Pink dolphin: Just A Hip-Hop Company

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PINK DOLPHIN Just a Hip-Hop Company

Jacqueline D. Slater IMC 503 Insights and Measurements 22 April 2013 Dr. James Lumpp

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction and Objectives……………………………………………………………..3 Client Background……………………………………………………………………….4 Research Design…………………………………………………………………………6 Exemplary Results……………………………………………………………………….8 Summary………………………………………………………………………………...11 Appendix...………………………………………………………………………………12

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INTRODUCTION and OBJECTIVES “If the only permanent thing in the world is change, then this is certainly manifested in the world of fashion where change occurs as fast as a blink of an eye.” (Victoria B. Whitely) Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7344134 Whitely’s statement identifies the common element of fashion regardless of the clothing genre. Specifically referencing hip-hop (also referred to as urban and street) clothing, it is easy to predict that “what is popular” today will be “yesterday’s news” particularly when one understands the innate aspect of hip-hop culture to be flighty and ever changing; the culture’s trends mimic the growing and always evolving community. Looking into the culture, the idea of what marketing strategies best assist an always changing environment. How often must the marketing strategy itself be altered?

From here, objectives may be identified as •

Identify consumer awareness of brand

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Effectiveness of brand’s current marketing strategy

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If marketing strategy for brand coincides with marketing strategy for retail store carrying the brand

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How strong is consumer loyalty

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Identifying the brand as “exclusive”

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Has Pink Dolphin neglected an “untapped” market

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CLIENT BACKGROUND Pink Dolphin Clothing was started in early 2008. It was all a vision that three entrepreneurs, Young L from The Pack, Cena from DROP, and EZ put together. The initial venture began as rappers from The Pack had a concept to “stand out”, “be different”. The idea of men wearing bright colors, not being afraid to wear pink; not being afraid to wear teal, fueled the engine to pursue and promote the unique clothing line.

According to Young L, during concert performances, t-shirts were worn with the Pink Dolphin logo. Constant mention of the clothing line and opportunities to purchase shirts were announced during concerts. These t-shirts displayed the promo logo pink cross with the Japanese scripted symbol for pink and characters spelling “dolphin”. The concerts toured college campuses from California to New York and across the south. Following multiple fan requests, approximately 200 shirts were printed for the public; these sold in two weeks.

Young L states, “The rest is history.” Since the summer of 2008, the continued goal is to put out unique and limited clothing, clothing not found anywhere else. The overall idea is to promote positivity and show people what powers each person has bestowed within him or herself. The company’s slogan follows this same idea – “Legends at Our Craft”. The phrase not only defines the pride, creativity, and superior quality that is put into the clothing, but it encourages everyone to be a legend in “their own craft.” Pink Dolphin addresses a positive persona. The idea is to strive to be the best in everything while promoting a positive image and remaining humble will lead to unlimited success and prosperity.

Pink Dolphin identifies itself as unique and ingenious clothing. The clothing line embodies exclusivity. The vision is to have a clothing line with limited items thus not saturating the “streets”. Every season, since 2008, a limited quantity of items are only pressed one time.

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The brand’s logo follow the same idea of “uniqueness”. The first logo – pink plus sign with artistic Japanese characters beneath – represents uniqueness and innovation; also known as the promo logo. The vision is to promote positivity. The Japanese symbol for “pink” and the characters spelling the word “dolphin” are printed beneath the cross. The second logo – the “Waves logo” includes a trio of identity. The 3 levels of waves associate with chaos, alertness, and calmness. Dolphins leaping in the air portray an outward display of rarity, intelligence and the concept of “the sky’s the limit”.

The effort picked up additional partners as the popularity grew. The line credits many celebrities such as Chris Brown, Ray J., and Justin Bieber; wearing and promoting the clothing line to each celebrity’s fan base increased the awareness. The clothing line now has 80 store accounts in the United States, 1 account in Paris, France and 1 account in Tokyo, Japan. Even with the physical locations, the better option is to order online via www.pinkdolphinonline.com.

The online store has larger quantity.

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RESEARCH DESIGN Pink Dolphin is sold in “The Vault”, a boutique of urban and street style clothing located in Oak Court Mall, Memphis, Tennessee. According to Christy Lott, associate men’s wear buyer for City Gear, corporate owner of The Vault, (Memphis, Tennessee), the retail store chain targets, predominantly, 16-35 year old males; an urban audience. The boutique’s website lists brands such as “The STAPLE Collection”, Deadline LTD”, “10 Deep”, “Hawke & Dumar”, “G-Star Raw by Marc Newson”, “DIESEL”, “Undefeated: UNDFTD”, “Diamond Supply”, along with “Pink Dolphin”. Pink Dolphin lists as street wear with Diamond Supply as its biggest competitor within The Vault / City Gear. Lott distinguishes street wear from urban wear by the targeted age.

