Business Monitor The statement tee
Last summer it was the return of big and bloody branding, as unsubtle as you liked. This year we have the return of the statement tee, a la Katharine Hamnett of famous note. Find out why you can cash in with marketing expert, Paul Clapham.
I
ts aim is to boast, to make a pun, to make a political point (often feminist) or ideally to do all three. I imagine that there is a roomful of people at the White House tasked with coming up with that slogan, maybe in Downing Street too.
I picked up the above information from a column by Anna Murphy, fashion editor of the Times. (As readers of quality newspapers all of you probably knew that already). I repeat it prompted by greed or possibly envy.
The lowest price quoted came from Zara, £5.99. The line wasnʼt bad: ʻmy brain is 80% holidays at the momentʼ. Marks & Spencer came next at £6.50. Pretty fair, but the statement ʻdo what you love, love what you doʼ, was, to put it mildly, hackneyed and the graphics were crummy.
Here are some other sample prices from Ms Murphyʼs piece – I refuse to publicise the brands – $90, £95 (in several cases), reduced to £49 from £65, £29, reduced to £22 from £35. You will have instantly noted that some people (most of them not particularly famous brands) are making big bucks out of T shirts.
Speaking of famous brands, Christian Dior are selling ʻwe should all be feministsʼ (wow, thatʼs so original, guys) for £580. Yes, I do mean the price of a functional small used car.
If any of those figures made you swear or spit, I sympathise. In the unlikely event that I ever get a brief from Christian Dior, I think Iʼll ask them to pay me in T shirts.
The gravy train
But it does all prompt the question, ʻjust which platform is this gravy train leaving from?ʼ OK as a marketing man I know that it comes from building a brand and spending serious money doing that. But that doesnʼt explain why I, a brand conscious marketing person, have heard of so few of the brands Anna Murphy quoted. It also most definitely does not explain why the most basic item of clothing known to man can attract big bucks just because it sports a snappy message. (Not always so snappy either, see above).
The brand owners are entitled to say
ʻyouʼre obviously not as brand savvy as you think you areʼ (possible). They might add ʻyouʼre a man and older than our
| 22 | October 2019
target age group so we donʼt care whether youʼve heard of us or notʼ. Hurtful but possibly valid. How come statement tees are big again? It is suggested that this is a function of social media, ie a statement tee is the cotton equivalent of a tweet – limited words and a clear message. I remain unconvinced. More credible is the statement that people are increasingly dressing for comfort but donʼt want to look dull.
They need to be concerned instead about looking stupid: I can imagine the scorn and derision if someone said in a public place, ʻthis top cost me £95, you knowʼ. Everybody who heard would stare and, having realised that no precious metals had been involved in its production, would snigger up their sleeves. I suppose being stared at because of what they are wearing is worth £95 to the people Iʼm talking about. Sad. Very sad.
The Guardian has made something of a big deal about statement tees, suggesting that they are for losers. The principle that the person who shouts loudest has lost the argument applies here and shouty tee shirts are a good example of this. The argument has been levelled at feminist messages in particular which seems rather harsh
since there other messages the Guardian must surely dislike more.
Addressing humour Letʼs address humour. We all know when our funny bone has been tickled and we know just as well when it hasnʼt. Writers of every stamp will confirm that using humour to get your message across is difficult.
But statement tees make a big thing of humour. Iʼve looked at a lot in writing this and a good percentage are genuinely funny – to me. Thereby hangs the problem. What I think is funny going on hilarious is dumb going on offensive to someone else. FYI probably my favourite was the dictionary definition of vegetarian: derived from prehistoric word meaning crap at hunting.
If you do a Google search of statement tees or similar you will quickly recognise that this is a female thing. Thatʼs particularly true in America but itʼs equally relevant to
.co.uk websites. That surprised me; I would have guessed that this would be more male than female. So, is the statement tee fake news? Is it about a small protest which feels satisfyingly virtuous, without requiring any confrontational behaviour? Is it, please God, people saying something nice without having to open their mouths?
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88
