Case Study: Brooks Brothers on the Cutting Edge

Just before I sat down to write this, The New York Times reported the death of yet another beloved—albeit little known—boutique institution, Gorsart Clothes. The downtown Manhattan men’s clothier had served the Wall Street community since 1921.

In the words of Times writer Sherri Day,

The last straw may have been the advent of casual Fridays—and Thursdays and Wednesdays—which eliminated much of the need for the crisply tailored suit and the power tie.

Where Gorsart was unable to change with the times, another great New York men’s clothier, Barney’s, changed too much—only to be taken over by its creditors in 1996. Founded in 1923 by Barney Pressman, who hocked his wife’s engagement ring to pay for the lease and fixtures, Barney’s found its way into the hands of two of Pressman’s grandsons. As Larry Light wrote in Business Week,

In 1989 the bon vivant Gene and his more retiring younger brother, Bob, enlisted a Japanese partner, retailer Isetan Co., and blew millions of Isetan’s funds on a push to build a nationwide presence. But the Pressmans’ snob appeal didn’t work. Worse, they spent like drunken tailors: The Madison Avenue Store was aesthetically magnificent but, because of out-of-control construction costs, economically stupid. Trusting to their own creative genius to keep success rolling, the third Pressman generation never bothered to computerize and track where all the bucks were going. . .

The Old Brooks Brothers

When I was growing up on Long Island, every year around Labor Day my mother would drive me into Manhattan for our yearly purchase at Brooks Brothers—a blue serge suit for “dress-up” occasions, such as the first day of school, church, dancing class, weddings and funerals. As a kid, I found the decor of the 10-story flagship store at Madison Avenue and 44th Street stuffy, with its dark wood paneling, heavy glass merchandise cases and the immaculately tailored salesmen who were so unctuously attentive. For over a century, Brooks Brothers has been New York’s premier emporium for men and boys to buy suits and related accessories—shirts, ties, socks and shoes.

So how come Brooks Brothers is still in business when many of America’s legendary retailers have been consigned to oblivion? Two reasons:

Reason #1: Founder Henry Sands Brooks articulated his guiding principle when he opened his first store in 1818: “To make and deal only in merchandise of the finest quality, to sell it at a fair profit and to deal with people who seek and appreciate such merchandise.”

This is a marketing philosophy as valid and relevant for the 21st century as it was for the 19th.

Answer #2: For all of its 183 years, Brooks Brothers has had world-class merchandisers, who are in constant touch with the wants and needs of their customers and have engineered change accordingly. Their footwork in the marketplace was as nimble and elegant as that of two of their most illustrious customers: Fred Astaire and Jack Dempsey.

Deftly Juggling Two Worlds

The 44th Street flagship store—with its gritty gray stone facade, small display windows, blue awnings, buttoned-up interior of dark wood fixtures and glass display cases—doesn’t seem to me to be much different from my childhood memories. Any high-octane, old-line banker, lawyer or corporate CEO could walk through those doors and be made to feel very much at home, just as his grandfather did at Brooks Brothers, Alfred Dunhill of London, “21” or the Plaza Hotel.

If you wander uptown to the Tishman Building, that dimpled aluminum skyscraper at Fifth Avenue and 53rd Street, you will discover the new Brooks Brothers. Yes, the grand Brooks Brothers script logo with its swoops and swirls is still very evident, but how splendidly it contrasts with the two-story glass windows, bright colors and overall feeling of airiness.

Walk in and you won’t see dark paneling or a man’s suit anywhere. On the right are men’s shirts, ties, sweaters and accessories. And, although a very large percent of Brooks Brothers’ regular customers are men, the entire left-hand side of the main floor is devoted to women’s wear—blouses, sweaters and accessories—all displayed with great style, warmth and panache. It is immediately evident that formerly staid, old Brooks Brothers is not only operating in the world of banker’s blue and gray, but also in the new arena of “business casual” and “dress-down Fridays.”

Brooks Brothers’ New Face

When Mark Friedman, a CPA and Hanover Direct alumnus, arrived to take charge of Brooks Brothers’ catalog and direct mail, as well as www.brooksbrothers.com, there was talk that the printed catalog would be phased out and replaced with the Internet. “I don’t think so,” Friedman said to his boss and proceeded to reshape the catalog in ways that many might consider radical. Most obvious: promotional covers with calls to action.

Front covers are always full-bleed, dominated by a strong product offering, often with pictures of stylish, relaxed young men and women. In addition, the cover can include special offers (e.g., free monogramming or “Enjoy $25 Off” or guaranteed holiday delivery if you order by noon EST December 22). Both front and back covers now have the URL and toll-free number so no one has an excuse not to order.

Brooks Brothers Specialties

Branding on Pages Two and Three

For most catalogers, Brooks Brothers’ Chief Marketing Officer Friedman says, “Giving up pages two and three for PR doesn’t cut it economically.” And when he arrived on the scene, these two pages could have been any spread in the book. But Friedman believes it’s important to make the customer feel absolutely comfortable and to buy into the corporate philosophy. For example, in the holiday books, the shopper is reminded of the elegant gift boxes; the gift card (a handsome piece of plastic that works like a debit card and replaces the old gift certificate, which was cumbersome if you wanted to use it in more than one department); the incredible service on last-minute gift shopping; the monogram option; and of course, the URL splayed in huge type across both pages.