Urban wear is more for the 26-36 year old guy; street wear is a younger audience.

The Vault / City Gear customer who purchases Pink Dolphin is the teen-aged male. The urban customer more so purchases LRG (Lifted Research Group – overthrow the masses by our influence) versus Pink Dolphin. Lott confirms the origin of street wear; the style comes from the California skateboard scene. Skatewear was influenced by the punk and rap scene, a style of multiple brands which spread across the United States by the mid 1980’s. Japan followed the United States catching the streetwear trend yet adding its own signature. Streetwear designs grew even more globally with the Japanese influences; Europe being the last market to adopt the style. The origin of Pink Dolphin coincides with the streetwear background.

Just as skatewear/streetwear originated as a male clothing line, Pink Dolphin caters to males. However, recent clothing campaigns include females wearing Pink Dolphin tops. Is this an expansion of the clothing line? Streetwear has become more prominent in the female market.

Not even 10% of City Gear’s merchandise is allocated to female consumers.

The effort to identify and understand the extent of Pink Dolphin’s popularity brings the research to the surface. Initial face to face interviews were conducted. Those interviewed (4

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persons) included high school and college (up to 2nd year) students. The exploratory research addressed persons known to have knowledge of (familiarity with) Pink Dolphin. This knowledge was discovered following observation confirmed via the interviewee wearing Pink Dolphin clothing and/or accessories. The list of questions is found in the appendix.

Following the face to face interviews, a focus group of 15 college students was conducted in order to identify the overall familiarity with Pink Dolphin as a clothing line. Is the clothing line as exclusive as the brand desires? In a single room, males and females ranging in ages between 18 and 30+ were shown two Pink Dolphin logos. The group was then asked to identify symbols/word beneath the cross logo. A video of the Spring ’13 launch campaign was shown to the group; each person was offered the opportunity to comment on the impression persons wearing the clothing gave. A final questions addressing, “Who the typical person wearing Pink Dolphin might be� was asked.

The third method of research included interviewing Pink Dolphin representatives/retailers. The question line addressed the (initial and current) target audience and any specific marketing strategies/plans employed by the clothing line; any changes in the marketing strategy and reasons for the changes; and why have online as the primary option of purchase? An identification of the more frequent customer and the difference in this customer and the customer who purchases Pink Dolphin along with identifying the target audience and store category was addressed during the retail store interview.

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EXEMPLARY RESULTS Beginning with the company interview, the single Pink Dolphin store (United State, Los Angeles) was contacted via telephone as well as emailing a general sales contact (email address listed via www.pinkdolphineonline.com). However, no interview was conducted.

The store clerk indicated that the supervisor/owner would have to be contacted for such information. Only an email address was provided and no reply or phone call has since been returned.

Ms. Christy Lott, associate men’s wear buyer for The Vault / City Gear retailer indicated the target audience for the retailer as predominantly 16 – 35 year old males. Pink Dolphin is carried in both The Vault (boutique) and City Gear (retail chain). The Vault is identified as exclusive when compared to City Gear, yet both carry Pink Dolphin. Ms. Lott stated that Pink Dolphin is not “super exclusive”. This seems to counter the persona attempted by the Pink Dolphin brand. Pink Dolphin is promoted as “a unique and ingenious clothing line embodying exclusivity.” There is a discrepancy in brand promotion (perception) and retail buyer’s perception of the brand. Lott states that Pink Dolphin fits the mold of City Gear – offered in all of their stores, the boutique and traditional stores. There is usually limited numbers of Pink Dolphin merchandise stocked in the stores (even less in the City Gear store according to a sales clerk employed in the City Gear – Southaven, Mississippi location). The limited merchandise means limited sizes and opportunity to purchase an item (“be the first to the store as soon as the items are released”).

Pink Dolphin is marketed via Social Media (i.e.: YouTube), concert tours (early career), fashion trade shows and urban rappers/entertainers promotion (Chris Brown, Omarion, Chief Keef, 2 Chainz, Justin Bieber…). The implication seems to identify exclusivity with limited sites to purchase – a single brand store and online store. Even though there are retail locations,

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the website does not provide extensive information to many of the locations. “Locations” link from the official website only lists the flagship store (Fairfax Boulevard, Los Angeles, California). An internet search such as Google is necessary in order to locate retail stores. Is Pink Dolphin supporting the retail sale of the clothing line?

