Supreme New York: Value Proposition

BUZZ + HYPE + EXCLUSIVITY = SUPREME

 

Supreme is a widely popular downtown skater brand that has soared to global heights since it's arrival in 1994. The brand has become synonymous with downtown New York City culture and is defined by the brand's ability to remain effortlessly cool. Although skater brands like this come a dime a dozen, due to the simplicity of design and ease of production, Supreme is truly unique in their brand positioning and marketing campaigns. Supreme's campaigns are one of a kind in nature due to the diversity of reprensentation on those who are willing to back the brand: 

World Famous Supermodel Kate Moss

Rock Legend Lou Reid

International Pop Star Lady Gaga

...to name a few

With people like these, Supreme is constantly making statements and changing the mold of how these skater brands are perceived. There is no age or gender barrier with Supreme. Supreme is a lifestyle. Supreme is an attitude. This is what sets them apart in their market and this is what has led to their continued international success. 

Another factor that adds to the value of the Supreme brand is their decision to remain boutique in size and distribution. Supreme will always make limited edition, exclusive merchandise in limited runs. Exclusivity is always desirable in the world of fashion, and Supreme has brought this theory to skate wear. In addition, exclusive collaborations with huge, international brands such a Nike, The North Face, and Timberland have added value to Supreme. These collaborations are ways of brands co-signing, or endorsing one another, broadening the reach and customer base for multiple brands at once. 

The North Face x Supreme

Nike x Supreme

Timberland x Supreme

 

Supreme: Modern Guerilla Marketing

"No offense, but if you don't know about Supreme, maybe it's because you're not supposed to."

-The New York Times 

"The coolest streetwear brand in the world right now." 

-British GQ Style

How is Supreme so successful in today's market? A market where non-stop exposure, over-exposure, is an admirable benchmark for success. A market where customer service is everything, yet Supreme employees are simply quite rude, purposely.

?

Maybe it is Supreme's unique and creative approach to marketing.

The fact that Supreme refuses to "sell out" in terms of trying to be in every department store everywhere, but instead chooses to remain underground and boutique is a huge driver in the way they market themselves. Supreme is not an "all inclusive" retail brand or experience, yet they are successfully banking off of the consumer's desire to "fit in." 

Supreme = Guerilla Marketing? 

Supreme combines their brand logo with images that are truly eye-catching in nature. Whether someone it's someone super famous or something super scandelous, or both, Supreme definitely knows how to catch the attention of anyone, not just skaters, and this is very important for the brand image. The image is then made into a poster, and that poster is plastered all over the walls of your New York City neigborhood. Or your London neighborhood. Or your Japanese neighborhood. There is no commercial on TV or editorial spread in GQ. Supreme relies on their marketing collaborations to get people talking and these collaborations are key in keeping people interested in what Supreme is doing.Famed photographer Terry Richardson is behind just about every Supreme ad campaign over the last several years.

Let's Take A Look: 

KATE MOSS x SUPREME 

LOU REED x SUPREME 

 

 LADY GAGA x SUPREME

MIKE TYSON x SUPREME 

ROSA ACOSTA x SUPREME 

KERMIT THE FROG x SUPREME

 

STICKERS

For sale in stores and complimentary with every online purchase are Supreme stickers. These stickers are usually just the Supreme logo and serve as additional advertising. Supreme stickers are easily spotted around the Soho neighborhood where the New York store resides and wherever else people decide to stick them.

Guerrilla Marketing Campaign 

"HOW SUPREME IT IS" 

Harmless Vandalizing of City Signs using Stickers

Harmless Vandalizing of City Signs using Stickers

 

www.supremenewyork.com

Supreme's website is clean and simple, much like the aesthetics of the brand. There is not much writing on the site at all. Instead, supreme relies on bold visuals placed on clean white

backgrounds to make their messages pop. Only the homepage is black, and on it are links to the rest of the site.

HOMEPAGE

Homepage Links

NEWS

Here you will find the most writing on the site, period. In the 'news' section, there is an archive of announcements highlighting new items and building anticipation for their arrival.

These types of previews create BUZZ and generate HYPE. Buzz and Hype are what keep Supreme in business... that and EXCLUSIVITY. Notice how Supreme does not fail to mention that this is an exclusive collaboration. 

