Over time, it’s become clear through history that fashion tends to repeat itself. Printed pants, jeans, and several other trends have made a comeback amongst youth. Some unique brands like Tommy Hilfiger and Guess have made us fall in love with fashion’s possibilities. These brands usually need no introduction to anyone with an interest in the fashion world. They’re two fashion icons that stand out in a world filled with copycats. Guess and Tommy Hilfiger have made their mark in the fashion world with innovative releases. However, both brands have some key differences you should know. This Guess vs Tommy Hilfiger comparison will help you learn the significant differences between these brands.
Guess vs Tommy Hilfiger – How Tommy Hilfiger Started
The company’s CEO was Fred Gehring at the time. In the beginning, this company was known as Tommy Hilfiger Corporation. It started in 1985, manufacturing apparel, home furnishings, fragrances, and footwear. At first, Tommy Hilfiger only manufactures menswear, womenswear, and kidswear. However, down the line, the company began to manufacture accessories. Tommy Hilfiger’s products are available in many retail and departmental stores in over 90 countries.
Their products were always top quality and on-trend. They understood the needs of their customers and therefore focused their attention on providing quality products. This strategy helped the brand in building customer loyalty. There was a time the company faced a massive setback as they were thought to be fraudulent. This view caused an enormous downfall for the company. However, with the right media coverage and business strategies, Tommy Hilfiger quickly gained massive popularity in the fashion industry. It didn’t take long before celebrities were endorsing the brand.
Tommy Hilfiger Today
Tommy Hilfiger is an industry pioneer today as it is famous for sponsoring top musicians’ tours like The Rolling Stone, Jewel, Britney Spears, Lenny Kravitz, and more. Currently, the company produces unique and trendy clothes for kids, men, and women. The brand also offers customers quality accessories that they can utilize. You can count on the top quality with Tommy Hilfiger’s products. This feature helped the brand win a place in the heart of customers and the fashion industry. The company’s collections include Tommy X Gigi, Hilfiger Collection, Tommy Hilfiger Tailored, etc. The company also has a license to create eyewear, fragrances, and watches. It has an extensive distribution network in over 115 countries, and there are also 1600 Tommy Hilfiger stores in five continents.
Although the company has many competitors in the market like Guess, it is pretty famous amongst consumers and has a set of loyal customers. The successful beginning of the company took the industry by storm and helped improve the brand’s global standing.
Guess vs Tommy Hilfiger – How Guess Began
If you want to create the perfect fashion brand, you should combine French chic with the glamour of Hollywood. That’s precisely what the Marciano brothers did when they decided to develop Guess. Since its launch four decades ago, Guess has grown beyond a denim pioneer into a global brand. The brand’s sexy, spirited advertising has made it into an iconic brand. Guess has over 1000 retail stores globally, and in these stores, you can find their men, women, and children collection. There’s also a wide range of accessories, eyewear, fragrances, jewelry, timepieces, and even bags and shoes.
There’s a need to take it back to the beginning to understand Guess history in this Guess vs Tommy Hilfiger comparison. Guess’s story begins in 1981 when the brothers fell in love with Los Angeles while on a family vacation. The brothers decided to make it their home and soon became the headquarters for their company. The brand name was inspired by an advertising slogan they saw every day they drove to the office. The slogan was ‘Guess what’s in our new Big Mac?’ The word stuck in their mind till they used it as their brand name when they launched in a building on Olympic Boulevard.
Since the brand was in love with America, they chose an American icon for their product. It was slim-fitting, three-zip ankle jeans they called the Marilyn Jean. Against all odds and defying the fact that stonewashing was rare in the market, they sent a pair of jeans and a note to several department stores. These unique jeans sold out within a few hours of release. Bloomingdales was amongst the first department stores that loved the jean and ordered more pairs.
Guess’s Growth in the US Market
Within the first year, the brand’s product was in every major department store in America. This includes Saks Fifth Avenue, Bonwit Teller, Bergdorf Goodman, etc. The brand’s launch was at a time when jean was a workday staple in the American wardrobe. Guess rebranded denim for fashion by creating a vast range of innovative washes and cuts. Their jeans offered a stylish attitude that only a French person could achieve.