The focus group provided information which leads one to believe the marketing strategy may not be as successful as desired. If the brand does not desire unlimited wearers, then the strategy is successful. Four persons in the focus group stated he/she was not familiar with the clothing line. The remainder identified “clothing line” when shown the logo (then asked to identify “Pink Dolphin”. However, six of these indicated “today” or “I wasn’t” when asked “When and How were you introduced to Pink Dolphin clothing?” It is believed an internet search was conducted just after seeing the image and given the brand’s name in order to provide a “correct answer”. The focus group was instructed to answer honestly and to the best of his/her knowledge. Yet, a fear of not knowing, curiosity regarding the entire effort and little security from outside influences (access to mobile devices) influenced the responses. Those familiar with the clothing line identified introduction via “a friend”, “music”, and “popularity”. The clothing line, according to the focus group, presents a “classy” and “you got swag” impression.

The face-to-face-interviews produced information similar to those focus group persons familiar with the clothing line. Familiarity and introduction of the clothing line initiated via music icons like Chief Keef, Soulja Boy and Kid Ink with instant interest. One person in the face-to-face interviews mis-identified the symbols in the original logo. This does not counter the idea that traditional wearers are more aware of the brand and its ideological concepts than one would think. In a YouTube video interview, Niema Khaila, Pink Dolphin CEO, mentions the

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rare animal for which the clothing line springs. Young L, Pink Dolphin founder, tells the translation of the characters, identified as Japanese.

Secondary research identified marketing via fashion trade shows. YouTube videos filming interviews (Young L) as well as short “documentary” of the fashion trade show attendance are plentiful. This narrows to a possible marketing strategy whether this is an intended advertising channel or simply “fun”. “Bread & Butter” and “Magic Convention” include those trade shows in which Pink Dolphin has participated. Bread & Butter promotes itself as “trade shows for selected brands” of which Pink Dolphin is a listed participate. Bread & Butter is a European trade show founded in 2001 and held in January (Berlin) and July (Barcelona). BREAD & Butter GmgH & Co. KG realizes the concept of an innovative trade fair event for contemporary clothing culture. Over 10 years in the industry, Bread & Butter boasts and exclusive brand portfolio and recognition from the European and global textile industry.

Celebrities/entertainers attend the trade shows; this enables purchase by this specific audience.

Retail account buyers also attend the trade shows. It is very unlikely that the “everyday” consumer attends the fashion trade shows. This returns the thought to identify minimal channels used to advertise the clothing line.

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SUMMARY / CONCLUSION The targeted consumer includes young, swagged, fly, unique-minded persons (males).

There is a preppy flair to the design. Even though it lists with street wear, which some identify with urban wear, the style doesn’t seem to include “sagging” pants.

There is some explicit language in the videos (YouTube promotions) and adult content.

This just may be seen as counter to the brand’s perception. The first and promo logo is said to represent the uniqueness and simplicity of the design in addition to the vision to promote the positive. The effort combining the explicit language as well as less explicit, more “family” natured campaigns allows acceptance by multiple audiences.

Female target audience has potential. The “Spring ‘13” campaign includes female models. However, there is no visible change identifying females are included in the marketing.

It may be implied if the consumer wants to infer the possibility. This inference is a stretch when all Pink Dolphin merchandise remains located in the “men’s department”. This is a target market lost by Pink Dolphin. There is no major design difference; females are seen wearing shirts in the advertising campaign. Yet, how many females truly desire to shop in the men’s department in order to locate an item? If the brand is seeking the market, the brand identifies the needs and desires of that targeted consumer. “Meet Jane Doe where Jane Doe lives.” Jane Doe does not live with or as John Doe. The big picture neglects a strong intention for the female audience.

Is there additional awareness needed? The brand seeks exclusivity. Via the websites FAQ list, one customer inquired, “Where can I find some of the articles from past seasons or items that aren’t in your store?” The response: “We don’t reprint clothes once we sell out.” The brand seems to have its awareness. Celebrities enjoy promoting the brand – Chris Brown wore Pink Dolphin while launching his own “Black Pyramid” brand. With such, non-celebrity consumers

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seem more than willing to continue promoting (word of mouth purchase encouragement) the brand allowing the loyalty to be maintained among both celebrities and non-celebrities.

The current marketing strategy seems to be successful. A conversation with Pink Dolphin may identify other methods, including methods that may not have been successful, utilized.

Given the culture, traditional marketing methods may not be needed. Remember, hip-hop culture is flighty.

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APPENDIX

Promo Logo

Waves Logo

Slater 14 THE VAULT Interview 901-761-5081

1. What influences your choice of the brands you decide to carry?

Target market – predominantly 16-35 year old men, urban audience. Street wear.