Spring Preview at Holiday Time

Most people buy clothes around the time they are going to use them (e.g., little Denny getting his blue serge suit in the fall). However, upscale Brooks Brothers customers 1) travel and take cruises in winter and 2) have vacation homes in warmer climes. According to Friedman, a cataloger’s rule of thumb is that an off-season section, such as spring fashions at Thanksgiving, will do half as well as the rest of the book (e.g., 12 percent of the book will do 6 percent of the sales). In the case of Brooks Brothers, this section maintains page average. What’s more, the spring preview merchandise is also offered on the retail floors.

Weird Size Dept.

Ever since Brooks Brothers introduced the button-down shirt collar way back in 1896, shirts have been a bread-and-butter item. It sells hundreds of thousands a year. However, it is not practical to maintain every SKU in all 80 retail stores. Not a lot of men the size of NFL linemen are going to wander into the Riverchase Galleria in Birmingham, AL, and expect a selection of 20 x 36 shirts. However, the sales person at the Birmingham branch can go through the catalog with the oversized customer and then call the Raritan, NJ, distribution center to confirm the availability of the shirt and if needed, it can be delivered the next day.

Custom Tailored Shirts

In a bold move to take on the nationwide chain of Custom Shops, Brooks Brothers devotes a full spread in the catalog to a revival of its custom shirt business. Customers are offered 44 separate colors and fabrics, from Egyptian cotton broadcloth and Pima cotton Oxford cloth ($80), all the way up to Super 140s European textured cotton ($160). You can have a choice of seven collar styles and three cuffs (in the same shirt color or contrasting white) and any of four monograms in a variety of colors for an extra $10 (although some promotions offer free monogramming). However, unlike the Custom Shop, which requires a minimum order of four shirts, Brooks Brothers will sell a single shirt. While the volume is nowhere near the ready-made shirt business, revenue is substantial and adds yet another arrow to its corporate quiver.

Mining the Database

Under Friedman, Brooks Brothers is constantly in the mail with some kind of flier or catalog to provide customers with reasons to continue to shop—a special event (Semi-Annual Sale, Labor Day Sale, Fourth of July Sale) as well as sending out a full-dress catalog to customers every three to four weeks. Under Friedman’s guidance, Brooks Brothers is beginning to use the database to target customers’ needs and to create wants. For example, purchase analysis was able to determine which customers may be road warriors. The merchandisers assembled a collection of “high-performance, easy-care” clothing and accessories for men and women and created a nifty little 7˝x10˝, four-fold flier that opens out to 34 inches.

Friedman admits prospecting is tough—that men are not as comfortable buying by mail as women. Where women are able to imagine how clothing might look based on a catalog illustration, men seem to be more hands-on, needing to go to a store—often with a wife or significant other—and try the garment on before buying it. Of course, once a male customer has purchased shirts by mail, he has no problem reordering. Friedman calls the shirt business “one of Brooks Brothers’ annuities.”

Prospecting is done via special offers to a geographically selected universe (with existing customers merge/purged out) and via Abacus which, Friedman says (echoing other catalogers I have talked to) is very effective, but only when you push the company hard.

In addition, Brooks Brothers does a modest amount of space advertising.

Catalog Mechanics

All catalogs are created in-house on Macs, with 95 percent of them printed by R.R. Donnelley and the remainder printed by Quad Graphics—all with enviable flexibility. Historically, Brooks Brothers has operated on a schedule of four basic seasonal books. Each catalog is printed on its own (rather than ganged up and then rationed out monthly) so that it can have a new front and back cover (which normally features women’s wear); new pages can be added; products can be added or deleted depending on availability; and each edition can be repaginated. Catalogs are not dated by month, but rather seasonally (e.g., Fall One, Holiday Three).

The New Channel

Brooks Brothers certainly did not need a Web site. But customers asked for it; competitors were on the Web; and it represents an additional way for customers to shop.

The site’s images load quickly, the offers clear, ordering easy. Friedman pointed out that unlike the start-up dot-coms, Brooks Brothers did not have to spend millions building an online brand; it had the luxury of 168 years of excellence.

The Internet now generates 25 percent of direct orders. While most catalogers find the Web to be an excellent venue for an expanded product line, just 10 percent of the Brooks Brothers’ direct merchandise is exclusive to the Internet.

A Personal Note

In adulthood, I never went back to Brooks Brothers. When I was starting out in New York in the 1960s, I guess I felt the store was expensive and intimidating. However, after interviewing Friedman and prowling the two Manhattan stores, I did some holiday shopping at the Chestnut Street store in Philadelphia and the merchandise was good, the prices right and the woman who took care of me was low-key, civilized and enormously helpful. These are good folks. After a half-century absence, I’m back.

Denny Hatch, consultant and freelance copywriter, founder of Who’s Mailing What! (now Inside Direct Mail) and former editor of Target Marketing, can be reached at dennyhatch@aol.com.