Lululemon Doesn’t Need A Teen Strategy, Says Lululemon

Lululemon continues to gain popularity with teens, although the retail brand is not directly targeting the demographic.

According to Piper Sandler’s “Fall 2022 Generation Z Survey,” the yoga-themed chain reached the number two favorite apparel brand spot behind NikeNKE
, moving ahead of American Eagle OutfittersAEO
, Pacific Sunwear and Adidas since Piper’s fall 2021 survey. Among upper-income female teens, Lululemon surpassed Nike as the favorite athletic apparel brand. Among males across income ranges, Lululemon improved to number six from number nine in Piper’s spring 2022 survey.

Lululemon has benefited as leggings replace jeans as teen girls’ favorite bottoms. The athleisure trend has also boosted the teen cred of Nike and Adidas, although both aggressively court youth, including through collaborations with musical artists.

Yet in a 2015 New York TimesNYT
article, Lululemon founder Chip Wilson said his “muse” and target customer in the early days of Lululemon was a 32-year-old professional single woman (named Ocean) who makes $100,000 a year, is “engaged, has her own condo, is traveling, fashionable, has an hour and a half to work out a day.”

For some of the experts on the RetailWire BrainTrust, strategizing to build momentum with the teen market is a solid step toward continued success.

“Most definitely,” wrote Richard Hernandez in a RetailWire online discussion. “Lululemon is grown by word of mouth — and will continue to be. More marketing towards teens wouldn’t hurt.”

“Short answer: YES,” wrote Shep Hyken, chief amazement officer at Shepard Presentations. “Longer answer: Every retailer should find ways to turn first-time customers into repeat customers. Get them in the door. Start them young, if that’s the demographic you’re going for. Get them used to buying. Then watch them grow to become regular/repeat customers.”

For others on the BrainTrust, however, actively courting the new demographic would be trying too hard.

“Not only would I not adjust my strategy to capitalize on Lululemon’s popularity with teens, I would also take great care in competing in the same areas of sports marketing as others,” wrote professor Gene Detroyer. “Lululemon means something. Stay the course. By suggesting something more, they risk mucking up the silo that they control.”

At its Analyst Day held in August, Lululemon officials spoke of focusing their marketing goal on raising brand awareness without unveiling any strategies to reach specific age demographics.

In the U.S., unaided brand awareness is 25 percent, including 38 percent among women and 11 percent with men. Said CEO Calvin McDonald, “We are still a hidden little secret.”

To raise awareness, Lululemon will borrow from the playbook of major athletic brands by making “smart investments” across earned and paid channels as well as in sports marketing, such as through athlete endorsements. Nikki Neuburger, chief brand officer, said at the event, “We plan to leverage a tight roster of incredible people with a large reach frequently.”

Entering categories such as footwear and supporting more activities (e.g., running, golf, hiking) to make Lululemon “a bigger part of our consumers’ wardrobes” is another expected awareness driver, according to Ms. Neuburger. Lululemon’s “authentic” positioning around personal wellbeing, she added, has become more relevant post-pandemic.

Getting the word out, however, remains largely a grassroots approach, including signing up fitness trainers and yoga instructors as local ambassadors and supporting community events. Partnering with local studios is a core driver of its new paid-membership program. Said Ms. Neuburger, “Strong relationships have been a critical ingredient of our secret sauce since the early days of the brand. It started in our stores and now membership will allow us to do the same digitally and at scale.”

Despite this age-agnostic approach, some on RetailWire’s BrainTrust saw staying on the current marketing trajectory as already adequate.

“Lululemon has been teens’ top choice for years,” wrote Patricia Vekich Waldron, CEO of Vision First. “Especially young girls who collect pieces based on income. It’s already an aspirational brand.”

“They absolutely send merchandise to younger influencers who post videos about their Lululemon wardrobes (and model their favorite pieces) that the 12-15 year olds — particularly girls — covet,” wrote Nicola Kinsella, SVP of global marketing at Fluent Commerce. “They can’t get enough. Just because Lululemon isn’t doing overt marketing campaigns directed at teens doesn’t mean they’re not targeting them, it just means they understand their audience.”

And BrainTrust member Doug Garnett, president of Protonik, did not see any attempt at shaking things up getting very far.

“The truth could well be that they’ve obtained a huge share of what’s possible already and any overt change would be chasing small gains,” wrote Mr. Garnett.