The youngest Marciano brother was in charge of advertising. Paul, who had a glamorous world of Guess in his mind, didn’t need an agency to bring it to fruition. His campaigns captured the allure of classic Hollywood. It featured the appeal of classic Hollywood. However, the campaign also captured the contemporary young women that defined the brand’s provocative spirit. The first Guess girl was a French model who was unknown. However, other models the brand used afterward were more famous, like Naomi Campbell, Paris Hilton, Carre Otis, and Anna Nicole Smith. It’s easy to recognize the brand’s advertising style as it features seductive models against inspiring backgrounds. The girls are also curvier than those seen in many fashion advertisements. This style hints at a story that viewers can invent themselves.
Marketing Strategies of Tommy Hilfiger
To fully understand how the brand became such a success, it is essential to explore its marketing strategies. Below are a few of them that sets the brand apart in the Guess vs Tommy Hilfiger comparison.
Product Variation
Tommy Hilfiger is a brand that gives value to manufacturing trendy clothes. This brand understands the preference of its customers and ensures its clothing line conforms to them. Clothing is a versatile field, and almost everyone is fashion-conscious. Therefore, customers are continually searching for design variations and quality outfits to help them create a trendy look. Unlike most of its competitors, Tommy Hilfiger products are pretty affordable. The brand also focuses on providing better quality fabric and modern designs for manufacturing its products. Every product is quite different and trendy from the next one.
Priority on Budget, Quality, and Choice
Many people do not know the latest clothing trends or the designs clothing companies use to manufacture their clothes. Tommy Hilfiger sponsors many fashion shows and artists. Therefore, the brand is well aware of the latest trend. It ensures that customers always receive trendy clothes from the brand, building up customers’ faith in the brand. This marketing strategy helps the brand highlight its strength while building its popularity. The brand notes what customers are looking for and then implements it in their next clothing line. While providing trendy outfits, Tommy ensures that the average consumer can afford most of its collections. This allows the company to cater to a broader consumer base.
Use of Influencers
One way that Tommy Hilfiger reaches a broader audience is by using celebrities to market its brands. Tommy Hilfiger is famous for sponsoring tours for many artists. This exposes the brand to a new audience who interacts with the artist widening its customer base and improving its global reach. The brand understands most artists’ influence on their audience and utilizes it to its favor. Additionally, by sponsoring several fashion shows, Tommy Hilfiger can carve out a space for itself in the fashion industry. Today, very few people do not know Tommy Hilfiger globally. This strategy helped the fashion brand acquire a place in the mind and hearts of many consumers.
Guess Marketing Strategy
Like Tommy Hilfiger in the Guess vs Tommy Hilfiger comparison, Guess uses several marketing strategies to reach out to its audience. These marketing strategies helped increase the brand’s popularity while building brand loyalty.
Distinct and Diverse Products
This brand is quite popular in the fashion industry for several reasons. One of them is diversified segments like apparel, perfumes, and cosmetics. Most fashion-centric people love Fuess, and it also caters to every gender to ensure a broader consumer base for the brand. Additionally, the brand provides its customers with a perfectly fitting and unique clothing design. This is even more apparent in their jeans which were instrumental in helping the brand achieve its desired position in the consumer market.
Varying Price Range
Guess can grow its customer base by providing a wide price range to cater to different sections of society. The brand has products that fall into the high-quality range and targets high-class people who don’t mind spending a lot on quality products. For this segment of customers, the brand adopts a premium pricing policy. However, Guess also has a collection of lower-priced products for the middle and upper-middle class. For this segment of its customers, the fashion brand maintains a reasonable pricing quality. This marketing strategy helps the brand remain affordable while creating higher sales.
Innovative Campaigns and Ads
Guess relies heavily on campaigns and ads to build brand awareness and market its various products. Its black-and-white ad helped the brand gain iconic status. Afterward, the brand maintained consistency with its campaigns and ads. The brand also uses print media to its advantage by placing several ads in international and national magazines. This brand also believes in celebrity endorsement as it uses supermodels like Claudia Schiffer, Noami Campbell, Kate Upton, and many more to promote its brand.
Final Thoughts
Tommy Hilfiger and Guess have an international presence, and their stores are in several countries around the world. This Guess vs Tommy Hilfiger comparison explores the history of both brands and how they rose to fame in the fashion industry. We also explore the marketing strategies implemented by both brands to understand the brand’s growth method and how they built customer loyalty over the years.
