The biggest junior’s brand in the industry has undergone a revamp for Spring 2011.
We checked in with Summer Rapp, creative director of Roxy design, and Randy Hild, executive vice president of marketing, to find out more.
SUMMER RAPP
How is Roxy’s design aesthetic evolving?
Summer: Roxy started as a female surf brand so we are going back to our roots for the iconic surf look, but with a modern sensibility. That means you won’t see re-issued floral prints, instead you can expect abstract versions that feel fresh. The overall line has a soft, washed down hand to it and the colors are dustier, given the early spring delivery.
The later delivery gets brighter. The look and feel is girly and beachy. We are continuing our focus on a broad bikini and board short range as well as a dedicated focus on the dress category.
Girls seem to be getting more sophisticated and fashion conscious earlier. Do you think that’s true, and if so, how do you work that into Roxy’s look?
Summer: Our Roxy girl is young and fun and like all girls now days, she is influenced by what’s going on in the broader fashion world so you will find trend right pieces in the collection that definitely have the iconic surf spirit.
For Spring 2011, are there any key themes in the Roxy line?
Summer: Swim and boardshorts are our signature categories this season! We wanted to create a broad range of boardshorts, specifically, that will make girls want to get in the water and surf! We are also going after the flip flop and beach pant in a big way as they are both iconic components to creating the ultimate beach look.
Is the brand adding an quick turn pieces or has it shortened lead times to get to market faster?
Summer: Our goal each season is to deliver trend right items to market at the appropriate time. We are constantly looking at ways to improve our lead times with our factories to ensure we get closer to market.
Where do you get your design inspiration for the younger teen girl?
Summer: My team and I spend a lot of time traveling and visiting places that our customer frequents: the mall, the beach, surf contests, concerts, etc. Blogs are also a great resource to stay current to market trends and the demands of the teenager.
See Page 2 for Randy Hild discussing Roxy’s new marketing approach.
RANDY HILD
Are there any new marketing initiatives for Roxy for spring?
Randy: We are focusing our marketing efforts to tap back into our beach heritage. We’re going to look at this from a product-focused standpoint. We’ve been brand-focused for the past few years and we’ll continue to tell the story, but we really believe in our product coming into Spring ‘11.
We’ve got some really exciting “iconic” styles that we plan to highlight. For example, we’re going back to our roots and reclaiming boardshorts. They are the foundation of our brand and our sport.
Swim is another first-to-mind category for Roxy. Same goes for sandals. Roxy is the beach and we plan to show that.
How is the brand using social media?
Randy: Roxy has been very progressive in utilizing social media to get the word out about our brand. We have dedicated Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages as well as our own blog. It’s important to interact with our girls and though our girls are outside on the beach, they’re always shopping and getting trend info online.
We have over a half million fans on Facebook and then there’s the Roxy Style Squad, our own group of powerful trend-setting alpha females who are invited to join the Roxy online social network to talk shop and trade trend ideas.
We release new bits of info through all our social network channels but we also engage our girls through things like sweepstakes, contests and promotions that are activated online. Our Roxy Design-A-Bikini, an online design contest, was extended to a second year due to its popularity.
As a company, we’re behind the idea of social networking and even our athletes have their own blogs and participate in our online platforms through blogging, Q&A’s and giveaways.
(Above: An example of how Roxy will market specific products for Spring 2011.)
I received a Roxy email directing me to a sale at Surfside recently. Is that a new direct marketing initiative?
Randy: Roxy is concentrating more on direct marketing through partnerships with retailers but also via catalogues. We will be releasing six catalogues over the 2011 season. Our catalogues reach over 500,000 homes domestically. In 2011, we will be circulating about three million Roxy catalogues.
How relevant is print advertising to the teen girl these days?
Randy: We see print as the foundation of brand awareness. While we’re very active in social/digital branding, we know girls still love to have something tangible in their hands. We are planning an aggressive print campaign for next year. You’ll see a dramatic increase in print to support our 2011 back-to-the-beach initiative.
It’s our intention to tell our story loudly. We plan on buying outdoor advertising as well for a full, 360-degree approach to brand awareness.