So: 

buzz + hype + exclusivity = Supreme

[as related to their positioning] 

SHOP

This is the formatting of an item you have clicked on in the 'shop' section. A simple description and large images accompany each item.Supreme only shows flats and does not even

always show a back view. You can also see that this item is sold out. This sweatshirt is available is 4 colorways and each color sold out completely within 5 minutes of being available for purchase online on 11/29/12. New items are released at Supreme shops every Thursday both in-store and online. Items are available for purchase online at 11am EST. The brick-and-mortar New York store opens at 11:30 am.

RANDOM

The 'random' section is comprised of rare video interviews. As you can see, the most recent interview is not dated, and the previous one dates back to '09. Still, I believe Supreme keeps these up because they convey the lifestyle of the brand. The people interviewed are people that Supreme finds interesting and feels their customer should know more about. Most everyone being interviewed 

is wearing Supreme, as these interviews are also a form of advertisement. The videos are not of the highest quality  but they show a lot of vintage old school video clips creating an overall cool, authentic aesthetic to accompany these storytellers.

CONCLUSION

Overall, Supreme's e-commerce site is extremely reflective of it's brick and mortar stores:

• Clean, simple aesthetics 
• Same Price-points
• Same product collections and release dates
• Same limited product assortment 
• Same refund/exchange policy

Global Supreme

Supreme has 2 websites:

www.SupremeNewYork.com
and
www.SupremeNewYork.jp 

As of now, Supreme only accepts online orders from the USA, Canada, and Japan. The .com website is only available in English and accepts orders from the US and Canada. All orders from the US site ship from New York. The .jp website is in Japanese with some English words and only accepts orders from Japan. 

If you sign up to join their mailing list, you have the option to receive emails in either

English or Japanese.

Supreme is an international reatiler with boutiques located in: 

UNITED STATES (2)

LONDON (1)

JAPAN (6) 

Even though their online reach is limited, Supreme only sells items in limited quantities to maintain exclusivity and most items sold online sells out in a matter of minutes, if not after a few days.

Global Stores

LONDON

Supreme London is the newest location having opened on September 22, 2011.

The line is wrapped around the block for the London Store Opening. 

London Store Front. Supreme as a brand maintains a clean, simple aesthetic. 

Inside the Supreme London Store.

JAPAN

Outside of the Supreme Shibuya store - the Japanese Flagship location.

Inside the store.  Clean, simple aesthetics. Very open feeling.

More photos of the store interior.

Picture from the Flagship opening party. New Supreme product lines the shelves.

NEW YORK

Skaters in front of the Soho location at 274 Lafayette St.

Skate decks displayed on a wall inside the store.

The original store has a very open, airy aesthetic - Clear inspiration for all of the other Supreme stores that have followed.

TRUST: Security and Fraud Prevention

Supreme takes one measure to prevent fraud that can be considered an

inconvenience, but is solely done for the protection of their online

consumer: 

When placing an order, the BILLING and SHIPPING address must BE THE SAME.

This way, no one can purchase from Supreme using a card that does

not belong to them and expect to receive merchandise. Although this

is very strict, it is a sure way to prevent identity theft with online orders. 

 

The Six Characteristics of E-Commerce Websites

Home Page

Addressability

none

Interactivity

none

Memory

none

Control

Shoppers are able to filter products by category only.

Exp: Jackets, Hats, Shirts, etc. 

Accessibility 

Supreme does provide information about the company's origin and culture 

under their 'about' section. 

Digitalization 

Great product images but only display flats. 

Great HD Videos that embody the company culture. 

Analysis

Supreme does not include Addressability, Interactivity, or Memory characteristics into their website. This is a conscious choice that will be discussed more under the value proposition portion of this blog. Since they do not carrylarge quantity of products, their current control aspects work perfectly fine. The image quality is wonderful, but I do believe they could show the back of an item when hovering over the image. When you click 'shop'from their homepage, you are just shown a preview portion of productinstead of an entire image. It is only when you click 'view all' that you 

see a full image. I do believe they have done this for stylistic reasons, but the preview view is not a practical way for people to shop. As a frequent online shopper, I enjoy when websites have addressability and memory, but I do not believe that these factors are important to the Supreme customer.

Web Store Images

Initial 'Shop' Page

'View All' Shop Page