2. How would you categorize your store [urban….]?

Urban Vault is more boutique exclusive Pink Dolphin is not super exclusive.

3. Describe your more frequent customer.

See one.

City Gear has very small amount which is women’s wear; not even 10% 4. What is the difference in this customer and the customer who purchases “Pink Dolphin”?

More urban is LRG (Lifted Research Group – overthrow the masses by our influence) and Ecko for the guy who is really into urban versus street (street evolved from skateboard wear) Difference: urban is more 26-36 year old guy. This guy wants to look more urban otherwise street, which is younger. Diamond supply is biggest competitor of Pink Dolphin 5. What is the major age category of your customers?

See above Person Contacted: Christy Lott; Associate buyer for men’s wear department; City Gear

Slater 15 Jacqueline Slater IMC 503 Research Interview Questions 1 April 2013

1. What is Pink Dolphin?

2. How and When were you introduced to Pink Dolphin clothing?

3. What are the symbols beneath the picture logo?

4. How much would you spend on the clothing line? What is the greatest amount you have spent on Pink Dolphin in one shopping purchase?

5. Do your friends wear Pink Dolphin? How close are you guys (are these your main friends, brother(s)/other family members or just casual acquaintances like classmates)?

6. Is this a clothing line for both males and females?

7. How long do you see yourself wearing or supporting Pink Dolphin?

8. What impression do you give while wearing Pink Dolphin?

9. Do you wear an item every day? Is your daily dress more like head to toe item or just one item?

10. Who is the typical person wearing Pink Dolphin?

Demographic information: Age (select one) ___14 – 20 ___21-30 ___30+

Ethnic origin ___Hispanic

____Non-Hispanic

Slater 16 ___Caucasian ____African-American ____Native American ____Asian/Pacific Islander _____Multi-Racial _____Other _______________

Occupation: ___full time student

___full time employed

Highest Level of completed education: ____current high school student (grade: 9 10 11 12)

____high school graduate

____college student (level: freshman sophomore junior senior)

____college graduate

____Graduate or Professional student / graduate

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Pink Dolphin Brand interview questions: Information related to the target audience (initially and currently) for marketing; specific marketing strategies/plan employed (initially and currently).

If you have changed your marketing strategy why?

It appears that you distribute your merchandise online, limited branded stores (only on the west coast), trade shows, and small retail markets. Is online the best way to obtain merchandise (it seems the easiest when so few physical stores are available)? Is this a conscious choice to have online the primary purchase source?

You identify various hip-hop entertainers/celebrities who wear your clothing line. How do you select these persons? Are these persons specifically selected to endorse the brand or is it more of an industry courtesy (helping to promote via visibility)?

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Bibliography Lott, Christy. "The Vault / City Gear." Telephone interview. 15 Apr. 2013.

Neima From Pink Dolphin Clothing Talks Chris Brown Co-Sign. Perf. Neima Khaila. YouTube.

This Is 50 Interviews, 30 Dec. 2011. Web. 15 Apr. 2013. <http://youtu.be/MIBzW4D07jg>.

Pink Dolphin with Chris Brown Launch. N.d. Photograph. Www.allhiphop.com. All Hip Hop. By Jake Crates. 12 Nov. 2012. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. <http://allhiphop.com/2012/11/12/pinkdolphin-launches-collaborative-clothing-line-with-chris-browns-black-pyramid-brand/>.

Pink Dolphin X Freebandz Instore Event. YouTube. Pink Dolphin TV, 13 Feb. 2013. Web. 15 Apr. 2013. <http://youtu.be/sT1Keh59hQ0>.

Pink+Dolphin Legends At Our Craft. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Apr. 2013. <http://www.pinkdolphinonline.com/>.

Pink+Dolphin Spring 2013. Dir. Stephen Moga. YouTube. StephenMogaFilms, 1 Feb. 2013.

Web. 15 Apr. 2013. <http://youtu.be/pJJHlWnp6B8>.

Whitely, Victoria B. "The Importance of Following Fashion Trends." Editorial. Ezine Articles.

N.p., 21 Oct. 2102. Web. 12 Apr. 2013. <http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Importance-ofFollowing-Fashion-Trends&id=7344134>.

Young L: I Am the Pink Dolphin. Perf. Young L. YouTube. LA Stereo TV, 28 Nov. 2012. Web. 15 Apr. 2013. <http://youtu.be/BcLK5J3j_Vg>.

Young L on How He Started Pink Dolphin. Perf. Young L. YouTube. Tek House TV, 29 July 2012. Web. 8 Apr. 2013. <http://youtu.be/6jZAxUeCKY0>.