Brand Identity and Elements of Allsaints
Many well-known retailers worldwide allow a wide and great selection of their customers. And hence, people indeed have their favorites. This blog, however, will focus on one of Britain’s favorites: Allsaints. The latter focuses on individuality, and one of its goals is to create authentic bags and clothing. Allsainds has taken it upon itself to decorate and design its online website, physical stores, and a high selection of items. So, what is it that makes this premium brand so great? We are about to unravel that in this blog, where we will discuss the various marketing aspects of the brand.
What is the identity of Allsaints?
The story of All Saints began in London in 1994 and has spread worldwide ever since. The core idea of Allsaints is individuality; however, it also touches upon designing authentic items.
The company has about 2800 employees, representing a considerable aspect of the brand spirit because they are dedicated to developing an outstanding consumer experience.
The company currently owns 190 direct-operated stores, including franchise stores, specialty stores, and outlet ones, in 12 countries. Those include countries in the Middle East, North America, the United Kingdom, Asia, and Europe.
One of the brand’s signature items is its leather jackets, which have become a must-have by its consumers because they are constructed of high-quality leather. Of course, the jackets would not become such a big deal if it were not for the craftmanship that goes before everything, including the detailed tailoring.
The founders of the company are Stuart Trevor and Kair Bolongaro. Their goal was to ensure that they could create something unique and timely yet still incorporate a vintage aspect, and a core focus was the rock ‘n’ roll sensibility. Let’s also remember that they wanted to introduce their store for men and women correspondingly.
“The Saint” was one of the names of the choice for Stuart Trevor because the latter symbolizes his name’s initials. The chosen name, however, was “All Saints Road,” inspired by a Notting Hill carnival the founder had attended. Afterward, the company was renamed All Saints.
The company’s initial focus was retail, resulting in their original fashion show in February 1995 in Paris, showcasing only male clothing.
Over 100 retailers appreciated the show; some were Selfridges, Barneys New York from the US, Ships/Beams from Japan, Harvey Nichols, and Fred Segal LA.
The initial store of the company opened on November 1, 1997, with the help of their wealthy fashion attitude, underground music spirit, and dynamic cultural background. The location was Fouberts Place on Carnaby Street in London.
The womenswear design was initiated in 1994 by designer Kait Bolongaro. Motivated by the flourishing menswear annual designs, the womenswear design suggested the “boyfriend wardrobe.” So, the sentiment of the style was more “boyish” with washed leather jackets, clean cuts, and refined knits.
Allsaints keeps expanding its distinctive brand image, establishing independent stores in Leeds, Glasgow, Covent Garden, Manchester, and Oxford Circus.
The company established a flagship store at Jack’s Place in East London in the 2005 summer.
The rambskull of Allsaints is the signature of their heritage, showcasing the revolutionary brand personality and attitude, becoming one of the symbolic visual elements of Allsaints.
In front of all of the stores worldwide, All Saints has a swing machine decoration. The idea of the sewing machine decoration was initiated on Portobello Road in London’s Westbourne Grove store cabinet in 2009. For the first designs, the company utilized at least 1000 sewing machines. Currently, Westbourne Grove is the leading location of sewing machines than any other store shelf worldwide.
The Allsaints Brand Positioning
To better understand the brand positioning of Allsaints, we will look at the Instagram post below.
This post is simply advertising one of the t-shirts of All Saints, which looks to be a cozy, stylish, yet simple and fashionable oversized black tee.
The core idea of this brand, in general, is to be revolutionary and take risks. The clothing items it makes for men and women differ from the traditional and fashionable choices most people would make due to trends. However, these are clothing pieces that people would go for due to comfort, moderate pricing, and the iconic brand.
With that in mind, there is nothing else to infer than the fact that Allsaints belongs to the Outlaw archetype.
- The desire of this archetype is to be introduced with revenge and revolution opportunities
- The goal of this archetype is to give up things that do not work
- The strategy of this archetype is to conquer, disrupt, and shock its surroundings constantly
Other brands belonging to the Outlaw archetype are Snickers, Vans, and Harley Davidson.
The messaging levels of the Outlaw archetype are the following.
Level One: feeling weak, angry, under encirclement, mistreated
Level Two: identifying as an outsider, the values of the brand or organization in a manner that departs in the face of traditional behaviors and standards
Level Three: operating in unexpected or disruptive ways
Level Four: turning into a rebellious or revolutionary individual
The Outlaw archetype is a proper fit for your brand if:
- Customers and employees feel specifically low with the community or identify with significant chances with those of the larger society.
- The core idea of your good or service is to eliminate something or have a revolutionary perspective.
- Your items help back up values discouraged by thriving ones or convey revolutionary and unique perspectives.
- Your items have a moderate/low price.
Brand archetypes: Why are they significant in practice?
A specific brand’s communication strategy can adopt multiple directions, all of which could concentrate on different outcomes. Still, there is a core logic that connects those messages. The latter implies a communication-based focus on archetypal branding.
