Y2k Rewind by Charlotte Russe
A rebrand of the womenswear retailer Charlotte Russe
The Ask
Work with a team to create a rebrand of an existing or pre-existing brand.
THE PROCESS
The initial step in our process was for my group mates and me to identify a retailer we wanted to rebrand. We conducted much research and decided that Charlotte Russe would be a good company to perform a rebrand for, as they were once a very prominent womenswear retailer that has since fallen and been forgotten. Over the years, Charlotte Russe has declined in popularity and demand within the fast fashion industry, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2019, resulting in the permanent closure of over 94 of its stores. We choose to focus our rebranding efforts on bringing back that popularity the early 2000s offered the retailer, with a new y2k-inspired line. This would provide an opportunity for Charlotte Russe to bring back some of its designs that were popular during the early 2000s and integrate marketing and ad campaigns that revolve around the y2k aesthetic. This new y2k line would be exclusive only to CR and would be different from other fast fashion brands, as it would not be mimicking early 2000s fashion, but rather utilizing its own designs that were once widely popular
Part One: Researching the Brand
Part Two: Providing an Industry Overview
The next step of the rebranding process was to provide an industry and company overview that included information on the current state of the retail industry, Charlotte Russe’s place within the industry, its key competitors, a SWOT analysis, and Charlotte Russe’s current brand story. When delving into the brand I assessed the company’s history, its narrative/story, the brand archetypes, and its mission statement/promise. Much of my research came from sources directly linked to Charlotte Russe, including their website, app, SEC documents, and an in-person visit. I also consulted The National Retail Federation to find direct information on the current state of the retail industry and concluded that e-commerce and omnichannel marketing were two of the biggest constant trends within the industry common amongst successful brands, which my group and I then applied to our proposal of a new rebranding strategy for Charlotte Russe. We also analyzed the brand’s social media platforms, specifically Instagram where we found that while the brand did feature some strong real-life consumer imagery, they lacked a certain signature theme/aesthetic that kept the viewer engaged. Additionally, we also assessed the brand’s product offerings and found that they mostly offered basics and athleisure wear, which we proposed they should lean into more and apply that same lifestyle aesthetic to their marketing.
Part Three: Defining the Consumer
Before solidifying our rebranding strategy, we had to identify Charlotte Russe’s current consumers as well as the new consumer we were aiming to target. We used demographic, psychographic, and behavioral, research to identify the current consumer of the brand to be women between the ages of 16 - 30 who are either in school or the workforce and come from very diverse ethnicities and cultural backgrounds. She enjoys wearing more basic pieces that she can dress up or down and lives a pretty healthy lifestyle. We found this profile to be very vast and of little depth, which is why we created a specific consumer persona named Chloe to help narrow in on the new target market were trying to target. Gen-Z was the primary target of our new target marketing initiatives as we zeroed in on their passion with early 2000s vintage and retro fashion as well as their quest for diversity and inclusivity.
Part Four: Proposing the New Brand Strategy
Lastly, we were tasked with presenting our new brand strategy. From our research on the state of the retail industry, we proposed that Charlotte Russe revamp its overall online presence (website, social media, Omnichannel/social commerce) to include diverse models and develop new customer experience and Brand loyalty programs to help implement interactive activations in brick-and-mortar stores and develop customer relationships. To improve brand presence and increase demand, we also proposed that the brand introduce a new product line/offering called “y2k Rewind” which would help increase the appeal of the brand to Gen-z and help expand it to a wider, yet more defined audience. The new brand Narrative would seek to modernize the history of the company, highlighting micro- and macro-influencers who would help increase the brand’s awareness, strengthen brand personality, increase public relations, and rebrand as a wholesale.
THE OUTCOME
As an emerging fashion professional interested in pursuing a career in brand development and creative directing, I found this project to be incredibly helpful and informative in learning how to fully conceive a well-thought-out concept for a preexisting brand. I learned how to effectively and efficiently collaborate with a team to produce a well-researched, realistic rebranding campaign.