Indeed, marketing professionals should be aware of Hotelling’s Law and the consequences that flow from it. (Harold Hotelling, American economist and statistician)

????‍♂️ Hotelling’s Law states that rational producers – and I hope that includes most – will in the long run try to make their products as similar as possible to those of their competitors.

That sounds pretty counterintuitive. So step by step:

???? First of all, of course, every manufacturer can design or position his product as he sees fit. If he is alone in the market, he will be successful with his offer.

The only thing is that you are usually not alone in the market, but have a competitor who also designs his product as he sees fit.

???????? One of the two will be more successful – and from then on everything runs automatically:

Manufacturer A builds station wagons. ???? Manufacturer B builds SUVs. ????
SUVs are more successful. So manufacturer A also builds SUVs. ????????
Rounded SUVs are more successful than square ones. So: get rid of the corners. ????????????
Diesel more successful than gasoline engines. So: diesel for all. ????????????????
And so on

???????????????????? In the end, all SUVs look alike. And the one who builds another (angular, gasoline, …) risks losing market share to the competition. In game theory, such a case is called a Nash equilibrium. (Yes, exactly – “A beautiful mind” with Russel Crowe. If you want to know more about it, you can ask Prof. Dr. Christian Rieck).

For the same reason, by the way, you’ll often find a McDonald’s next to a Burger King and a KFC. Or all fashion stores in one street.

So similarity has less to do with cowardice or unimaginativeness than with mathematics.

But the consequence for marketers is not: Okay, I’ll just do what the others are doing. The consequence of Hotelling’s Law – and thus the challenge not only to marketing – is to do the same thing differently. (A very appealing definition of creativity, by the way).

For example, through more precise positioning that touches customers more emotionally. Because the advantage of positioning is: There is only room for one at the optimal positioning. For the market leader. There is only one Coca Cola. The rest is Pepsi.

Simply sticking a higher price tag on it is not enough in any case. That would be an extra cost, but it has to be offset by something. Additional price without additional performance is simply expensive. Those who pay more without getting more are stupid. However, this does not apply to people who buy a branded product.

You are sure to have made a fair deal and to receive more than just the product performance. And they are right.

A branded product is not just expensive. ???? It is valuable. ????????????
That’s why people are willing to pay more. The term “valuable” can be taken quite literally: value-able. Full of values.

The added value of the brand comes from the fact that there is literally more value in a branded product than in a non-branded product.

The task of those responsible for the brand is therefore to put the right values into their brand. Correct means: the values for which people are willing to spend money.

So there are 3 questions every marketeer should ask himself:

???? What values does my brand stand for?
???? What values is the target group looking for?
???? Which of them are particularly valuable?

To all the CMOs and brand strategists: Who knows this about their own brand?

Especially with streetwear, the difference between cool and cringe is often minimal. This applies to cuts and colors just as much as to the staging. Just off the mark is often completely missing the target group. What is right and what is wrong can rarely be determined by facts. You have to get to the heart of the target group. ????

There are three ways to increase the hit rate:

1. One is sure that one’s gut feeling is not wrong.
2. You can afford trial-and-error.
3. You take a systematic approach and find out who thinks what is cool.

We decided on option 3 and used our Emotional Territories tool to find out which values and emotions are crucial for streetwear. Over 1,000 respondents and just over 52,000 answers later, the algorithm was able to get to work: Response behaviors were compared, similarities were detected or discarded, and structures hidden in the huge data pool were identified.

The result at first sight: Streetwear always has something to do with rebellion.

The result at second glance: Rebellion is not equal to rebellion. There are six manifestations, which are more or less widespread.

????‍☠️ The adventurer who combines tenacity with risk-taking and ambition

???? The “anything-goes guy” who combines with streetwear the joy of diversity and the fun of ideas

???? The status conscious who is proud of himself

???????? The loyalty-conscious, for whom streetwear has something to do with going through thick and thin together

????The classic that seeks the everlasting even in streetwear

???? The cuddly type for whom streetwear must have a favorite feel-good character

This is a foundation on which both designers and marketers can work.

Two questions come to mind:

1. Which streetwear type are you?
2. Which values and emotions are important for your brand and do you really know them well?