Branding the Man: Why Men Are the Next Frontier in Fashion Retail

Men are purchasing more clothes, shoes, health and beauty products, and personal care services than ever before. The world of men’s retail has remained a kind of bug in amber, frozen in time, with the same century-old style of merchandising and selling. A store must not simply provide, but educate the male customer, who is growing hungry for something more than the usual Blue Plate Special of khakis and polo shirts. To better attract this new wave of interested consumers, products in the U.S. must be merchandised and sold in a completely different manner. The design and branding of a man’s store ought to make men want to go shopping. Branding the Man offers retailers, buyers, and marketers strategic solutions to revolutionize men’s retail via some relatively simple conceptual strategies. Author Bertrand Pellegrin utilizes his years as a retail strategist to help retailers understand classic men’s environments–ones where men are most naturally inclined to spend time–and leverage the opportunities which arise from these “comfort zones” to engage and sell to the male customer. Branding the Man immerses the reader in a discussion of men’s retail environments spanning every level: store design, buying/sourcing, merchandising, marketing and advertising, and promotion and lays out a blueprint for how men can be developed as the “next frontier” in retail.