24 Nov

Consideration of what Calvin Klein should do next.

Consumer businesses are complex. There are many reasons why they win or lose, on both the supply-side and the demand-side.

But for apparel and footwear brands, demand generation is elegantly (and maddeningly) simple. They are in the identity business. There is one driver of demand that overrides all others: what their products mean to people. Because when a large number of people can tell attractive stories about who they are by buying a brand's products, business booms.

For decades, Calvin Klein's products had a highly attractive meaning. The business grew rapidly by building the sexiest brand in the world. It imbued its products with a story of sexuality that was radical, progressive and provocative. This story was highly compelling for a generation of young people who wanted to see themselves (and be seen by others) as sexually attractive.

This success was driven by marketing. The adverts are infamous: Brooke Shields; Tom Hintnaus; Mark Wahlberg and Kate Moss; Steven Meisel's 1995 jeans campaign; the banned Eva Mendes spot; and so on. The brand's best work had the dual benefit of being highly salient ('have you seen what Calvin Klein have put on the billboard on Houston Street?') and culturally meaningful ('yes, I can't believe I saw a threesome on my way to the office.')

But somewhere in the last ten years this stopped working. The business has a CAGR of just 3.6% since 2013 and the brand is far less meaningful for younger generations than it once was.

What's the explanation? The brand didn't change in any significant way; its marketing strategy has remained broadly constant. Instead, the world has changed. The images that the brand once used to shock are now common and mundane. Eroticism, nudity and sex have been normalised. Blame Pornhub; blame Tinder; blame Instagram; blame TikTok; hell, blame Bridgerton. Calvin Klein's billboards and TV spots no longer deliver the same shock, salience and meaning that they once did.

This is not to suggest that Calvin Klein is culturally bankrupt. Quite the opposite. The brand enjoys ~85% global awareness and retains a unique power to draw attention to itself. A recent TikTok trend saw 1.5 million people create videos that reference the brand. Most businesses would kill for this level of global brand equity! The problem is more nuanced: the brand's story has lost its cultural power, which means not enough of the right sort of people are wearing the brand, which means the network effects that drive explosive growth aren't functioning. 

The business must address this problem head-on in order to succeed. PVH has announced an aggressive plan to grow Calvin Klein's revenue by 46% in four years. It will need to revitalise the brand's meaning to drive the demand and pricing power necessary to achieve this goal.

The brand's key strategic question, therefore, is this: how does Calvin Klein tell a modern, provocative and aspirational story of sex that captivates a new generation?

This story should not be sleazy, nor corny, nor written by men for men. It should be smart, progressive, inclusive, entwined with contemporary youth culture, and pulse-raisingly sexy. It should have a fantasy of better, liberated, hotter sex at its core. And Calvin Klein's products should be ever-present props in this story — the embodiment of the fantasy.

The brand must look beyond 'the body' for the main character of its new story. The body of a celebrity or model has been the brand's constant protagonist for 40 years — but it has lost its power to command attention and communicate meaning. Instead, bodies should be a supporting character to a new hero: fresh ideas about sexual identity that no other brand would have the courage to use.

Identifying the correct execution will require research and experimentation. But there is plenty to work with: from sexual intimacy, foreplay, fantasy, kink and escapism; to the progressive edges of modern relationship organisation; to the tension between online unreality and real-life sex; not to mention the power in simply telling stories of sex that are not cis, male-focused, and heteronormative. Sex is rich and compelling in a way that no other cultural territory can match. 

Here are some prompts for creative exploration.

First, 'For Whatever You're Into.' This is a story about desires and turn-ons. Shoot celebrities and models in a series of scenes that allude to particular fantasies and kinks. This should be done broadly and inclusively, visualing the breadth and diversity of contemporary sex. The one constant is the presence of Calvin Klein's products. This works by being provocative (desires, especially celebrities' desires, are not openly discussed) and meaningful (placing Calvin Klein at the progressive edge of sexual adventure.)

Second, 'For Whoever You're Into'. This is a story about voyeurism. We are captivated by celebrities' sex lives. Millions of articles, videos and posts are made discussing them. Any sex-tape that leaks remains culturally iconic, decades later. Harness this obsession. Shoot salacious celebrity couples (and throuples) in positions of lust; their eyes on each other, not on us. This is a fantasy about their sex lives. It works when produced at the speed of popular culture. As soon as Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson start dating, shoot them. When rumours start about two TikTok stars, shoot them. And dream up risque, hypothetical relationships and shoot them too.

These are the sorts of stories that Calvin Klein should be telling. In most respects, the brand is a sleeping giant. But by revitalising its marketing strategy to tell a tell a modern, provocative and aspirational story of sex, the brand's meaning can be explosively attractive once again. Crucially, this is not a new strategy. It is a retooling of what worked so well for so long — a rejuvenation of the strategy that built the brand.