Pepe Jeans: A Brand Built to Last

Mark Blenkinsop bought his first pair of Pepe Jeans jeans when he was thirteen years old and today he wants thousands of people around the world to feel the same emotion as he did that day. The brand celebrated its fiftieth birthday last September with Lila Moss, daughter of model Kate Moss, as ambassador and a grand party in London where it celebrated its origins in Camdem Town. Blenkinsop is marketing director of All We Wear Group (Awwg), Pepe’s parent company, and worked in communication agencies and at Levi Strauss before joining the Spanish group. The executive is clear about where he wants to place Pepe Jeans and the path to follow to last at least half a century more: “we do not want to be the brand of the moment: being very provocative can work for a year, but it can also lead to a rapid decline; “My job is to create a lasting brand,” summarizes the executive.

Question: What is Pepe Jeans today and where do you want to be in ten years?

Answer: It is a brand with an incredible history. The only one with a genuine origin from London, from West London, specifically. This heritage and authenticity is at the core of the brand and is a frequent source of inspiration. Additionally, there are few brands focused on denim lifestyle. Of course, in its origins, it was only focused on jeans, but that’s what men’s clothing in the seventies and eighties was about. But suddenly the eighties arrived, and the client wanted more. That is where we want to be a key player: there are not so many brands that have an understanding of denim, of the classic five-pocket, but that are capable of offering a more complete collection of lifestyle.

Q: Denim brands premium have suffered in recent years. How do you build a brand around a garment that is almost a commodity?

R.: The denim sector is in very good health and is showing good growth in the coming years. I think it’s a constant segment, changing in terms of silhouettes and washes, but it’s always there. It is not a problem in the sector, but it is true that the market has become very polarized. The consumer is also increasingly mixing, a good example is the travel sector: you can look for the cheapest way to get to a destination and then spend the money there.

Q: The founders are of Indian origin; The owners are Spanish and their name says London. Is Pepe Jeans a British brand?

R.: That mix you mention is actually the most London thing there is, it is a melting pot of cultures that coexist in harmony, in a way that is not seen in large capitals.

Q: Is being so linked to a city a handicap?

R.: We were worried about Brexit, about how to manage the use of the flag, for example. In the end we decided to focus on celebrating culture, diversity, music, art… Everything good about London and not the political aspect.

“The cost of retention is always lower than the cost of attraction. “If I get every person who loves the Pepe Jeans brand to buy one more time a year, the return is incredible.”

Q: Pepe Jeans is a brand that nobody hates. That is a problem?

R.: As a brand you can be provocative, but it is dangerous, because it can often lead to a quick fall. What we try to do is maintain a sense of positivity, interest and engagement, like a gang of friends who don’t give their parents too much trouble. That is the energy we want and what gives you longevity and permanence as a brand. We don’t want to be the brand of the moment: that can compensate you for a year, but my job is to create a brand that lasts.

Q: Is the challenge in getting the consumer to the stores?

R.: Yes. Because hopefully the moment you enter you discover a world, a great brand that not only has denim, but a complete universe.

Q: Is marketing easier today than before?

R.: One of the challenges today is access to information and influence. When I was a teenager, influence was dominated by distribution. There was no men’s lifestyle magazine, our reference point was the stores. The important thing was to place your brand in a cool store, where the right people buy. One of my favorite mantras is that distribution is communication. The consumer today is much smarter and much more informed than before. Furthermore, before there were two campaigns a year, you paid for media dissemination, and that was it. The marketing teams were very small: to give a close example, at Hackett there were four people in marketing until not so many years ago. But at the same time, it used to be more difficult to create a business from scratch and grow it. Today, you can create a brand and if you have a tone that connects with a consumer, it is much easier to reach the market, because the barriers to entry are lower. Before, the idea of ​​doing something on video, for example, was unthinkable due to costs: today you pick up a cell phone and you already have it.

“A ‘celebrity’ helps you in the falling in love phase; The ‘influencer’ enters the next stage”

Q: How glocal Does it have to be communication?

R.: It depends on the sector and the scale of your business. But in general social networks force you to communicate much more personalized. That said, a 25-year-old from Madrid is much more similar to one from Manchester than a 25-year-old from Manchester is to a young man from a town in the middle of the countryside in the United Kingdom. The challenge is to have a global perspective and reach your communities on a local scale, and there the influencers they play a fundamental role.

Q.: Pepe Jeans was a pioneer in Spanish fashion in relying on celebrities of international scope. In the era of influencersDo actors, singers and models continue to perform better?

R.: Each one has a role. In the marketing funnel, there are three stages: alert, romance, and transaction. People like Dua Lipa, Brooklyn Beckham or Lila Moss help us create the alert. A influencer It has a very key role in generating romance, it is closer to the transaction. We work with emotions, and the first step is for the client to feel the spark, to fall in love: the influencer It helps you get the client to go one step further.

Q: Is there a lack of science in the marketing department?

R.: Today we have enough science. It’s the biggest change I’ve seen in the last ten or twenty years. Before, marketing was an island within the organization, some marketing directors did not talk about sales. But those times are over. Today we try to understand how the consumer behaves, especially transactional behavior. The job of the retail director is to grow purchases; Mine is to know how we have done it. The cost of retention is always lower than the cost of attraction. If I can get every person who loves the Pepe Jeans brand to buy one more time a year, the return on investment is incredible. That’s one of the reasons I took on this position.

Q: Where do you see Pepe Jeans in ten years?

R.: When I bought my first pair of Pepe Jeans when I was thirteen, I was so excited… And I hope to keep that magnetism. I am lucky that Marcella Wartenbergh, the CEO, is very involved in the process and willing to take this path. As a brand and as a business, in the end it is about always looking forward and continuing to grow. I don’t think it will take us a decade to be where we want to be.