How can you stand out in the world of socks?
What fundamental idea in your market or category could you challenge? Is it something that people who will buy the product will want to tell their friends and others who might also want to buy? Can you find a compelling way to takes something that everyone takes for granted and change it.
Little Miss Matched created a company that sells 3 socks at a time – not 2. They sell them to 12 year old girls who are looking for stories they can tell their friends about their latest look. The sheer genius of this idea is worth considering if you are looking at their story from a marketing point of view. Why should socks be sold in pairs only?
What fundamental idea in your market or category could you challenge? Is it something that people who will buy the product will want to tell their friends and others who might also want to buy? Can you find a compelling way to takes something that everyone takes for granted and change it.
A pair doesn’t have to be two. At least not in this world.
There are restaurants that sell seats on Saturday night. (Yes, sell seats).
There are beers that have long form stories printed on them so that you read the bottle like a book.
How will your brand be different in a meaningful way so someone will care?
Their STORY
LittleMissMatched started with a very simple mission: Build a girls’ clothing brand that is FUN, inspires CREATIVITY, embraces individual STYLE and CELEBRATES SELF EXPRESSION.
In the LittleMissMatched World, matching is mundane, but mixing patterns and colors is monumentally cool. Our girls’ clothing line started with colorful girls’ socks sold in packs of three, and then we realized that there’s a whole world of girls who share our passion for showing our creativity and self expression through our clothes. We may have started with socks, but now the LittleMissMatched line includes bold girls’ clothing and beauty accessories, colorful bedding, sporty arm and leg warmers, and awesome backpacks, handbags and slippers. Be bold and think outside the socks. Fashion is fun!
Go crazy with your creativity, be as MissMatched as you wanna be…but most of all, let YOU be YOU!
Socked
Kids want to talk about these socks. The built in story about being mismatched in a matching world is shareable. Once the brand gained traction, they expanded to other mismatched items including home furnishings for kids. And although you might see this as a small idea, how does $40 million dollars in revenue sound and growing.
What can you learn from a company that breaks the rules and shows its soul?
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Listen to my interview on Charlie Pozner’s Podcast called the BOOMER Business Owner.
Listen to my interview on Charlie Pozner’s Podcast called the BOOMER Business Owner.
Jeffrey Slater
MomentSlater
