Member Exclusive   //   August 21, 2024

How companies like QVC are reintroducing themselves to customers

When QVC decided to change up its marketing strategy this year, vp of brand marketing Annette Dunleavy said it wanted to tap into the power of a demographic that some companies often overlook. While in the past, it had attempted to capture more attention from millennial or Gen Z shoppers, this time it wanted to focus on women over the age of 50.

“We have chased everything, and that doesn’t work,” Dunleavy said. “We decided to double down on our best customers, and they are 50+.”

In response, QVC is hosting live broadcasts and events across the country as part of the multi-channel “Age of Possibility” brand campaign. Launched in April, QVC tapped 50 women over 50 to become brand ambassadors, spanning household names like Martha Stewart and Queen Latifah as well as leaders like Dr. Karen Knudsen of the American Cancer Society.

Dunleavy was one of multiple speakers during the Modern Retail Marketing Summit who discussed how to reshape brand perception. Legacy brands like QVC as well as Men’s Warehouse, owned by Tailored Brands, are faced with re-introducing themselves in front of consumers who might have outdated ideas about the brand. But with clever marketing campaigns, authentic storytelling and new ways of outreach, these brands are able to put themselves back into consideration among target audiences.

For QVC, Dunleavy said women over 50 have always been a core consumer. But the demographic wasn’t necessarily being spoken to by other brands in the current marketing climate. Dunleavy said QVC found that less than a third of women aged 50 to 70 feel supported by brands. Even fewer, around 21%, feel seen in advertising.

In response, Dunleavy said the QVC team wanted to amplify the promise and potential life can have for women over 50. It sourced ambassadors from its own network of entrepreneurs, then reached out to others with powerful stories to share. “We created a collection of 50 women living their best lives and demonstrating to other women life isn’t over at 50,” she said.

Not all brand ambassador campaigns are the same. Some, like chef Carla Hall, tie into live events. Others, like designer Stacey London, are featured on Instagram as they deploy new collections for sale. The company has also harnessed the power of Facebook, where more than 388,000 women are part of the “Over 50 and Fabulous” group. Many members, Dunleavy said, might not even know it was founded by QVC.

The biggest challenge the brand has had to overcome is that customers might have already made up their minds about the brand. 

“We don’t have a brand awareness challenge,” Dunleavy said. “But if you know us, you think you know us — and you really don’t. Our job is to really change the hearts and minds and move into consideration.”

Matt Repicky, the chief brand officer at the men’s apparel holding company Tailored Brands, which owns Men’s Warehouse and Jos. A. Banks, said one major challenge the company has had to overcome was that people thought of the brand as being old-fashioned — right down to the merchandise itself.

“I sat in focus groups and showed people a Calvin Klein slim-fit blue suit. And they were like, ‘You have slim fit suits? I thought everything you had was a boxy suit, It’s like, nope, we have what you want to wear.”

The shift in perception happens through both merchandise and marketing. Online, Repicky said the company has leaned into tutorials on channels like YouTube and TikTok shorts. Last year, the company switched up its advertising partners to do more humorous and light-hearted commercials. One shows a man rushing from a wedding to a job interview to a golf course, with a stop at Men’s Warehouse for new outfits in between. “We’re really opening up the aperture to show the consumer what they can come to us for,” he said.

The brand perception conversation isn’t exclusive to legacy brands. Startups, too, find themselves having to create new identities as their business needs change.

Frozen soup dumplings brand Mìlà, the company made multiple package and marketing changes as the brand made the leap from DTC to omnichannel. Its first wholesale partner was Costco starting midway through 2023, then it landed in more than 150 Target stores in October 2023.

Co-founder Jen Liao said one major way it’s been able to re-introduce itself to grocery store shoppers is by having a partnership with actor Simu Liu, who uses the dumplings in his own content and acts as a de facto spokesperson in Mìlà’s campaigns. It also did a $20 giveaway when it launched in Target stores, with cash in a red envelope taped to one bag in every store.

The refresh also focused on packaging elements like fonts, photos and colors, as well as marketing strategies that would help introduce the company to shoppers before they entered the frozen food aisle. In some cases, the company made intentional choices that went against the advice of peers, like choosing to have both English and Chinese on the label. Many other frozen food brands also have cutouts that show the food or don’t use bright colors.

Liao wouldn’t rule out making more changes down the road. “But right now, we’re still focused on the rollout and capturing a lot of the demand that we’ve built up,” she said.