It seems the Heritage bandwagon continues, and now I'm noticing it everywhere. From
Persil celebrating 100 years at the top of the keeping-kids-kleen game, which arguably they have been winning for a while now, to brands like Arcadia's
Burton letting us all know it's been 100 years+ they've been dressing men with a quintessential British style. Well, that's what they'd like us to think. Going into a store now they seem to have lost their edge, relying on cheap graphic tees aplenty and far too much faded denim. Still, their flagship store on Oxford Street joins the countless other brands asking for a slice of consumer trust in this troubled time. Walking past the famous
Selfridges & Co. store on the same street, their proclamation of stability and reliability is slightly more intrusive:
It's difficult to portray the garish nature of this signage with a photo, but just imagine it very, very yellow, with flashing bulbs in the letters, and absolutely huge. Strangely though, it works. Selfridges are not a brand that spend much on advertising, except during the annual sale and even then, it's very localized and almost all outdoor. They instead rely on their prime real-estate location nestled between the trashier end of OxSt, the fancy Bond Street and the classic cobbles of Maryelbone, tied together nicely with their now global word-of-mouth fame. Their 100 year celebrations include trademark Yellow & Black designs from key British designers and brands such as Paul Smith and Fred Perry, in-store events with celebrities like David Beckham and (ahem) Katie Price, along with epic window displays all following the Yellow & Black branding. By using the
Hard Rock Cafe-esque ('Love All, Serve All') 'Open to the World...' tagline, they're positioning themselves not just as a store, but an event, an attraction, perhaps even a World Fair. Brilliant stuff really, especially considering their cousins over in Knightsbridge have been doing this for years, yet harking on a very different form of Heritage focusing on exclusivity and extravagance. This however is no
Harrods. S&Co. have gone for a much more democratic approach, even if the store generally caters for a more affluent audience, with designers and niche brands taking up the majority of their floor space. The signage shouts to London and the World, "Come on in, you're so very welcome here, and we've probably got anything you could ever dream of." Fantastic.
