Club Branding

  Hey! Hope everyone's having a good week! Today's topic is related to the cursed existence of "exclusive" or club based clothing brands. If a brand concept could be your mortal enemy I'd be fighting for my life in New York City. We're going to discuss marketing motivations, consumer behavior and design. So, let's peel it back as I explain why I'm repulsed by these brands.

Anti Social Social Club

The first time I laid eyes on an Anti Social Social Club T-shirt I swear I could've permanently rolled my eyes to the back of my head. I remember saying "bro shut the fuck up" under my breath. I'll never forget, I was in Houston by (NOT AT) the Spencers store in the Galleria. That was my introduction to what I would classify as club branding. To me club branding is a cheap brand identity and marketing strategy that's unfortunately effective. You see it in brands like Cult of Individuality and Billionaire Boys Club. I've even seen a brand named Sauce Boyz Country Club. These brands rely on the idea of exclusivity, or at least the alignment with an idea or identity. Which is kind of ok with me, the approach is just too obvious. ASSC overtly brands itself to attract the loner core audience. As a consumer, or simply as someone who has the ability to judge, I'm not the biggest fan of overt concepts like this. I hate to use Balenciaga as an example, but they accomplish the same goal through pricing and the attitude their clothing conveys. It sends a message of an in-group based on the culture, lifestyle, and lack of affordability. It's obvious because it's true, not because they're telling you "we're a super mysterious and grimy clothing brand for rich people." I can compare until my fingers go numb, the fact of the matter is that the ASSC approach seems to work as well. These half baked concepts are stylistic nourishment for those who choose to indulge. The owner/founder of Cult of Individuality, Ron Poisson is quoted saying "The brand is a philosophy, and really what the brand is about is be who you are, that's what makes us special, that's what makes us different." Yeah... aight Ron. We've all seen this before, where a brand trys to sell you to yourself. How the fuck have you managed to make the concept of individuality so trivial? Seriously, it's like when people take something as interesting and complex as the galaxy and turn it into a Shein T-shirt. How does the purchase of your clothing make me different or more of myself? It's a boneless claim that I truly believe is meant to make the brand popular. I (sort of) understand brands needing a mission statement to rationalize their existence to themselves and their supporters. However, it's hard not to see some of these campaigns as a cheap trick. Tricks that work every God damn time to the right consumers, but why is that?

Dove's #BeautyIs Campaign

  Above is a video for the #BeautyIs campaign by Dove in 2014. This campaign exists to protest the historic societal beauty standards that women are subjected to. It focuses on personal beauty by taking testimonials of women who reclaimed prior insecurities and turned them into prideful distinctions that make them standout. This ad is great because it truly has nothing to do with Dove's services as a beauty brand. This campaign exists to make women feel seen and appreciated by the brand. Challenging the status quo that tells women how to be beautiful by instead encouraging women to embrace who they are. Obviously, using Dove products won't make you love yourself more, but the point of this ad is to build toward brand loyalty. This is a great example of a covert approach to pushing brand alignment to an idea. Dove didn't make an ad in your face saying "HEY! We're here to challenge beauty norms! We want to encourage women to embrace who they are!" and inserting some diet punk aesthetic to insist on the counter culture narrative. That approach would come off as inauthentic, thus feeling like an ad with an agenda. People buy into the original ad because they see themselves in it without feeling sold to. There's a key element in the approach that also aids the undeserved reverence of club brands like ASSC and Billionaire Boys Club; people seeing themselves in the message.

 I tend to think most people look to set themselves apart one way or another. I'll start by narrowing it down to value systems. Someone who shops Billionaire Boys Club might be trying to convey a proximity to wealth or their personal financial aspirations. In fairness that's my own opinion, they could just be Pharrell fans. On the other hand someone who buys Cult of Individuality might buy into the idea that if you buy their clothing they're being different and true to their wild side. No matter the value system, consumers typically buy into these brands because they see themselves or their aspirations in them. Lets be real, fashion in itself is a form of self expression, so any given person is trying to project a rough idea through their fits. That's great, but not everyone is wearing clothes from brands that are painfully transparent about what they want to project. I love embracing who I am as much as the next guy, the issue is you can't find/embrace yourself through consumerism. Being yourself is a process that's met with vulnerability, exploration, and challenging your environment. These brands that try to sell you a shortcut to self-actualization with shallow ideas of individuality are full of it. These club brands are so unserious... straight up. If you're going to create your entire identity around a mindset the least you can do is project that message physically through design.

Cult of Individuality T-shirt

Oh brother, these brands are built on a foundation of cardboard. Above is a photo from a recent Cult of Individuality drop. This is the product Cult of Individuality pushes when they tell you to "be who you are." In what way does this shirt reflect the personality of a mature adult? This is what I mean; when you make a claim that your brand represents individuality, you need to back it up with your designs. They could explore interesting silhouettes or dive into diverse fabrics, just don't make a cotton tee with a collage of weird pseudo edgy shit and call it effort. By the way that unsettling frownie face with the eyes crossed out is the logo for the brand. If you've read the "All Great Things Come To An End" article, you know how I feel about the smiley face copout that designers use to cut corners in engaging with design. The idea's that designers use the recognizable smiley face and perform lazy tweaks like distorting the smile or making it high to better fit whatever vibe they're going for. Can't say I'm surprised the half baked concept driven brands are also making half baked designs.

Anti Social Social Club t-shirt

Anti Social Social Club Hoodie

I just want to thank ASSC for further proving my point. That "Fuck My Feelings" shirt is the exact reason I can't stand the brand. They just put self loathing on a t-shirt and called it a day. What's worse is how perfectly this fits within their brand identity. It doesn't get more transparent than this t-shirt. To add insult to injury their bio on instagram reads "self doubts." Looks like ASSC understands some people internalize their pain; so in turn they provide clothing that helps their audience find further comfort in their inferiority complex. Pretty rad... The other side of their design are alternative logos with a theme. They surround the same logo around whatever the theme calls for, that's it. They don't deserve a deeper analysis on a rinse and repeat design they've been producing from the start. On the design front these club brands fall short of mediocridy. They're seemingly allergic to quality of output in all creative mediums.

Club branding thrives off of underdelivering on concept driven brand identities whose depth is shallower than that of a kiddie pool. Couldn't even dream of drowning in water that shallow. I genuinely hope these brands change up their fastball and commit to diversifying their design, marketing, and identity. Am I hopeful that they will? No, not at all.