Kensie Clothing Brand Tells Its Customer a Story

As fashion designers one of the most important things you do is develop and nurture your brand through creative product design and smart marketing. One key to success is developing the story behind your brand (yes, you do have a story) as a means of connecting with your customer. They want to feel that they know you, they want to feel like your friend, and who doesn’t like to support their friends?

This concept is something that tends to be a bit easier for independent and emerging labels since you are virtually unknown and able to create your story and share it from the start. Your customers feel that they know you intimately right off the bat, allowing for a tight connection and lifetime of loyalty. But that does not mean that there aren’t major brands out there doing it and doing it right.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of taking a little tour of the booth of Canada-based clothing brand Kensie here at WWD MAGIC. I strolled through the area snapping photos, handling beautiful clothes, and soaking in all the laid back and feminine style that the label had to offer. But it was my chat with the lovely Hayley, a brand rep, that really got me excited to write about the company. She shared with me, the “story” behind Kensie’s latests collections.

Each season the label puts out a mini book, visually and verbally explaining the inspiration behind the collections. The stories are funny, adorable, and whimsical. This season’s Kensie Girl Story? A pretty young lady loses her pet parrot in an abandoned hotel, longingly hoping to find it amidst tiki and mirrors, nooks and crannies. The campaigns are always rich with beautiful photography, funky videos, and custom written music (created and performed by local Vancouver artists, by the way). As a whole, the campaign is pretty smart; it utilizes various forms of media, creates a delightful story and really makes the brand likeable. I will say though that I think they need to work on the engaging aspect of their campaign. Why not create a way for the customer to actually help find the missing parrot; a scavenger hunt of sorts. Or maybe ask consumers to suggest through creative thinking, just where the parrot is hiding; completing the story themselves.

Overall I found myself with a growing interest in the brand, liking their Facebook page, and well, blogging about them.