Thomas Clipper

Market

Target market

Two archetypes: "FHM Lad" and "Instagram Man"

THE PAST
Today most men’s products are designed for a creature we call the FHM Lad. He’s content with ugly, plastic, throw-away gear. He’s not going to spend more than 30 seconds on his morning routine. There’s a reason FHM went bust: lad culture is on the wane. Something new is replacing it.

Look at the number of men with well groomed facial hair. Fashion blogging and selfie culture is increasing a male pastime for millennials. For Gen X-ers we see an increase in cycling (healthy) over golf (boozy). In short: men today care about how they look.

But most popular brands for men were created for the FHM Lad. They ‘do the job’, or offer some gimmick that gives their target an excuse to buy a ‘girly’ product.

THE FUTURE
The FHM Lad is dead. Long live the Instagram Man.

His research is thorough and online, although he might ‘showroom’ a product in-store before buying it on the website. He cares about the products he buys, and he is invested in the story of how they’re made. He wants to be part of a movement that values quality, innovation and design. He shares every element of his life online, from his holiday photos to his #ShaveOfTheDay. He’s not afraid to invest in his appearance, whether in the form of membership to a gym or a new suit.

Instagram Man often shops at at Lidl, but spurges at Borough Market for fun. He books an AirBnB and flies Easyjet, but eats at a Michelin starred restaurant when he arrives. He’s got three suits from ASOS and one from Savile Row (with nothing in between). He has a £50 rusty bike for commuting but he’s saving up for a £2,000 Italian model for holidays.

We know our customers hold out sometimes for months before buying our products. They’re a special treat. There’s increasingly little room in the middle ground: so we’re firmly positioning ourselves as the affordable luxury that Instagram Man can research, know inside-out, and own with pride.

Characteristics of target market

We sit at the intersection of the huge luxury goods, beauty and personal and toiletries markets. The global luxury goods market is valued at over $200bn dollars (Bain & Company), and the men's grooming market is valued at over $35bn (Financial Times). And these markets are growing rapidly: in the UK alone, the luxury goods market grew over 21% from 2010 to 2015 to nearly £12bn (Euromonitor); the beauty and personal care market grew by nearly 16% from 2009 to 2014 to nearly £11.2bn (Euromonitor); and the men’s toiletries and fragrances market has grown rapidly since 2010 to £1.4bn (Key Note Research).

Forecasts indicate growth is set to continue and that this is a “recession-proof” market. Research has indicated that economic hardship has led men to taking greater care than before in their appearance. Despite the growth in popularity of “hipster beards” sales in shaving products have continued increase as beards still require trimming or sculpting. At Thomas Clipper, we encourage a mindset that our products as as much for those who shave every day to those who only shave on special occasions. And our product development strategy has already begun to broaden our appeal beyond shaving.

Marketing strategy

We have, to date, experimented with four sales channels:

- Direct, through crowd-funding platform Kickstarter

- Direct, from our online sales platform, thomasclipper.com

- Physical retailers

- Online retailers.

We have found that the luxury nature of Thomas Clipper can be lost going through a third party and sales were not particularly strong. As such, we are deprioritising third-party online retailers going forward.

We have carefully selected three distinctive types of physical retailers through which to be stocked over the past 18 months, in order to evaluate the efficacy of each. The first was a retailer with a strong local brand; the second a pop-up retailer in Shoreditch, with a large amount of national media coverage; and third, the prestigious and globally-renowned luxury retailer Fortnum & Mason in Piccadilly, London. We have found that since retailers look for a material mark-up for “affordable luxury” products, there are many financial disbenefits from actively pursuing the retail route. However, in the case of Fortnum & Mason, where there are clear strategic benefits in brand association (e.g., the linking of Fortnum & Mason with Thomas Clipper has strongly enhanced our status as an “affordable luxury” British brand) we feel the relationship is strongly mutually beneficial. As such, it is our intention to continue to develop similar relationships with luxury retailers in flagship international cities such as Paris, Milan and New York.

Notwithstanding, the vast majority of our sales have come from online sales channels: Kickstarter and ThomasClipper.com. This is the most economically attractive route for us as there is no (or minimal) “cut” to third-parties and we maintain full control of the Thomas Clipper brand and presentation. As such, it is our strategy to drive traffic to thomasclipper.com directly through our marketing budget, whilst building the Thomas Clipper luxury brand through judiciously chosen international retail partnerships.

Competition strategy

The number of emerging players in the men’s toiletries market indicates a growing market. Whilst there are a small number of dominant players in this area, these are all large multinationals such as Proctor & Gamble and Unilever which our earlier archetype of “Instagram Man” finds uninspiring. Thomas Clipper has a clear mark of differentiation against brands which are emerging as competitors to these established companies in the shaving space in two ways:

1) We are firmly an “affordable luxury” product; whereas our competitors prize time-saving and cost and key selling points, we combine affordability with a luxury craftsmanship finish.

2) We are embedded in people’s lives as a brand rather than something which is merely part of the mundane nature of getting ready in the morning; our customers are loyal and committed followers - they are proud to tweet that they have our Mark K in their bathroom - indeed, many post their razors on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, which they would be unlikely to do with a plastic razor.

In addition, we are very clearly a British brand which takes the best of British design and craftsmanship with other leading international products, such as our Tuscan Wash Bag; designed in London, but brought to life by our world-leading leather artisans in Florence. This gives us an edge against competitors in the UK as a 'home grown' British brand. But it also gives us a competitive angle in markets that favour 'brand UK', such as the USA, northern continental Europe and emerging markets.

Finally, because our supply chain is tied into British manufacture the result of the Brexit referendum and the drop in sterling will likely make us increasingly attractive outside of the UK for export.