Brand Communications At Its Best

A&F currently has three other concepts apart from its namesake, Abercrombie & Fitch. While referred to as subsidiaries, the brands do not operate separately contrary to the definition, but are best explained as divisions under the A&F Co. umbrella: All brands are completely managed under the same Abercrombie & Fitch workforce. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. holds full rights and ownership to every trademark of the following brands.

Southern California by Abercrombie & Fitch Themed after "SoCal" for teenagers 14 through 18, Hollister has lower price points compared to its parent brand. The brand's stores resemble surf shacks with dim lighting, and blast rock music. It is the first of these brands to offer a personal body care line.

There is an ongoing movement by parent A&F to advertise all its three children brands as being "...by Abercrombie & Fitch." This is in effort to raise consumer awareness that the three brands abercrombie, HCO, and Gilly Hicks are BY A&F and are not stand-alone companies as some consumers believe. The anticipated result is a reputation-rise for the spin-off brands, by being advertised as being offspring of the successful Abercrombie & Fitch company.

“Who needs brains when you have these?”

Pretty sure this slogan sounds familiar to you if you’re in your late teens or early twenties. Indeed it’s one of Abercrombie & Fitch’s. The American casual fashion retailer, famous for their pastel-colored polo shirts, preppy shorts and logoed t-shirts.
But Abercrombie & Fitch has marketed itself more than just a successful clothing brand, it assures their customers a lifestyle. The A&F emporium exists of giant flagship stores with a basic yet contemporary architecture. Two bare-chested male models standing at the front door are hired to greet the delighted customers. Inside you’re hit by loud dance music and the smell of the company’s signature perfume. In fact only its three-metre high walls with wooden shelves, holding t-shirts lit by spotlight, reminds you at the fact that you’re in a store rather than a fancy nightclub. Yes, the ‘Abercrombie kid’ is attractive, athletic, popular and outgoing. The American dream all over. A strategy which has proved to be very successful, but perhaps also an obstacle: for A&F brand protecting is a very big part of their continuing US success, but with the opening of their first European branch in London it’s only left wondering whether this way of branding is expansion resistant.