Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB
Have you looked in your closet lately and asked yourself, “Will I ever wear that again?” Clothing styles and trends have changed a lot in the past years. A search for sneakers will deliver options – athletic, fashion, walking and even dress.
After the pandemic, clothing sales spiked. Consumers were ready to get out of their PJs and back into fashion – somewhat. Clothing and dress continue to be more relaxed than in previous years, but fashion matters. Consumers still appreciate their own sense of sense of style and despite inflation, they plan to spend money on how they look. Over 80% of consumers planned how and on what they were going to spend their 2023 disposable income by late 2022. Twenty-nine percent of consumers planned on spending their disposable income on clothing and fashion – well ahead of travel and experiences (25%) or electronics and technology (23%), according to the Fourth Annual Consumer Culture Report.
Of course, there are consumers who will also follow the latest fashion trends while others will stick with the classics. Clothing retailers have a great opportunity to target these and other fashion personas with radio. Broadcast radio listeners have spent $100-$1000 in the past year on clothing and shoes, per MRI-Simmons data. When it comes to styles, MRI-Simmons data can break radio listeners into personas – fashionistas, beauty explorers, dress to impress, classic & content and designer-driven.
Radio listening fashionistas have definitive ideas on how they look and feel in clothes. Ninety-five percent believe that comfort is most important to them. They are also creative when it comes to their clothing selections – 66% mix and match high- and low-end designers when putting their outfits together.
Beauty explorers who are radio listeners are emotionally motivated when it comes to clothing. Seventy-three percent state that buying new clothes gives them a thrill, and they purchase clothes that make them feel confident (93%). Designer-driven listeners aren’t easily swayed – only 18% experiment with new clothing styles.
Those listeners who dress to impress go for classic and timeless styles (75%) and over three-quarters buy clothes that make them feel confident. And nearly all (99%) classic and content-styled listeners believe that comfort is the most important – similar to their fashionista cohorts.
Connecting with fashion minded consumers can’t be a one-size-fits-all marketing plan. Tailoring a message that addresses and appeals to a radio listener’s fashion persona could make a difference for a clothing retailer. Using descriptive words that incorporate what matters to these listeners just might be the right fit for a retailer’s next ad campaign.