How Can Heritage Brands Remain Relevant Without Losing Their Roots? 

Transforming organizations to drive growth and innovation is crucial. Compared to newer brands, it’s even more challenging for heritage brands to attract new shoppers without ignoring or alienating their long-time loyal customers who typically contribute the largest revenue stream.

One heritage brand that is growing without losing touch with its roots is Hanky Panky, a women’s apparel company established in NYC in 1977. Even after all these years, its products remain loved by celebrities and stylists, sold in over 70 countries, and relied upon by millions of fans of all ages.

During the session “A Beloved Heritage Brand With a Startup Mentality” at this year’s eTail25 Conference in Palm Springs, California, I chatted with Sabrina Cherubini, SVP of Brand & Digital for Hanky Panky Ltd. Because most revenue comes from base customers, it’s important to not alienate them when developing new products, experiences, and communiques designed to attract new buyer cohorts. To do this, Cherubini advises her team to focus on relevance, not just objectives, and to balance building brand equity with driving performance.

It All Starts With the Customer 

It’s critical to identify customer cohorts — as well as their needs, wants, and aspirations — when setting marketing and product direction.

“So it’s really about understanding women (our customers) beyond just their body shape or their background or what they look like,” commented Cherubini. “It’s what they feel inside that feeds the product development cycle with innovation.”

Brands that take time to consider how to blend their heritage with what’s relevant in the current culture have more success in getting positive reactions from multiple cohorts to new products, services, and campaigns.  

Invest in Innovation 

The best brands allow their marketing and brand teams to experiment without requiring immediate results or metrics for each initiative.

“The best way I’ve done this is to dedicate part of my budget to innovation. I align with leadership and secure 10% to 15% of my budget to things without any performance metric attached to them,” stated Cherubini. “So we test a lot of things, giving the freedom to fail, and I would say 70% or 80% of our actions paid off, so we scale them now.”

Launching new product and marketing initiatives frequently requires companies to change the structure or members of their teams as well as to create new metrics and objectives that better gauge advances in brand equity, customer satisfaction, and business performance.

Create Delightful Products and Experiences 

Business growth relies on widening the breadth and depth of offerings — enhancing existing items, adding line extensions, and creating new custom product assortments. And when engaging with customers, both old and new, it’s essential to meet them where they are, connect with their values and needs, and provide excellent service before, during, and after the sale.    

Cherubini shared several examples of how her brand surprises and delights both long-time and new customers with innovative products and experiences:

• Expanding the breadth by adding the Hanky Panky Body shapewear line, featuring an inclusive size range and stretch and fit options to appeal to new and existing customers
• Providing new ways to buy products online by packaging its signature item as a rose and allowing shoppers to create custom bouquets
• Bringing to life the “Hanky Panky Hotel,” a NYC pop-up featuring inspired suites, giveaways, activities, limited-edition shopping, and celebrity guest appearances in advance of Valentine’s Day
• Building its own stores to engage directly with customers and identify unmet customer needs or opportunities

All brands, and especially heritage brands, are challenged to innovate while growing the core business. Balancing the brand promise with the needs of multiple cohorts is key to acquiring new customers while retaining one’s base.

“I want to make sure that we grow out of respecting and celebrating the heritage, but bring more moments that are relevant to today’s customer,” said Cherubini. “You must have a loyalty matrix.”