Squeezed by Rivals, Spanx Faucets Ashley Graham to Embrace Movie star Advertising and marketing

After over twenty years, Spanx’s merchandise are as synonymous with shapewear as Kleenex’s are with tissues.

However defining a class doesn’t provide immunity from competitors. In the previous couple of years, new entrants have aggressively chased Spanx’s enterprise, together with celebrity-backed manufacturers like Kim Kardashian’s Skims and extra not too long ago, Yitty from Lizzo and Fabletics.

As a lot identify recognition as Spanx has, Kardashian undoubtedly has extra. Now, Spanx is searching for some star energy of its personal, hiring Ashley Graham as its first movie star ambassador.

In a brand new marketing campaign, the mannequin and entrepreneur highlights Spanx’s newest innovation, a pair of “silver lining know-how” white pants that should be fully opaque, smoothing and shaping the wearer’s legs. On a Los Angeles billboard and in two commercials, Graham will seem “nude,” lined solely by the material used within the new Spanx pants to show to shoppers simply how dependable the product is. Advertising and marketing company Intestine, which has created commercials for manufacturers corresponding to Michelob Extremely and Philadelphia Cream Cheese, produced the marketing campaign.

Spanx nonetheless thinks of itself because the “leaders and innovators throughout the shapewear class,” mentioned Spanx president Kim Jones. However remaining on the prime means warding off the wolves.

“At Spanx, we’re rather more targeted on our personal enterprise and targeted on delivering high-quality, revolutionary merchandise that ship outcomes for our shoppers,” Jones mentioned of competitors within the class. “We’re targeted on what we do greatest.”

That greatest is what Spanx calls “practical trend” — garments that remedy attire issues for ladies, promising merchandise with larger consolation or sturdiness. The technique is just like how Skims sells its self-described “solutionwear,” however in contrast to Skims, Spanx isn’t concerned about pushing a continuing stream of drops or trend-focused types.

There are benefits to that method: Spanx introduces merchandise on a seasonal foundation, together with every thing from bras and underwear to denim and swimsuits, and sells them by means of a slew of wholesale companions like Nordstrom and Revolve in addition to by itself website. Prospects can simply discover Spanx, however the technique misses out on the drop method’s common, built-in advertising and marketing moments.

Because the incumbent within the house, model recognition isn’t a problem — Blackstone managing director Ann Chung mentioned client consciousness of Spanx is “on par” with Lululemon. As a substitute, its drawback is encouraging new clients to think about Spanx first now that it’s not the one well-known shapewear model available on the market.

“Look, we now have a tonne of respect for what Skims, Kim [Kardashian] and the staff have performed … however I feel that we reside in a unique house,” mentioned Chung. “There are areas and shoppers for various components of the shapewear market and it’s a large enough marketplace for us all to play.”

Bringing in Blackstone

Spanx launched in 2000 and slowly grew to turn out to be synonymous with shapewear merchandise at a time when these merchandise have been relegated to the shadowy corners of malls. A lot of the general public discourse round Spanx targeted on founder Sara Blakely, who grew to become a poster little one for feminine founders and self-made billionaires within the mid-2010s, a predecessor of the so-called “lady boss” period that arrived a number of years later. Spanx expanded into classes like denim and attire in 50 world markets, and by 2012, it reached 1 / 4 of a billion {dollars} in gross sales.

In November 2021, Blakely offered a majority stake of Spanx to personal fairness agency Blackstone for a deal that valued the corporate at $1.2 billion. (Simply three months later and recent off of a brand new funding spherical, Skims was valued at $3.2 billion.) Spanx and Blackstone executives mentioned Spanx’s worth largely comes from its excessive buyer retention ranges: Greater than half of income comes from repeat purchases, Chung mentioned, whereas the corporate has grown 40 % year-over-year. Its best-selling merchandise embody high-rise flare pants, which served because the mannequin for this latest product launch. Jones declined to provide Spanx gross sales figures.

Whereas procurement, provide chain and hiring are all amongst Blackstone’s areas of focus for Spanx, one of many greatest priorities is reinvigorating the model itself, which has historically dealt with all of its artistic output internally. Final yr, Blackstone launched its personal model division and in April 2021, employed veteran model strategist Jonny Bauer from the agency Droga5 to move up the operation. Spanx is presently seeking to rent its first chief model officer to assist construct on the muse the marketing campaign with Graham units.

“There can be different extra brand-centric issues coming down the road,” Bauer mentioned. “It’s not essentially to vary something, however to construct on the prevailing relationship that girls have with Spanx.”

To make certain, a profitable, long-lasting model requires greater than a star endorsement or backer. Actually, the utter saturation of movie star manufacturers in trend and wonder has truly rendered lots of them forgettable, significantly when there’s little founder-product match. Spanx’s benefit just isn’t rooted in movie star, however levelling the enjoying subject in a class the place Kardashians thrive gained’t harm, both.

“Spanx is … a practical trend firm and we don’t wish to lose the ‘perform’ half, that’s simply fully who we’re,” Bauer mentioned. “However sure, this [campaign] does add a brand new layer of trend linked to it.”