Archetypal branding allows for individuality and transparency in messaging. If you analyze motivating quotes arguing that your brand can always reach new heights, they have different background scenarios with meanings and consequences.
One of the archetypes focuses on turning into a hero; another one suggests acquiring experience. Communication-based archetypes allow companies to mix, match, and balance these ideas in an underlying group and convey the message more effectively.
We suggest looking at the “8 Steps To a Complete Archetypal Branding” book to get more insights into making your messaging more persuasive and influential.
Analyzing the identity of All Saints more in-depth.
Let us discuss multiple positioning tactics of the brand for a deeper look.
It covers three parts.
- The category of Allsaints
- Brand differentiation: how Allsaints is different from other companies
- Core idea. What primary point is that Allsaints wants its customers to be aware of?
Category
British and American celebrities deeply enjoy wearing All Saints clothing as it develops design-led footwear and clothing pieces for women and men. The company has over 114 physical stores in around nine countries worldwide. It suggests an assertive attitude and definition of individuality for its consumers.
Benefits and differentiation
Individuality and authenticity are a lot more than just buzzwords for All Saints. Those words have been around since the initiation of the brand. Those surrounded the brand in 1994. These days, those words are a part of every collection that AllSaints created.
All Saints began at the same time when underground music and alternative culture were a lifestyle. Hence, that sentiment still follows the culture of Allsaints. That attitude is even more visible on the t-shirts that the brand makes.
On the other hand, music has been another significant aspect of the company. The initial studio that the brand had in the 1990s was full of the musical spirit in London’s scene.
From the beginning to these days, All Saints’ designs are highly influenced by bands, artists, and rockstars. That influence has existed since the beginning and keeps on constructing memories and connections with exceptional soundtracks as the focus of their in-store experience.
Music does not solely create an experience that the company and its consumers enjoy. Still, it makes an experience everyone will remember for a long time, turning it into a memory.
Of course, individual tracks link people to exceptional moments. However, live music events tie consumers and artists together.
Singing, dancing, and experiencing a fantastic rhyme is an experience specific to LA Sessions gigs. The way people dress is a means to bring them closer to artists they look up to and other fans. For some others, the brand t-shirt is a dedication showcase.
For instance, some people purchase a t-shirt for every gig; they attempt to keep it as a memory and showcase that they were there. It is fun to look at band t-shirts because it introduces an understanding of who they are as an individual and if their tastes are similar.
That is why every clothing piece, t-shirt, in particular, brings people closer to music and provides a sense of belonging and dedication.
Music t-shirts are generally purchased to be worn again and again. It could even last for years to come, and hence, the quality of the All Saints t-shirts is exceptional to ensure longevity.
While there could be a misconception that different music genres people enjoy to dress differently, it is more about the person and how they aim to showcase their individuality. Of course, some would wear something specific to a music event, but others would pick a piece of clothing that would express their individuality, making it one of the fans’ priorities.
T-shirts, similar to music gigs, are made for everybody, not solely for fans. Some people even wear t-shirts of different gigs that they are unfamiliar with, solely for the look and expression of individuality.
Sometimes, people get lost in their worlds regarding music. However, that does not imply that one would typically wear a t-shirt of their favorite brand. Again, it is all about the look, feel, and individuality.
The main communication idea
Since the company has excellent goals for the upcoming times, they have continuously growing sustainability efforts and gradual alterations in the market. The company is aware that it is responsible for the planet and the individuals that take part in making its items.
The latter is why All Saints has developed a new uniform utilizing responsible wools, recycled yarns, vegetable-tanned leathers, and ingenious water-saving methods.
All Saints takes it as an opportunity to assist their consumers in looking great and feeling as such. In the understanding that they have carefully evaluated the materials utilized and the techniques applied in making their collections for consumers.
The company must understand what something is made of and how it is made.
Brand elements of Allsaints.
What are the brand elements? Those are the slogan, logo, archetype, and other concepts.
Let us start by the name.
The name element
As mentioned in this blog, the brand was initially named “The Saint” in honor of Stuart Trevor’s name. However, the decision was to document the brand AllSaints emerging from inspiration in a carnival that Trevor attended in Notting Hill.
The logo element
The brand’s logo is a Rambskull, which identifies the brand’s rebellious attitude and personality.
The slogan element
There is no official slogan for the company; however, the core idea of it is the expression of individuality through a rebellious attitude. So, the slogan would be something along those lines.
The color element
The prominent coloring utilized by the company is black and white. As is expected, white symbolizes calmness, while black shows a little bit of mystery. That is the perfect balance the company strives for.
The Website
The colors used in the All Saints website are once again black and white. The website is user-friendly, with a navigation area at the top and secondary information at the bottom. The company uses simple fonts and bold pictures to give its website a personality.
The packaging
All Saints stands out with its packaging with simple yet elegant boxes and shopping bags. The brand usually incorporates Grey, black, and white colors in its packaging.
And that wraps up the blog about AllSaints, where we discussed the different elements of the brand. Stop by our main website for more fun and informative content regarding other worldwide well-known brands.
