy at Calvin Klein recognizes the importance of every touchpoint as an opportunity for brand building. Performance is woven into all aspects, not just as immediate sales conversions but also in terms of cultural impact and sustained interest in the brand.
Leading the Cultural Conversation
In his quest to make Calvin Klein a cultural leader rather than a follower, Bottomley recognizes the power of timing and placement in the digital realm. "We made a very intentional choice to partner with the New York Times," he shares, highlighting the importance of choosing the right platform to amplify the brand's voice. By making strategic decisions like these, Calvin Klein ensures its campaigns not only reach consumers but become integral to the cultural conversation. Media plays a crucial role in recognizing cultural conversations and filtering them through a brand lens. The fact that consumers picked it up and drove the conversation on brand behalf (think Away's swift response) exemplify this agility.
