Contemporary Marketing 16th Edition by Louis Boone,David Kurtz

Exercise 7

Designer Geoffrey B. Small doesn't want you to buy his clothes. In fact, he might be disappointed if you were able to find them in a store at all. Small is an American designer who cut his teeth in the clothing industry by selling jeans at The Gap in Boston. Today, Small's overall marketing channel strategy is the opposite of The Gap's: the fewer pieces he sells, the more successful he becomes.
Small is blunt about the importance of exclusive distribution to the image of his goods and his relationships with retail partners as well as consumers. "We have one of the tightest distributions in the world-designer industry," says Small. "It's very difficult to find our collection. So it's very exclusive, and that's by choice, that's important for our customer. We're not for everybody, and we're not interested in being available to everybody." Small explains that the benefits of exclusive distribution outweigh the drawbacks. While it's true that his firm doesn't sell as many clothes as other clothing manufacturers (sometimes Small only makes four pieces of one design), he believes that reverse psychology works. "People want what they can't have," he observes. "Exclusivity is a fundamental part of our field," he comments. "If you're too available, nobody makes money." Small makes his profit by selling less-not more.
The flip side to the exclusivity coin is the mandate that a product represent the very best quality of its type in the world. Small is confident that his clothes meet the highest standards for fabric, tailoring, and workmanship. To achieve this goal, he headquarters his business in Italy right near his suppliers. "If you're trying to make the very best clothes in the world today in terms of materials, components, and accessories in collaborative work-partnerships, there's only one place in the world-and that's Italy." The designer deliberately keeps his supply chain very short. "We're in a region in Italy where we're very close to the best suppliers in the world, and we work with them," Small says.
Small partners with two fabric makers: one is the oldest woolen maker in the world and the other is a multigenerational family company. Small is working with the second firm to develop what he hopes will be the world's best organic fiber, with the ultimate goal of making the world's best sustainable fabrics to be used in luxury fashion design. He is proud of the way these textile manufacturers complement the expertise his team brings to the design table. They bring "a level of artisanal excellence that is unique in the world," says Small. He also notes that the components of his garments reflect the highest concentration of handwork available that he's aware of.
Small also maintains a close relationship with his other channel partners, the retailers who carry his finished garments. Despite the extremely limited production runs of his clothing, Small's designs can be found in 10 countries. In addition to producing a handful of items to be sold across retailers (sometimes one jacket or pair of pants per country), Small works with his retail partners to come up with designs exclusively for the customers of a particular store. Because so few items are produced in any given year, Small says that visiting every store is difficult-but he does it. "The store is where the action is," he explains. He likes to meet with retail staff who, he believes, are the most connected to customers-yet are often underappreciated. Small believes that the retail staff holds key information about consumer needs and preferences. Small also likes to speak directly with customers on his retail visits, engaging in one-on-one communication with the people who buy his clothes.
You won't see a Geoffrey B. Small line at Target or even at Gap any time soon. Small doesn't want to sell you his clothes unless you share his outlook on fashion, appreciate his designs and fabrics, will happily pay top dollar for them, and know the right retailers. Although he wants to grow his business, he insists on doing it his own way: with the marketing channels as precise and tight as one of his hand-sewn stitches.
Questions for Critical Thinking
1. Over the next 10 years, do you think Small's insistence on exclusivity will continue to benefit his business or begin to be detrimental? Why?
2. In your opinion, why does Small have such successful partnerships throughout his marketing channels?