XCVI has been on of my favorite brands since I moved to Los Angeles almost 10 years ago. Once I discovered that they’d started making moves to digital marketing and outreach, we knew FMM had to talk to them. Why?

Because XCVI doesn’t have an e-commerce platform and will not sell online. They believe that the retail locations and store that sell their collections (on and offline) shouldn’t have to compete with them directly. Industry experts have convincing arguments that are for and against this.

Whether it’s competing with your retailers or not, XCVI has devised creative marketing tactics using social media to engage their customer base and drive customer sales to the retailers that carry their lines. They’ve also extended their social marketing strategies to get the attention of potential buyers during tradeshows.

Daniela concluded our interview with three marketing  tips for medium sized clothing brands:

1. Service the Consumer as if they were a Major Retailer: As a medium size brand, most of the interaction we have is with other retailers (b2b). Therefore, our limited b2c interaction is precious to us. Any time a consumer goes through the effort of contacting the manufacturer, they deserve to be serviced far and beyond.

That may mean taking in some loss (exchanging or repairing an item that was not purchased directly from us – at no cost to the consumer, etc.), but the ripple effect of good costumer service to consumers is insurmountably important from a marketing perspective.

2. Engage in Dialogue in Social Media: At times, the medium size brand can seem detached from consumers. For instance, XCVI does not sell its products online, and so when a consumer reaches out to us online, they may feel like they’ve “hit a wall” in terms of creating a relationship. That is why social networks online – twitter, facebook, etc – are so important. They give us a way to have a better online presence, and therefore become more “present” to our consumers. We are no longer the big and scary manufacturer; our brand now has a face and a human voice.

3. Collaborate with Other Lifestyle Brands: The fashion industry is notoriously competitive and cut throat. But in reality, we are a community of like-minded business people who share an artistic passion. Engaging in dialogue with our “competitors” not only makes our industry a more pleasant place to work, but it also can produce better products, with greater variety. Further, in order to create a truly lifestyle brand, and to keep to our mission of helping women feel good about themselves, it is of utmost importance to integrate our marketing work with the broader lifestyle business sector: beauty, health, etc.

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